Image courtesy of GASP

Pittsburgh residents need to send a strong message to their Council members calling for new environmental regulations for publicly supported development in the city. Please attend the following:

Thursday, July 1
1:00 pm, Press Conference
1:30 pm, Public Hearing
Fifth Floor, City County Building
414 Grant Street, Pittsburgh

This is part of the Pittsburgh United campaign to reform publicly-funded development in Pittsburgh. For summaries of the two pieces of legislation see below: (more…)

Tom Hoffman opens June 1 press conference with Council members Rudiak, Peduto, and Shields.

With Pittsburgh chosen as this year’s national site for the UN World Environmental Day June 5, it was appropriate for Councilman Bill Peduto to introduce Clean Air – Clean Water bills in Council on June 1. The two pieces of legislation are the second part of the Pittsburgh UNITED coalition’s Economic Development Reform legislative package.

Speaking at a press conference preceding the Council meeting were co-sponsors Bruce Kraus, Natalia Rudiak, and Doug Shields. In addition, leaders from community groups, unions, and environmental organizations spoke in support of the legislation that will deal with diesel emissions at construction sites and storm water run-off. Details of the legislation are provided below, and we also have a photo gallery from the press conference.

WE NEED TWO MORE VOTES IN COUNCIL

TO PASS THIS IMPORTANT LEGISLATION.

If you are a resident of Pittsburgh and your member of Council is Darlene Harris, Theresa Kail-Smith, Daniel Lavelle, Patrick Dowd or Rev. Ricky Burgess, then PLEASE URGE THEM TO SUPPORT THE CLEAN AIR-CLEAN WATER LEGISLATION. (more…)

Clairton coke plan. US Steel photo

According to the American Lung Association’s “State of the Air 2010” report, our region no longer has the worst daily soot (fine particle) pollution in the nation. That dubious honor has fallen to Bakersfield, CA. We also dropped from second to fifth place for year-round soot pollution. Since 2000, the year-round level of soot pollution has declined steadily.

As an Air Quality alert issued April 30 by the state DEP indicates, there is still much to be done to reduce the fine-particle pollution in our region, especially in the Mon Valley. Towards that end, the news that U.S. Steel has resumed the $1 billion upgrade of the Clairton coke plant is welcome.

On April 6 Allegheny County Council adopted a regulation that will reduce diesel pollution from idling by off- road vehicles, such as construction equipment. Initially recommended by the Board of Health in 2007, this measured is strongly supported by the Allegheny County Partnership to Reduce Diesel Pollution.

In Allegheny County diesel exhaust poses a serious risk to the community’s health and exacerbates global warming. According to a 2005 report by the Clean Air Task Force, Diesel and Health in America: The Lingering Threat, diesel shortens the lives of 237 Pittsburghers each year, and triggers hundreds of heart attacks and thousands of asthma attacks. Our children and the elderly are most at risk from the harmful effects of diesel exhaust.
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OK. Lawns are perhaps not the earth-friendliest way to go, but if the size of your yard means you need a lawn to cover part of it, have you thought of using a push reel lawnmower? The advantages of a reel lawnmower are low capital outlay, no maintenance costs, safe and quiet, no noxious fumes on ozone-alert days, and no fuel consumption (other than a good breakfast). It is best if your lawn is free of twigs and leaves when you start to mow, and you should not let you grass grow too tall between cuts.

Although environmentalists were disappointed with President Obama’s Offshore Drilling proposal, they were elated on April 1 when the EPA and Dept. of Transportation finalized new standards for vehicle emissions. The standards apply to passenger cars, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty passenger vehicles, covering model years 2012 through 2016.

The new standards will raise the fuel economy to 35.5 miles per gallon and carbon dioxide emissions will be reduced to 250 grams per mile. Estimated efficiency gains in the autos sold under these standards will save 1.8 billion barrels of oil. (more…)

There are two sides to ozone: it is good when it us way up in the stratosphere, but bad when it is at ground level. In areas like Los Angeles, ground level ozone mixes with particulate matter to form the notorious smog. Here in Pittsburgh we have our own Ozone Action Days, normally in the summer, when people with asthma, lung and heart disease, and other respiratory problems are especially vulnerable. (more…)

Allegheny County is required to present to the US Environmental Protection Agency a plan that will lower the amount of very fine particulate matter in the air in the Mon Valley. The County Health Department has submitted an air quality plan, known formally as the PM2.5 State Implementation Plan for the Liberty-Clairton Non-Attainment Area.

However, according to environmental groups, the County’s plan is not complete. In a letter to the EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, GASP and PennFuture called for inclusion of the Lincoln area near the Clairton coke plant in the overall air quality plan. According to the EPA, toxic air pollutants in the Liberty-Clairton area make residents’ risk of getting cancer nearly 20 times more likely than the national average.

Co-signing the letter to the EPA were the American Lung Association, the Environmental Integrity Project and the Sierra Club.

On January 20, the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition called for Congressional action to prevent rising rates of chronic disease resulting from the growing number and amount of unregulated toxins in our environment. The number and variety of organizations listed in the coalition illustrates how important this issue has become. (more…)

Based on over a thousand studies of the impact of ozone on public health, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson proposed January 7 that the “primary” standard for ground-level ozone would be lowered to a level between 60 and 70 parts per billion (ppb) measured over eight hours. (See the NY Times video.)
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“In 2007 U.S. power plants released 2.56 billion tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the amount produced by 449 million of today’s cars – that’s more than three times the number of passenger cars registered in the United States in the same year.”

That is one of the remarkable findings of a new report from Environment America titled “America’s Biggest Polluters – Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Power Plants in 2007”. This report follows a recent account of the trend of power plant emissions from 1990 to 2007.
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In an aggressive move to protect public health, on Nov. 17 the federal EPA proposed new regulations to reduce pollution from power plants. The EPA press release states:
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In an important demonstration of how to improve air quality in Pittsburgh, the state DEP has channeled federal stimulus funds to help the city significantly reduce emissions from diesel-fueled garbage trucks.

The Allegheny County Partnership to Reduce Diesel Pollution, led by GASP and Clean Water Action, is to be applauded for its campaign to bring this action about.

Most Pennsylvanians probably know already that eating fish from our streams is not a safe practice because of mercury contamination. And most environmentalists understand that a major source of the mercury, in the form of methylmercury, is the emission from coal-fired power plants. Now they can learn just how widespread the contamination of this neurotoxin is throughout nation’s watersheds.
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At the beginning of July, the Allegheny County Board of Health voted 8 to 1 to indefinitely postpone updating the Air Toxics Guidelines used to issue permits for industry to release toxics. The Board is appointed by County Executive Dan Onorato, who, we might add, is running for Governor.
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