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Study confirms Puget Sound air pollution among nation's worst
Wednesday, May 15, 2002
By LUIS CABRERA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
A study released Wednesday confirms that air in the Puget Sound area is among the nation's worst for levels of diesel soot, a major contributor to cancer risk.
The study, released by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, estimates that 550 in 1 million people would develop lung cancer over a 70-year life span from exposure to burning diesel fuel in the greater Seattle area.
A total of nearly 700 in 1 million would be expected to develop cancer from exposure to diesel and some 30 other pollutants measured in the study.
The study confirms a 1996 federal report that showed King, Snohomish, Pierce and Kitsap counties are in the 90th percentile or above for levels of chemicals emitted by the burning of diesel fuel in semi-trucks and other vehicles, Clean Air Agency Director Dennis McLerran said.
The agency was skeptical at first when the federal Environmental Protection Agency ranked the area's air pollution with cities such as Los Angeles and Houston, McLerran said.
However, the study released Wednesday of monitoring at six Seattle-area sites shows the federal figures "were quite accurate," he said.
He noted that diesel fuel puts out as much as 40 percent more pollutants than standard gasoline.
"We're a a port city," McLerran said of Seattle. "We have a lot of diesel truck traffic in and out of the port, rail traffic, ships coming in and out. We're a major trade center and major trade centers have concentrations of diesel vehicles. "
The study estimates that between 70 percent and 85 percent of cancer risk in the region comes from diesel fuel. Standard gasoline emissions remain a concern, McLerran said, but cars, unlike diesel vehicles, are required to have catalytic converters and other pollution-reducing devices.
Data came from six months of monitoring for pollutants at six King County sites: Beacon Hill, Georgetown and Maple Leaf in Seattle; suburban Lake Sammamish east of the city, Lake Forest Park to the north and Seatac to the south.
Models were used to estimate pollutants in the other three counties, and their levels were consistent with those measured in King County, McLerran said.
"What this study identifies is we have an identifiable cancer risk in all four of our urban counties," he said.
"What we really need is for our school districts and local governments and large (diesel) fleet owners to begin to address these risks. "
Diesel emissions can be significantly reduced, McLerran said, through retrofitting diesel vehicles with new exhaust systems that can burn cleaner diesel fuel.
"A local government, by purchasing this cleaner fuel and retrofitting its fleet, can clean up its fleet by 90 to 95 percent," he said.
The Clean Air Agency is working with officials in Seattle, King County, Everett and other local governments to encourage retrofitting of buses and staff fleet cars, McLerran said.
It also is reaching out to private shipping and other companies to encourage them to retrofit ahead of a federal program scheduled to begin within four years.
"Our goal is to reach 50 percent of public fleets over next five years and 30 percent of private fleets," he said, adding that diesel school bus fleets were a particular concern.
He noted that other high-pollution areas such as Los Angeles and Boston have imposed more stringent requirements on diesel fuel. In Los Angeles, for example, requirements are in place for exhaust retrofitting and burning the cleaner fuel in fleets. In Boston, construction companies are required to retrofit their vehicles.
© 1998-2002 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/70516_pollution15ww.shtml
Study confirms Puget Sound air pollution among nation's worst
Wednesday, May 15, 2002
By LUIS CABRERA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
A study released Wednesday confirms that air in the Puget Sound area is among the nation's worst for levels of diesel soot, a major contributor to cancer risk.
The study, released by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, estimates that 550 in 1 million people would develop lung cancer over a 70-year life span from exposure to burning diesel fuel in the greater Seattle area.
A total of nearly 700 in 1 million would be expected to develop cancer from exposure to diesel and some 30 other pollutants measured in the study.
The study confirms a 1996 federal report that showed King, Snohomish, Pierce and Kitsap counties are in the 90th percentile or above for levels of chemicals emitted by the burning of diesel fuel in semi-trucks and other vehicles, Clean Air Agency Director Dennis McLerran said.
The agency was skeptical at first when the federal Environmental Protection Agency ranked the area's air pollution with cities such as Los Angeles and Houston, McLerran said.
However, the study released Wednesday of monitoring at six Seattle-area sites shows the federal figures "were quite accurate," he said.
He noted that diesel fuel puts out as much as 40 percent more pollutants than standard gasoline.
"We're a a port city," McLerran said of Seattle. "We have a lot of diesel truck traffic in and out of the port, rail traffic, ships coming in and out. We're a major trade center and major trade centers have concentrations of diesel vehicles. "
The study estimates that between 70 percent and 85 percent of cancer risk in the region comes from diesel fuel. Standard gasoline emissions remain a concern, McLerran said, but cars, unlike diesel vehicles, are required to have catalytic converters and other pollution-reducing devices.
Data came from six months of monitoring for pollutants at six King County sites: Beacon Hill, Georgetown and Maple Leaf in Seattle; suburban Lake Sammamish east of the city, Lake Forest Park to the north and Seatac to the south.
Models were used to estimate pollutants in the other three counties, and their levels were consistent with those measured in King County, McLerran said.
"What this study identifies is we have an identifiable cancer risk in all four of our urban counties," he said.
"What we really need is for our school districts and local governments and large (diesel) fleet owners to begin to address these risks. "
Diesel emissions can be significantly reduced, McLerran said, through retrofitting diesel vehicles with new exhaust systems that can burn cleaner diesel fuel.
"A local government, by purchasing this cleaner fuel and retrofitting its fleet, can clean up its fleet by 90 to 95 percent," he said.
The Clean Air Agency is working with officials in Seattle, King County, Everett and other local governments to encourage retrofitting of buses and staff fleet cars, McLerran said.
It also is reaching out to private shipping and other companies to encourage them to retrofit ahead of a federal program scheduled to begin within four years.
"Our goal is to reach 50 percent of public fleets over next five years and 30 percent of private fleets," he said, adding that diesel school bus fleets were a particular concern.
He noted that other high-pollution areas such as Los Angeles and Boston have imposed more stringent requirements on diesel fuel. In Los Angeles, for example, requirements are in place for exhaust retrofitting and burning the cleaner fuel in fleets. In Boston, construction companies are required to retrofit their vehicles.
© 1998-2002 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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There are lots of port barring cities.
