A new air monitoring project aims to study the health effects of air pollution in west Louisville's Rubbertown neighborhood.

More than two decades ago, residents' advocacy spurred the creation of the Strategic Toxic Air Reduction program, which allows local areas to adopt air regulations beyond what the Environmental Protection Agency requires.

Byron Gary, program attorney for the Kentucky Resources Council, said the program was one of the most protective in the nation when it launched in the early 2000s, slashing local air pollution by 80%.

"The STAR program did effectively reduce the emissions from those facilities in West Louisville a great deal," Gary recounted. "It has done a pretty good job at making sure that any additional industry or changes to industry in that area does not backslide and cause cancer risks to go back up."

The three-year project will use multiple air-monitoring sites and a novel wastewater-sampling study to collect data. The West Jefferson County Community Task Force and other local groups are involved in the study and will host regular community meetings to discuss concerns and get residents' feedback.

Matt Mudd, communications coordinator for the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District, said findings from the Rubbertown Air Toxics and Health Assessment will be used to better understand how residents' exposure to toxic air pollution has changed over time.

"We haven't had a project of this scale to compare to that past West Louisville air toxic study until now," Mudd explained. "We're looking forward to having that data in hand, understand the progress that we've made, and then look at what's next."

Gary added the new study is needed to better pinpoint what hazards remain in an area long dominated by chemical and manufacturing industries.

"There's still progress to be made," Gary asserted. "There are still disparities between West Louisville, where predominantly Black residents live, compared to the rest of Louisville."

A study published earlier this year by Stanford Medicine researchers found Black Americans are significantly more likely to die from health problems linked to air pollution, specifically exposure to fine particulate matter or PM 2.5 pollution, compared with other racial and ethnic groups.

Indiana residents now have a new way to track pollution from coal plants across the state.

The Sierra Club's new online national dashboard shows how rollbacks of federal pollution rules could increase harmful emissions from Indiana's dozen coal plants.

Robyn Skuya-Boss, director of the Hoosier Chapter of the Sierra Club, said the data highlights risks for both rural and urban communities.

"Whether you're living in a larger city or in a small community, you could be being impacted," Skuya-Boss pointed out. "Some of the worst air quality in the nation is located in southern Indiana because there's such a high concentration of super-polluting coal plants."

The dashboard allows users to zoom in on specific plants and track pollutants like mercury, sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide. Utilities and state officials said they follow current environmental laws and balancing energy needs and emissions limits can be complex.

Skuya-Boss stressed Indiana families deserve to know when air pollution may threaten their health.

"I think when people are tuned into those bad air quality days, what you start to see is that you can kind of get a sense of how impacted your community is by air pollution issues," Skuya-Boss observed.

Environmental groups said the dashboard also gives Hoosiers a tool to demand stronger action from state regulators and lawmakers.

Air pollution in Washington is getting worse, according to a new report citing transportation emissions as the primary culprit.

Eight of the 12 Washington counties surveyed received an "F" grade for particle pollution, including King and Pierce counties. Yakima and Seattle ranked the eighth- and ninth-worst cities in the country.

Transportation emissions account for nearly a quarter of total air pollution and about 40% of Washington's greenhouse gas emissions.

Laura Kate Bender, assistant vice president of nationwide healthy air for the American Lung Association, said more Americans live in polluted areas now than any time within the last 10 years.

"After decades of progress to clean up the air from policies under the Clean Air Act, we're now starting to see an uptick in pollution levels once again," Bender pointed out. "It shows that we really need to double down on protections that are limiting emissions from vehicles, not roll them back."

Congressional Republicans just voted to rescind the federal waivers that allow California to set emissions standards for vehicles that are stricter than national ones, arguing the rules hurt consumers and the trucking industry.

The report marked the seventh straight year of an increasing health threat from particle pollution nationwide. Particulate matter is a mixture of tiny solids or liquid droplets suspended in air. Small particles can lodge deep in the lungs and cause health problems, including cancer and asthma attacks. Bender added smoke from wildfires, driven by climate change, adds to the problem.

"Those conditions are being made worse by changing temperatures," Bender noted. "Climate change means more extreme heat, and more extreme heat can lead to more ozone pollution, and those are both results that show up in this year's report."

Congressional Republicans are considering revoking the federal tax credit of up to $7,500 for new electric vehicle purchases. The House infrastructure committee is also debating new registration fees which would charge people who drive electric cars more than those who drive gas-powered vehicles.


get more stories like this via email

California has some of the dirtiest air in the nation, according to the American Lung Association's new State of the Air report.

Researchers looked at ozone pollution and both short and long-term particle pollution. Thirteen counties got an "F" grade in all three categories. Pollution in the counties mainly came from vehicle emissions and smoke from wildfires.

Laura Kate Bender, assistant vice president of nationwide healthy air for the American Lung Association, said climate change is contributing to the counties' poor air quality.

"Those conditions are being made worse by changing temperatures," Bender pointed out. "Climate change means more extreme heat, and more extreme heat can lead to more ozone pollution, and those are both results that show up in this year's report."

Five of the seven counties with the most yearly air pollution in the nation are in California. The three most polluting counties are in the Central Valley, with Los Angeles County and the Bay Area not far behind. Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives just voted to rescind the federal waivers allowing California to set strict emissions standards for vehicles, arguing the rules hurt consumers and the trucking industry.

The report also found 46% of Americans live in places getting failing grades for unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution. Bender stressed more Americans live in polluted areas now than any time within the last 10 years.

"After decades of progress to clean up the air from policies under the Clean Air Act, we're now starting to see an uptick in pollution levels once again, and it shows that we really need to double down on protections that are limiting emissions from vehicles, not roll them back."

The House infrastructure committee is also considering highway funding fees to charge people who drive an electric car more than those who own a gas-powered vehicle.


get more stories like this via email