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Reading Area Ranks 10th for Soot Pollution in Mid-Size Cities

Posted on: Wednesday, 25 January 2006, 12:00 CST

By Adam Wilson, Reading Eagle, Pa.

Jan. 25--The Reading area ranks 10th worst in the country among mid-sized metropolitan areas for soot in the air, according to a study by a Philadelphia-based environmental group.

But while the findings show serious air pollution in parts of Pennsylvania, efforts have begun to lessen the pollution, said Ron Ruman, a state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman.

"It is going to happen," Ruman said of lowering air-pollution levels. "People want it to happen overnight, but if you look at standards in place, over the next four or five years it will definitely help."

Craig Hafer, president of the Berks County Environmental Advisory Council, said air pollution is one of the biggest issues facing the county.

"Not only is the poor air quality causing (physical) ailments, they are having a serious economic ramification with higher medical costs in the community, which makes Berks less attractive economically," he said.

Hafer said the county has tentative plans to install airquality monitors around Berks, which could indicate about how much air pollution is blowing in from elsewhere.

"It is an issue that has been brought up numerous times, and it's an issue we are going to resolve," he said.

The PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center, a statewide environmental advocacy organization, made the rankings of soot pollution based on 2004 data collected by air-quality monitors around the country, said Nathan Willcox, a spokesman for PennEnvironment.

Nationally, 17 mid-size metropolitan regions -- those with populations from 250,000 to 1 million -- made the list of cities failing air-quality standards set by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, according to the "Plagued by Pollution" report. Of those, four were in Pennsylvania: Lancaster; York-Hanover; Harrisburg-Carlisle; and Reading.

Of major metropolitan areas -- those with populations greater than 1 million -- Pittsburgh and Philadelphia ranked second and 16th respectively for chronic soot pollution.

"Far too many Pennsylvania cities made the Top 10 list that no city wants to be on," Willcox said.

In 2003, Reading ranked 12th worst in the country using the same methodology, Willcox said.

There are many reasons for the poor rankings, said Kevin M. Stewart, director of environmental health for the American Lung Association of Pennsylvania.

He noted that coal-burning power plants and vehicle emissions, particularly those from diesel engines, are among the biggest contributors of soot pollution.

The Titus Generating Station in Cumru Township, owned by Reliant Energy, burns coal.

Ruman pointed to several state and federal initiatives that he said will help to improve air quality beginning by about 2008.

Those include encouraging coal-burning power plants to move toward coal gasification systems, such as one proposed in Mahanoy Township, Schuylkill County.

Also, Gov. Ed Rendell is a leading advocate of creating soy-based diesel fuel, which burns cleaner than regular diesel, Ruman said.

Small-business grants are available for truck stops to install technology that would allow trucks to hook into a heating and air-conditioning system rather than idle while the drivers sleep.

"But the fact is we can't conquer this ourselves," Ruman said, explaining that Pennsylvania has long contended that it suffers from power-plant pollution blowing in from states such as Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky and West Virginia.

An EPA initiative introduced in 2005 called the Clean Air Interstate Rule requires power plants and other industries to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide by about 60 percent from 2003 levels.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Reading Eagle, Pa.

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Source: Reading Eagle

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