The South Coast Air Quality Management District’s planning and rules manager issued a letter to Caltrans and Metro which says the draft environmental impact report for the proposed 710 Freeway extension failed to properly estimate air quality impacts and that the report is useless to decision makers.
Ian MacMillan said the inadequate estimate of carbon monoxide emissions and airborne particulates means transit planners “would not be able to use the EIR/EIS as written to determine if the project will adversely affect air quality in the local area.”
The AQMD has requested that the air quality portion of the document of the $40 million study be reworked.
MacMillan also said in the letter that so-called “hot spots” were not analyzed. These studies focus on localized concentrations of nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide at portals and near the ventilation stacks which have been proposed for the 710 tunnel proposal.
“This lack of analysis is especially concerning as the tunnel alternatives will focus all of the vehicle emissions along the entire tunnel to the portal and ventilation stack areas,” MacMillan wrote.