Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Is soot Salem's future?
From the RoundTable blog
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Diana Christopulos
Christopulos, of Salem, is air quality coordinator for the Sierra Club's Roanoke Group.
Salem Avalanche baseball games. Youth softball tournaments at the Moyer Complex. The Division III football and men's basketball championships. A bit of envy from surrounding cities and counties. This is the present in the city of Salem.
Consider this future: Frequent air quality alerts. Long traffic jams on Union Street, the access to the Moyer Complex, as diesel locomotives shuttle back and forth. What happened?
At the invitation of Salem officials, Norfolk Southern is preparing a proposal to locate the Roanoke Region Intermodal Facility (a truck-rail transfer station) in Salem, near Colorado Street and the Roanoke River. The official Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation Web site describing the project (www.drpt.virginia.gov/studies/files/Colorado-Street-Site.pdf) already notes this drawback to the Salem location:
The Union Street at-grade crossing might be blocked for long periods of time when trains are switching in and out of the facility. The facility access road would also be blocked at that time.
An intermodal station inside a city poses more than a traffic problem. The diesel engines from trucks, locomotives and the off-road vehicles transferring freight between them are major emitters of soot (PM 2.5, particulate matter that is 2.5 microns or less), the tiny particles that lodge deep in the lungs, threatening disease and even death.
Salem and the Roanoke Valley already have a problem with soot. In 2005, for example, the PM 2.5 monitor in Salem had the highest average readings in the entire state, and the monitor in Raleigh Court ranked third. Both exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency annual limit. Most of the poor air quality days in the Roanoke Valley are due to soot.
The proposed intermodal station would be near Andrew Lewis Middle School and the neighborhoods on each side of the Roanoke River. Trains using the intermodal would travel and idle next to the softball fields at the Moyer Complex.
While soot can travel, it is most dangerous to those who live, work and play close to its sources. The EPA identifies the following health risks from diesel engine soot:
n premature death
n aggravation of respiratory and cardiovascular disease
n lung disease, including cancer
n decreased lung function
n asthma attacks
n heart attacks
n irregular heartbeat.
At least one out of every three people is at a higher risk of such health effects, including:
n children (especially children who are active outdoors)
n older adults
n people with heart or lung disease
n people of all ages who are active outdoors.
According to a recent study by the Harvard School of Public Health, even a slight rise in exposure to soot boosted death rates in at-risk groups by 27 to 32 percent. When pollution levels fell, the death rates returned to expected levels within two years. Many other studies support similar conclusions.
The main source of the existing soot problem is probably truck traffic. A Virginia state air quality working group concluded in 2003 that, "the Interstate 81 corridor and other transportation emission sources must constitute the majority of PM 2.5 emissions in the Roanoke area, because [industrial] emissions comprise 20 percent or less of total emissions in these counties." Yet the intermodal is not designed to reduce local truck traffic -- its purpose is to move freight between the Norfolk area and the Midwest.
Salem would not be the only place affected by a new intermodal. Eventually the soot would diffuse throughout the valley, causing a further increase in already high readings and a possible "nonattainment" designation, resulting in economic curbs.
Someday, perhaps by 2020 or 2030, overall diesel engine emissions will be much cleaner than they are today. The technology already exists. But it is not required for older engines.
Is this the best future for Salem and the Roanoke Valley?
