The Board of Supervisors Tuesday voted unanimously in favor of a separate government agency purchasing thousands of air purifiers for South County residents affected by pollution, including sewage odor.
Board Chair Nora Vargas' office said the San Diego Air Pollution Control District will distribute the purifiers.
Supervisors also authorized county Chief Administrative Officer Ebony Shelton to negotiate a memorandum of understanding with the APCD.
Vargas described Tuesday's vote as "a crucial next step in our ongoing fight against the pollution crisis affecting our families in South County."
First established in 1955, the APCD has an 11-member governing board that includes city and county elected leaders, including Vargas and Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer.
According to Vargas' office, the APCD has identified $2.7 million to purchase the devices. The California Air Resources Board will reimburse the money.
Along with distributing air purifiers, ACPD will conduct public outreach "to provide timely and accurate updates on air quality and available resources," according to Vargas' office.
Vargas said the federal Environmental Protection Agency is also supportive of the effort.
Recently, the county launched the Emergency Air Quality and Improvement Relief pilot program, and gave air purifiers to 414 households.
However, "many more households still need resources to combat the odor," Vargas' office said, adding the goal is to distribute 10,000 air purifiers.
Vargas during Tuesday's meeting said the agreement means residents in the city of Imperial Beach and Tijuana River Valley communities such as Nestor can also get purifiers.
She added that it's just one of several county actions to ensure that residents "`not only breathe clean air, but are able to (have) clean beaches."
As an APCD board member, Vargas in September proposed a motion to secure money for air purifiers, according to her office.
During public comments Tuesday, speakers said the purifiers are desperately needed.
Jack Shu, a La Mesa City Council member, said it ultimately doesn't matter which public agency helps with improving South County air quality.
"Ultimately, we want to make sure the community is involved," said Shu, who also serves on the ACPD board.
A man who said he lives "less than a quarter-mile from the epicenter of all this toxic sludge," said purifiers must be hospital grade and distributed in a more efficient manner, especially for families.
"It's absurd that it (has) taken this long to get air purifiers for residents," he said — adding that he was at a birthday party of a friend's son, and that the boy couldn't blow out the candles on his cake due to poor air quality.
"You know how sad that is?" the man said.
