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Detroit Ranks 3rd
for the Worst Air Pollution
among Major U.S. Cities
Bush Plan Favors Energy Companies over Public Health
<>Southfield, Michigan — With the Bush administration poised
to finalize weak air pollution standards for power plant smokestacks, a
new report
released today by PIRGIM (Public Interest Research Group In Michigan)
shows
massive air pollution problems across the U.S.
The Detroit
metropolitan area had the 3rd highest level of soot
pollution among major
U.S.
cities in
2003.
“Detroit made the
top 10 list that no city wants to
be on,” said Jason Barbose, state field organizer for PIRGIM. “The
bottom line
is Detroit is a polluted city, and children with
asthma, senior citizens, and others with breathing problems are
suffering the
most,” continued Barbose.
<>Power plants are the nation’s
largest industrial source of air pollution, contributing 23 percent of
smog-forming nitrogen oxide emissions and 67 percent of soot-forming
sulfur
dioxide emissions nationwide, according to EPA data. This
report comes as the Bush administration
prepares to finalize weak and delayed air pollution standards for power
plants
in the Eastern U.S., while opening up new loopholes in the law. The
plan would prevent future cleanup
efforts, weaken protections in parks and wilderness areas, let power
plants
emit more than 1.5 times more smog- and soot-forming pollution than the
Clean
Air Act allows, and not take full effect until 2015.
“Time and again the
Bush administration has favored big energy companies over science and
public
health. The administration should
reverse course and clean up dangerous power plant pollution,” stated
Barbose.
<>Much as sunburn affects the skin,
smog burns the lungs and airways, affecting even a healthy person’s
ability to
breathe and causing a host of respiratory problems, including asthma
attacks,
increased susceptibility to respiratory infections, and decreased lung
function. In Detroit, smog triggers 130,000 asthma attacks each year.
Soot is an
even more dangerous pollutant because the tiny
particles can lodge deep in the lungs or pass directly into the
bloodstream,
causing serious respiratory and cardiovascular problems, including
heart
attacks, lung cancer, and premature death.
In Detroit, soot pollution from power plants alone causes
783 non-fatal
heart attacks and 446 premature deaths each year.
<>Yesterday, EPA released new data
showing that soot-forming sulfur dioxide emissions increased in Michigan by 2.28 percent between 2002 and 2003.
Danger in the Air:
Unhealthy Levels of Air
Pollution in 2003 is PIRGIM’s
fifth annual analysis of air quality based on a survey of environmental
agencies in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. For
the first time, the report examines levels of fine particle “soot”
pollution in
addition to ozone “smog” pollution. Key
findings
include the following:
·
Michigan ranked 2nd nationwide for the
worst year-round soot pollution and 7th for the most spikes
in soot
pollution in 2003. The Detroit
metropolitan area had the 3rd highest year-round soot
pollution
among major U.S.
cities in 2003.
·
Michigan ranked 11th nationwide for
the worst smog pollution in
2003. Smog levels in the Detroit
metropolitan area exceeded EPA’s 8-hour health standard 36 times and
the 1-hour
standard 6 times on 7 smog days in 2003, ranking the city 25th
for
the worst smog pollution among major U.S.
cities.
·
Nationally,
smog levels in 40 states and the District of Columbia exceeded EPA’s 8-hour health standard 4,583
times and the 1-hour health standard 684 times on 187 days in 2003. Ozone levels in 2003 were similar to those in
2000 and 2001; in contrast, 2002 was a hot and dry summer, leading to
record
high ozone levels.
·
Nationally,
soot levels exceeded EPA’s year-round health standard in 53
metropolitan areas
in 20 states in 2003, and soot levels exceeded EPA’s 24-hour
health
standard 106 times on 39 days in 13 states.
<>The report also
includes preliminary smog data for 19 states and the District of
Columbia for
2004, which, like 2003, has been a relatively mild and wet summer. Yet, ozone levels still exceeded EPA’s 8-hour
health standard 602 times and the 1-hour standard 84 times so far in
2004.
“We can’t depend on
the weather to protect us from polluted air.
But we can, and the Bush administration should,
dramatically cut
the smokestack pollution that causes unhealthy smog levels,” said
Barbose.
<>Barbose called the
Bush administration’s record on air pollution “dismal,” noting that
President
Bush reversed his campaign pledge to cap global warming pollution from
power
plants within the first 60 days of his administration and has promoted
numerous
policies to weaken clean air protections, including the most
significant
rollback of the Clean Air Act in the law’s 34-year history. That policy, finalized in September 2003, allows
old coal-fired power plants to virtually rebuild without ever
installing modern
pollution controls, further extending the lives of about 550 outdated
plants
that emit 98 percent of the smog-forming nitrogen oxide emissions and
99
percent of the soot-forming sulfur dioxide emissions from power plants.
<>
PIRGIM called on the Bush administration to substantially
strengthen, accelerate, and finalize its proposal to cap soot- and
smog-forming
pollutants from power plants in the Eastern U.S.
to
adequately protect public health and comply with the Clean Air Act.
<>
<>##
PIRGIM is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest advocacy
organization
--
Jason Barbose
PIRGIM Field Organizer
103 E. Liberty St., Suite 202
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734.662.6597
jason@pirgim.org
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