Report:
Allegheny County in top 2 percent in U.S. for cancer risk from air pollution
November 21, 2013 11:39
PM
Rebecca
Droke/Post-Gazette
The Clairton coke plant along the Monongahela River. The emissions most
affecting public health in the region are diesel particulate matter,
formaldehyde, benzene and coke oven gas emissions, according a new report.
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By Don Hopey /
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Because of
toxic air pollution, Allegheny County residents have twice the cancer risk of
those living in surrounding counties, according to a report released Thursday
by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health's Center for
Healthy Environments and Communities.
And in hot
spots within Allegheny County, the cancer risk is up to 20 times higher.
The Pittsburgh
Regional Environmental Threats Analysis report, funded by The Heinz Endowments,
links the higher cancer rates to a broad class of hazardous air pollutants from
industry, energy production and diesel vehicles.
"This
report underscores three of the major air quality challenges facing the region
-- diesel emissions, large point sources and a potential transforming pollutant
mixture from unconventional natural gas drilling operations," said the
report's lead author, Drew Michanowicz, a Pitt Public Health research
assistant. "Our findings serve to better focus our future research
efforts, as well as support response actions by community-based advocacy groups
and other stakeholders to meet these challenges."
The report
notes that Allegheny County ranks in the top 2 percent of counties in the U.S.
for cancer risk from hazardous air pollutants.
The Pitt study
is the last of three commissioned by The Heinz Endowments -- the first two
focused on airborne particulates and ozone -- and the health impact findings
support those of the Post-Gazette's "Mapping Mortality" project,
published in December 2010.
PG graphic: Highest
cancer rates, by census tract
(Click image for larger version)
That project
found that there were 14,636 more deaths in a 14-county Western Pennsylvania
area from 2000 through 2008 than national mortality rates predicted, including
600 additional lung cancer deaths. Communities downwind from many pollution
sources showed higher mortality rates for respiratory, heart disease and lung
cancer.
The Pitt report
showed the biggest air toxics emissions affecting public health in the region
are diesel particulate matter, formaldehyde, benzene and coke oven gas
emissions, which is based on the latest U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Air Toxics Assessment data and local air quality monitoring information.
The report
found that the census tracts with the highest risk levels are clustered in the
southeastern corner of Allegheny County, where heavy industries and coking
operations affect air quality in the Liberty-Clairton area near U.S. Steel
Corp.'s Clairton coke works, and also in communities downwind from coking and
other industrial sources on Neville Island, and in Downtown, where diesel
emissions play a major role.
"There's
enough information in the report to determine with certainty we have an air
toxics problem and challenge that presents a serious and systematic threat to
our population and the environment," said Philip Johnson, senior program
manager at The Heinz Endowments.
He said the
report shows that the region's air problems are unique because they include a
heavy load of mobile sources, a large number of industrial sources close to
populated areas, and complicated geography, including river valleys, that trap
pollutants.
"We have
challenges that are more intense and of an overlapping nature compared to other
cities and regions," he said. "The report is not about what we aren't
doing but rather about what more we can do."
A coalition of
environmental and community organizations including Clean Air Council, Clean
Water Action, Group Against Smog and Pollution, PennFuture, Sustainable
Pittsburgh and Women for a Healthy Environment urged Pittsburgh and the
Allegheny County Health Department to implement a series of programs aimed at
reducing toxics emissions from industry and diesel sources.
"Our
region cannot afford to have its economic turnaround story tainted by the
stigma of lingering air quality woes," said Court Gould, executive
director, Sustainable Pittsburgh. "We need to redouble efforts to educate,
measure and make changes to reduce cancer risks from air pollution."
"In the
last few years, we have seen many reports like this one. A typical response
from policy makers is to ignore the reports or -- even worse -- discredit them.
We desperately need leaders who will not only acknowledge the problems, but act
on them," said Tom Hoffman, Western Pennsylvania director, Clean Water
Action.
Jim Thompson,
the Allegheny County Health Department's air quality director, said the county
has long recognized that diesel emissions are a problem in Pittsburgh, and that
coke oven emissions have created cancer risk "hot spots" in the
Monongahela River Valley.
He said the
county has sought to address those problem areas by spending $5 million on
programs to rebuild diesel engines and retrofit diesel vehicles to run cleaner.
And he said a $1.2 billion renovation and coke oven replacement project at the
Clairton coke works will help reduce toxic air emissions.
The highest
overall cancer risk in the county is in West Elizabeth, where residents face a
cancer risk 20 times higher than residents in surrounding counties.
The report
findings are a concern for Louise Biddle of West Elizabeth, the borough council
president for the community of 560 people.
"I'm
alarmed by it but not surprised," said Ms. Biddle, who has lived in the
borough for 62 of her 89 years. "People are aware of it. They know how
many people have passed away from cancer.
"I'm not
going to say [residents] are going to be afraid, but they will be highly
concerned. Once it gets out, we'll see where it goes from there and what we can
do."
But Ingrid
Palmer, a Glassport resident who owns Drapes by Ingrid in West Elizabeth, said,
based on her experience, the report's risk assessment is overstated.
"It's not
that bad anymore. I don't think so," she said. "I've been working in
West Elizabeth for 40 years or more and have never experienced anything. For my
age, 74, I'm a very healthy person. I do not take any medication."
She also said
air pollution is not foremost on the minds of those she encounters.
"To tell
you the truth, I've never gotten into a conversation with anyone about air
quality. Well, I have talked to my neighbor across the street who is 89, and
she said that way back when it was really bad."
The report is
available at www.heinz.org/UserFiles/Library/PRETA_HAPS.pdf .
Don Hopey:
dhopey@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1983. Michael A. Fuocco contributed.
Don Hopey:
dhopey@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1983. First Published November 21, 2013
12:30 PM
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