Unocal Corp. plans antismog programs designed to rid the Los Angeles Basin of as much as 23 million lb/year of air pollution.
In one program, South Coast Recycled Auto Program (Scrap), Unocal expects to spend more than $5 million to buy and scrap 7,000 older cars. It says the plan will rid the basin of 6 million lb/year of smog.
A second program to help older cars run cleaner, Smog-Fighter, could get rid of another 17 million lb/year of air pollution.
In the third proposal, Protech Patrol, specially equipped vehicles will patrol the area's freeways to aid stranded motorists and help speed the flow of traffic.
Richard J. Stegemeier, Unocal chairman, president and chief executive officer, said the programs "strike at the heart of the air quality problem in the Los Angeles Basin. We want to demonstrate ways of reducing smog that are efficient and cost effective."
The three clean air programs will reduce vehicle emissions, which the California Air Resources Board found cause 60% of the basin area's smog. Residential, commercial, and industrial sources cause 40%.
PROGRAM DETAILS
Under Scrap, Unocal will pay $700 apiece for as many as 7,000 pre-1971 vehicles registered in the Los Angeles Basin.
Pre-1970 vehicles cause an average 15-30 times more pollution than 1990 models, Unocal says. It figures those 7,000 vehicles emit about 4.6 million lb/year of carbon monoxide, 772,000 lb/year of reactive organic gases, and 400,000 lb/year of nitrogen oxides.
"We want to take the heaviest polluters off the road and hand them over to a scrap yard, which will shred and recycle the metal," Stegemeier said.
Smog-Fighter will offer free smog checks and low emission tuneups to drivers of pre-1975 autos at some Unocal Protech stations in Greater Los Angeles. It will offer the program to car owners in the off year of the biennial smog check required by the California Bureau of Automotive Repair.
The tuneups include adjustments to timing, idle speed, and air/fuel mixtures. The auto owner will be responsible for the cost of any new parts, if needed.
Protech Patrol's free services to stranded motorists will include jump starting batteries, helping them change flat tires, and providing air, water, and gasoline, if needed, to get drivers to the nearest service station.
Six vans will begin the patrols, and Unocal will add as many as four later. The cooperative venture between Unocal and its Protech dealers will cost $300,000 to start.
A 1978 study by Caltrans Stranded Motorist Project showed that there are about 2,000 disabled vehicles/day on 463 miles of Los Angeles County freeways. About 70% of the breakdowns were due to autos out of gasoline, flat tires, dead batteries, mechanical failures, or overheating.
Unocal will gather emissions data from Scrap and Smog-Fighter to share with the South Coast Air Quality Management District, State Air Resources Board, university researchers, and environmental or other groups.
The 1989 Air Quality Management Plan compiled by the Scaqmd and the Southern California Association of Governments shows that the area fails to meet federal air quality standards for four types of pollutants: carbon monoxide, ozone, fine particulate matter, and nitrogen dioxide.
The district consists of Orange County and the non-desert areas of Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernadino counties.
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