Athens County residents might be exposed to more health risks from diesel exhaust than they bargained for.
A report by the Clean Air Task Force, a Boston-based environmental organization, ranked Athens 439th out of more than 3,000 U.S. counties for high cancer risk from diesel soot emitted by buses, trucks, locomotives and construction vehicles. Children, seniors and people who live close to busy roadways are at higher risk.
While that number might seem high, Athens County residents are relatively safe compared to residents elsewhere in the state -Athens was ranked 57th out of the 88 Ohio counties for the highest cancer risk.
The report also ranked Ohio eighth in the country for the highest premature death rate. Of the 21,000 Americans to die prematurely each year from diesel emissions, 800 are Ohioans.
The cancer risk from diesel exhaust is greater than that of all other air toxins combined
said Conrad Schneider, co-author of the report.
Diesel exhaust is hazardous because it contains extremely fine particles -often no larger than one-thirtieth of the diameter of a human hair -that can become lodged in the lungs and cause asthma, lung cancer and a wealth of other health problems, said Heidi Griesmer, spokeswoman for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
To curb these harmful effects, the U.S. EPA has issued additional regulations during the past decade that place more stringent requirements on the nation's diesel fleet, said John Millett, agency spokesman. In 2007, the first engines compliant with the new regulations will roll off the assembly line.
In the same year, low-sulfur diesel fuel will become available nationally, allowing older fleets to fit highway vehicles with catalytic converters and reduce particle emissions by about 90 percent. Fleet owners can purchase catalytic converters, particle filters and other retrofits through the EPA's Voluntary Diesel Retrofit Program, Millett said.
Retrofit technologies add parts such as filters to decrease an engine's emissions.
The report estimates retrofits for a typical bus can cost anywhere between $5,000 and $7,000.
Though the program is purely voluntary, Millett said longer engine life and lower maintenance costs resulting from the use of retrofits and cleaner fuel provide incentives for fleets to participate.
It would be a major undertaking to require retrofits of diesels Millett said.
But the Clean Air Task Force report suggests states and municipalities do more to clean up the nation's estimated 13 million-vehicle diesel fleet. Specific recommendations include providing money for retrofit programs, requiring emissions cleanup as a part of construction contracts and adopting anti-idling ordinances and legislation.
It is especially important to curb emissions from older vehicles that were in service before regulations took effect because diesel engines can run for up to 30 years, Schneider said.
That's three decades to put up with pollution that's preventable he said.
Despite the report's gloomy outlook, industry groups have criticized its methodology on grounds that the findings rely on old data. Most of the report's findings used data gathered from the EPA in 1999, but some, such as the 30-year diesel engine lifespan statistic, used data as old as 1990.
The diesel industry has made tremendous strides in upgrading and modernizing engines during the last five years, which were not represented in the report, said Allan Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum.
Despite its shortcomings, many of the report's recommendations are in line with the goals of the forum, he said.
We're not going to sit here and try and shoot holes through it
he said about the report. This report serves to elevate the discussion.
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Matt Danford
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Alexander local school buses line up Wednesday before school is dismissed. The high diesel emissions level in Athens county puts residents at increased risk for cancer.
