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Team 4: Pittsburgh Named Sootiest City In U.S.
POSTED: 11:20 am EDT May 1,
2008
UPDATED: 6:23 pm EDT May 1,
2008
PITTSBURGH -- The new rankings are out and Pittsburgh has been rated No. 1 when it comes to being sooty.Video: 
Pittsburgh Named Sootiest CityThe American Lung Association said the Pittsburgh area has the most polluted air in the nation, beating out the old standby smog capital of Los Angeles.The reasons behind the alarming news are something Team 4's Jim Parsons has reported on for more than three years.For several years in a row now, The American Lung Association has ranked Pittsburgh No. 2 in the nation for the most polluted air, but this year, the city took the crown."It certainly is a black eye for the region," said Rachel Fillipini of the Group Against Smog and Pollution. "It's not something we are proud of. "A Team 4 special report in February found that the communities in Allegheny County with the highest rates of death from heart disease, stroke and lung and breast cancer also have the largest local industrial sources of air pollution."It's a call to action," said Fillipini. "It gives us a sense of urgency that something needs to be done now."The ACHD has been trying to deal with the particle matter pollution problem in Pittsburgh for years, and now Team 4 has learned the Environmental Protection Agency recently got involved, too.The federal agency issued a notice of violation in November to Allegheny Ludlum in Natrona Heights after EPA inspectors witnessed "significant fugitive emissions into the ambient air which are not controlled."Allegheny Ludlum's plant is one of nine sites in Allegheny County that the EPA lists as high priority violators for air pollution. But in 2003, Allegheny County only had two high priority violators."We think the ranking is unfair and very misleading," said Guillermo Cole of the Allegheny County Health Department.The Health Department said Pittsburgh's spot on top on the American Lung Association's list of smoggiest cities happened for one reason and one reason only, which is the high amount of particle pollution in the Liberty-Clairton area, where US Steel's Coke Works is located."You have the nation's largest coke plant sitting in a valley with hills on both sides," said Cole. "That is a real challenge for us to control that source and to bring that air into compliance. You probably will not find a similar situation anywhere else in the U.S., and that's why it's so unique."The Health Department said the pollution problem at Clairton wouldn't get solved until 2015, when US Steel completes work on two new cleaner-burning coke batteries. Until then, environmental advocates said no one around here can breathe easy.
The following is a transcript of a report by medical editor Marilyn Brooks that first aired May 1, 2008, on WTAE Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m.
Experts say no one really knows what happens if you're exposed to high levels of soot particles for the first 20 years of your life, but one report makes it quite clear that breathing any amount of polluted air can be hazardous to your health.Check Out the ReportSoot is actually tiny airborne particles of metals, diesel exhaust, chemicals and aerosols. All are a normal part of modern industrial life, and people breathe it every day."If you cut your lungs open, you could see those black particles embedded in the lungs," said Allegheny General Hospital toxicologist Dr. Fred Harchelroad.Those embedded particles, covered with gases and chemicals, are hazardous to health.According to the American Lung Association, soot causes an estimated 20,000 premature deaths each year, mostly from heart disease. It also triggers about 300,000 asthma attacks.But what about cancer?"The soot itself is not going to increase your risk of cancer as much as the chemicals that get embedded on it that might then get absorbed into your system," said Harchelroad.The risk is heaviest where particle pollution is heaviest, which includes areas like Liberty-Clairton. But the metropolitan area of Pittsburgh isn't totally risk free. Emergency rooms are full during warm weather inversions when patients flock in with increased respiratory problems."Every organ system may eventually be affected but usually, the first symptom someone has is from their lungs," said Harchelroad. "They're short of breath. They're coughing a little more.""One of the things we've observed is that Allegheny County was once seventh in the country in our 2004 report," said Kevin Stewart of the ALA."We're working really hard to make sure enforcement laws are upheld so air pollution is kept in check," said Lisa Graves, who lives near the El Rama plant on the border of Allegheny and Washington counties. "We have two boys, and they both have asthma, and it's mostly when they're outside playing."And according to Stewart, those with asthma and other health problems are at a greater risk when it comes to particle pollution."When we talk about people in high risk groups, we're not talking about 1 to 2 percent, we're talking about something on the order of half the population," said Stewart.Experts said the risk to health can be greatly reduced with aggressive emissions control. Pittsburgh has done a lot, but the EPA and the ALA said it needs to do more.
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Pittsburgh Named Sootiest CityThe American Lung Association said the Pittsburgh area has the most polluted air in the nation, beating out the old standby smog capital of Los Angeles.The reasons behind the alarming news are something Team 4's Jim Parsons has reported on for more than three years.For several years in a row now, The American Lung Association has ranked Pittsburgh No. 2 in the nation for the most polluted air, but this year, the city took the crown."It certainly is a black eye for the region," said Rachel Fillipini of the Group Against Smog and Pollution. "It's not something we are proud of. "A Team 4 special report in February found that the communities in Allegheny County with the highest rates of death from heart disease, stroke and lung and breast cancer also have the largest local industrial sources of air pollution."It's a call to action," said Fillipini. "It gives us a sense of urgency that something needs to be done now."The ACHD has been trying to deal with the particle matter pollution problem in Pittsburgh for years, and now Team 4 has learned the Environmental Protection Agency recently got involved, too.The federal agency issued a notice of violation in November to Allegheny Ludlum in Natrona Heights after EPA inspectors witnessed "significant fugitive emissions into the ambient air which are not controlled."Allegheny Ludlum's plant is one of nine sites in Allegheny County that the EPA lists as high priority violators for air pollution. But in 2003, Allegheny County only had two high priority violators."We think the ranking is unfair and very misleading," said Guillermo Cole of the Allegheny County Health Department.The Health Department said Pittsburgh's spot on top on the American Lung Association's list of smoggiest cities happened for one reason and one reason only, which is the high amount of particle pollution in the Liberty-Clairton area, where US Steel's Coke Works is located."You have the nation's largest coke plant sitting in a valley with hills on both sides," said Cole. "That is a real challenge for us to control that source and to bring that air into compliance. You probably will not find a similar situation anywhere else in the U.S., and that's why it's so unique."The Health Department said the pollution problem at Clairton wouldn't get solved until 2015, when US Steel completes work on two new cleaner-burning coke batteries. Until then, environmental advocates said no one around here can breathe easy.The following is a transcript of a report by medical editor Marilyn Brooks that first aired May 1, 2008, on WTAE Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m.
Experts say no one really knows what happens if you're exposed to high levels of soot particles for the first 20 years of your life, but one report makes it quite clear that breathing any amount of polluted air can be hazardous to your health.
Check Out the ReportSoot is actually tiny airborne particles of metals, diesel exhaust, chemicals and aerosols. All are a normal part of modern industrial life, and people breathe it every day."If you cut your lungs open, you could see those black particles embedded in the lungs," said Allegheny General Hospital toxicologist Dr. Fred Harchelroad.Those embedded particles, covered with gases and chemicals, are hazardous to health.According to the American Lung Association, soot causes an estimated 20,000 premature deaths each year, mostly from heart disease. It also triggers about 300,000 asthma attacks.But what about cancer?"The soot itself is not going to increase your risk of cancer as much as the chemicals that get embedded on it that might then get absorbed into your system," said Harchelroad.The risk is heaviest where particle pollution is heaviest, which includes areas like Liberty-Clairton. But the metropolitan area of Pittsburgh isn't totally risk free. Emergency rooms are full during warm weather inversions when patients flock in with increased respiratory problems."Every organ system may eventually be affected but usually, the first symptom someone has is from their lungs," said Harchelroad. "They're short of breath. They're coughing a little more.""One of the things we've observed is that Allegheny County was once seventh in the country in our 2004 report," said Kevin Stewart of the ALA."We're working really hard to make sure enforcement laws are upheld so air pollution is kept in check," said Lisa Graves, who lives near the El Rama plant on the border of Allegheny and Washington counties. "We have two boys, and they both have asthma, and it's mostly when they're outside playing."And according to Stewart, those with asthma and other health problems are at a greater risk when it comes to particle pollution."When we talk about people in high risk groups, we're not talking about 1 to 2 percent, we're talking about something on the order of half the population," said Stewart.Experts said the risk to health can be greatly reduced with aggressive emissions control. Pittsburgh has done a lot, but the EPA and the ALA said it needs to do more. Related Links:
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