Reducing Diesel Pollution in Oregon would eliminate*:
460 premature deaths 145 non-fatal heart attacks 25,000 lost work days 5,300 asthma attacks in children 119 ER visits by children with asthma
* based on EPA estimates
Oregon State Legislature To Address Diesel Pollution
In the wake of numerous news articles, Oregon leaders have expressed strong commitment to finding a solution to the cancerous particulate pollution emitted by old dirty diesel engines.
Neighbors for Clean Air has built a strong coalition of health and environment advocates calling on Oregon to adopt California style regulations that have been quite effective in reducing particulate pollution.
This is an urgent issue that state lawmakers need to address in this session, to stop the dumping of older equipment* from California where stricter rules are phasing in, making Oregon’s problem even worse for decades to come. As the recent Portland Tribune article** notes: “Older diesel trucks and off-road construction and other commercial rigs spew microscopic particles that lodge in peoples’ lungs, causing cancer, heart attacks and other health maladies. Federal data crunched by the Clean Air Task Force in Boston shows that Multnomah County has the fourth-highest level of diesel soot of all U.S. counties – more than in Los Angeles County. Oregon has the sixth-highest level among the states, leading to hundreds of premature deaths here every year because of diesel.”
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
Do you have a story to tell about how diesel emissions and air pollution affect your health or that of a family member? Does someone in your family have asthma? Please submit your story to: mary@whatsinourair.org
Sign up for action alerts, to attend hearings and provide testimony.
Share this email, with a personal message, urging your friends to get involved.
Contact your state representatives to voice your support for regulations that restrict the use of older, dirtier diesel equipment in Oregon.
One thing that came out of our work last year on the Oregon Solutions Swan Island Air Quality Forum, is that if you live in North Portland and you smell industrial chemical odors, you are not alone.
In fact, more than 30% of all complaints received by the Department of Environmental Quality complaint line are attributed to North Portland industrial odors. This has been further corroborated by early findings of an independent odor survey study being conducted by a joint University of Portland/Vigor Industrial student research team.
Reporting odors you suspect come from an industrial source in your neighborhood is an important tool for mitigating potential risks associated from toxic emissions. While not everything you smell is toxic, and not everything that is toxic smells, odors can demonstrate the impact that all emissions have on a neighborhood and can be a first signal that you may be exposed to dangerous industrial air pollution.
