Imperial County Board of Supervisors aims to clear the air over the Valley

IMPERIAL COUNTY, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - The Imperial County Board of Supervisors aims to clear the air over its communities.

Earlier this week, in its capacity as the Air Pollution Control Board, approved a contract with Sonoma Technology to work on the New River Pollutant Monitoring Project in Calexico.

The budget for this project is about $335,000. The state of California will provide funding, so it won't cost the county anything. It will begin in August, and end in January of 2022.

Imperial County has some of the poorest air quality in the nation. Parts of the Valley, particularly those near the Salton Sea, have unusually high childhood asthma rates.

This study will concentrate on a portion of Calexico in close proximity to the New River. The river is also the focus of aggressive state cleanup efforts.

Thursday on News 11's Early Edition, Wiley Jawhary speaks to the project manager and a county supervisor to learn more about what the study hopes to accomplish.