New Gas All But Erases Traditional Smog

Southern California’s smog season ends this week, leaving a legacy of the cleanest air in decades - an improvement officials credit largely to cleaner-burning gasoline.

Experts say the 1996 season is substantially better than even last year, which had the smallest number of serious smog episodes in the four decades since they started keeping records.

The area had only seven Stage One alerts, which indicate severe bouts of pollution. Last year, twice that number was reported.

Air pollution can plague the region year-round, but Southern California’s peak smog season runs from May through October. Sunshine, warm temperatures, stagnant airflow and gases from vehicles, industry and other sources combine in a chemical reaction that forms ozone, an invisible pollutant that is the most prevalent component of smog.

Just 20 years ago, the region endured 102 days of Stage One alerts because of ozone. The South Coast Air Quality Management District, which monitors Southern California’s air quality, now predicts the alerts will become extinct by 2000.

Officials said California’s new reformulated gasoline was the largest single reason for the cleaner air.