http://www.latimes.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-dairy-emissions0928sep27.story?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dbusiness%2Dheadlines Emissions From Cow Manure Targeted By MASON STOCKSTILL Associated Press Writer September 27 2001, 11:21 PM PDT CHINO, Calif. -- Emissions from cow manure are the latest targets of government anti-air pollution crusaders charged with reducing smog in Southern California. The state's 1.5 million cows gave about 32 billion pounds of milk last year -- about 20 percent of the nation's total output _ but they also kicked up tons of dust and filled wastewater lagoons with millions of gallons of manure. The 450,000 dairy cows in Southern California create air pollution that combines with smog and soot drifting down from the urban areas around Los Angeles to produce some of the nation's worst air. "The areas downwind of the dairies have some of the highest particulate pollution in the country," said South Coast Air Quality Maintenance District spokesman Sam Atwood. Emissions from manure, mainly ammonia, contribute to particulate pollution, mostly seen as soot or dust. When ammonia joins with nitrogen oxide -- mainly from car and truck emissions -- it creates ammonium nitrate particles small enough to slip through humans' nose and lung filters. Dust from unpaved roads and corrals and fine particles of grain from feed grinding mills also contribute to the problem. The dairy industry only accounts for about 1 percent of the emissions that lead to smog, while cars and trucks account for about 57 percent, Atwood said. But the area is so polluted -- the South Coast air quality district is the only region in the country classified as an "extreme" violator of federal Clean Air Act standards -- that even industries that are relatively small polluters are being forced to make changes, he said. With the federal act mandating clearer skies by 2006, the South Coast district is considering tighter emissions regulations for livestock waste. In the cattle-rich Chino Valley 40 miles east of Los Angeles, such pollution has been linked to 275 premature deaths each year, according to an air quality district study. The EPA and the state Legislature are also considering requiring farms to obtain air pollution permits to make them subject to greater regulatory scrutiny. The San Joaquin Valley United Air Pollution Control District is also looking into new rules to cut farm emissions. The air quality district is hoping enough dairy farmers will simply move away to satisfy stricter ammonia emissions standards, Atwood said. Urban encroachment and high land values have already pushed many local dairy farms to the San Joaquin Valley and other parts of California. If that's not enough, plans for cutting ammonia emissions include altering cattle feed composition to reduce nitrogen ingestion, using different manure cleanup techniques or increased composting. The Chino Metropolitan Water District already operates a large composter, where dairy farmers like Pat Van Dam haul their manure for processing. Two more such facilities are in the works. Like most farmers, Van Dam doesn't truck her farm's waste to the composter regularly; she delivers it four times a year. The air quality district's preliminary plan suggests "composting should be conducted shortly after waste is generated" because stored, untreated manure continues to emit ammonia. Van Dam said most farmers would go along with that if making more timely trips to the composter was economically feasible. Her reaction to changing her animals' feed wasn't as positive. "They need more research to find out if changing the feed would be worth doing, that it would actually lower emissions," she said. Copyright 2001 Associated Press