Two diesel bills to be introduced in 2015 Oregon legislative session

Received by email from Neighbors for Clean Air…

February 5, 2015

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.
Share the petition with your friends.

* The Oregonian: Oregon becomes dumping ground for California’s old, polluting diesel big rigs
**Portland Tribune: Group hopes to ban older diesel trucks

Man smells something stinky and pinches his nose to stop the bad odor.

REPORT ODORS!

Do you smell that?

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.

For more information about reporting odors, visit our website: https://www.whatsinourair.org/take-action/report-an-odor/

Neighbors for Clean Air

PO Box 10544

Portland, Oregon 97296