We want our kids to be outside running, swimming and riding
their bikes, but how healthy is it? As I drive toward south San
Jose every day, I notice there is a lot of smog and pollution.
“We want our kids to be outside running, swimming and riding their bikes, but how healthy is it? As I drive toward south San Jose every day, I notice there is a lot of smog and pollution. I think Morgan Hill has it the worst. I wonder how many people notice all the pollution? I also question what is causing all the this pollution because once you drive past the power plant on Metcaf Road, the pollution clears away and you see the blue sky again. I don’t want my son on the couch this whole summer, but there is so much smog in the air that I don’t think it’s healthy. I notice a dark tunnel of smoke coming from the power plant in south San Jose. You could see the dark cloud of smoke from Masten Avenue in Gilroy. So I called San Jose Air and they told me it was steam and it was perfectly healthy. It didn’t look like steam to me. So next time you are driving down Highway 101 pay attention to the smog and think about your kids enjoying the outdoors.”
Red Phone: Dear Breath Deeply, we are actually pretty fortunate to live in the Bay Area, and especially the South Bay, where there are a lot of trees and open spaces. While the air quality here won’t even come close to that in Oregon, Montana or Alaska, it is a whole lot better than some metro areas, especially the zoo of the Los Angeles area.
As for Calpine’s Metcalf Energy Center, the plant hasn’t had any carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide or fine particulate matter violations in the past 10 years.
Steam is indeed a big portion of what the power plant creates in its production. In fact, Metcalf generates about 1 million pounds of steam an hour.
The Bay Area Quality Management District issues daily alerts on the quality of the air at www.sparetheair.org, so you know when to keep Junior inside and when to let him run free with the other kids
To learn more about the power plant, go to www.metcalfenergycenter.com/ facts/air.asp.
The buzz around bee hives
“I have a problem trying to get rid a bee hive in my tree. It started out the size of a baseball a year ago and now its the size of two footballs. I’ve been trying to find someone to take care of it and get it out, because I need the tree trimmed. I’ve called numerous places. If you could help me out, I’d really appreciate it.
Red Phone: Dear Buzzed, sounds like your bee friends have a passion for sports. While we’re not sure who you called to try to ease the bees, we’ll try to point you in the right direction.
We’re sure you probably didn’t go out and get bee measurements, but if they are Africanized Honey Bees, which have been found in San Benito and Santa Clara counties, you can call the Santa Clara County Vector Control at 918-4770.
The Santa Clara County Beekeepers Guild (www.beeguild.org) has a list of several people in the area who are experienced in removing hives. Give them a call, and let Red Phone know how it turns out.
Coverage crosses the lion
“The journalism students at Christopher High School were extremely disappointed to discover your error in your recent reporting of the vandalism at CHS. It was a line not ‘lion.’ Not a lot of pep in that.”
Red Phone: Dear Crossing The Lion, You gotta love the English language. We should have know it was too coincidental to be true. When we followed up by phone on the police report we received, we got our “lions” crossed and misunderstood what police Sgt. Jim Gillio said about the incident.
It was indeed a line that was drawn not a lion. The Dispatch apologizes for an confusion it may have caused. Please direct any corrections to
ed****@ga****.com
.
