CLEAN AIR RESOLUTION
Resolution Regarding Air Quality in Cumberland County
Authored by the Clean Air Board of Central Pennsylvania
pollution from diesel engine emissions has been proven to be harmful to our health. Diesel exhaust can contain 40 hazardous air pollutants, 15 of which are known human carcinogens. Fine particles from diesel emissions have been linked to heart attacks, asthma, stroke, stunted lung growth and premature death. Children and seniors are at the greatest risk from these emissions1; and
air quality has been shown to be especially degraded in Cumberland County and EPA has designated the County as being in non-attainment of fine particle (PM 2.5) and ozone standards. The average lifetime diesel soot cancer risk here is 393 times greater than the accepted EPA cancer level of one in one million2. Cumberland County is among the 2% most polluted counties in the nation for fine particle pollution3; and
in August 2005 more than 100 doctors in the region submitted a paid advertisement to local media citing statistics about air pollution and attributing the problem primarily to fine particle pollution from diesel exhaust and the heavy concentration of trucks in the area; and
“the earth is the Lord’s, and all that is in it,” as the Psalmist says, and human beings are called to be responsible stewards of God’s creation;
Therefore, the undersigned members of the Cumberland County faith community hereby ask that:
1. Planning and municipal authorities in Cumberland County take air quality factors into account in land use planning decisions, particularly with regard to diesel trucks and buses that contribute to air quality degradation.
2. Cumberland County enact ordinances to limit air pollution from the idling of diesel-powered vehicles.
3. Truck facilities in Cumberland County implement programs to reduce diesel emissions, including installation of electrification units to eliminate the need for extensive diesel-powered truck idling.
4. School districts in Cumberland County enact policies limiting school bus idling and aggressively pursue grant funding and programs to retrofit and upgrade school bus diesel engines with devices to help control harmful emissions.
1. Clean Air Task Force, “Diesel and Health in America,” February 2005. Available online at http://www.catf.us/publications/view/83
2. Clean Air Task Force, Diesel Project. Available at http://www.catf.us/projects/diesel/
3. American Lung Association, “State of the Air 2005.” Available online at http://lungaction.org/reports/stateoftheair2005.html
4. The Sentinel: Carlisle, PA. August 23, 2005