Clean Air Board honored by Cumberland Valley Trout Unlimited

CAB was honored Saturday by the Cumberland Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited.

CVTU held its annual Limestoner Conservation Banquet at Carlisle Barracks.

The coldwater conservation organization presented CAB  with its 2011 Limestoner Award, an honor recognizing the board’s “dedication and outstanding contributions toward the promotion of improving air quality to protect health and quality of life by reducing particulate matter fallout in our natural watershed and our precious cold water resources.”

For more information, go to the Carlisle Sentinel: http://www.cumberlink.com/news/local/article_41c80f54-5150-11e0-a2e2-001cc4c03286.html

 

Air Pollution: A Medical Perspective (Video)

In this video, Philip D. Carey, MD discusses the dangers of PM2.5 to the health of our nation. Dr. Carey gives particular focus to the residents of Cumberland County, PA. Cumberland County has been ranked the 24th most polluted county in the United States based on the level of PM2.5.

Cumberland County Physicians Resolution: The Air We Breathe

The following August 2005 public letter was signed by over three-quarters of Cumberland County physicians.

CUMBERLAND COUNTY PHYSICIANS RESOLUTION: THE AIR WE BREATHE

In 1970, Congress passed the Clean Air Act that required each state to achieve air quality standards as set by the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) by 1977. Although improvement has been achieved nationwide with respect to air quality, Cumberland County does not comply with current standards for ozone and fine particulate matter.

The American Lung Association (ALA) ranks Cumberland Country’s atmosphere as the 24th most polluted area in the United States, comparable to New York City.*

Due to the concentration of truck traffic in Cumberland County, fine particulate pollution from diesel exhaust is much higher than in most places and is astronomical along the “Miracle Mile” in Middlesex Township.

Diesel exhaust is a mixture of particulate matter, gases and chemical compounds containing 40 known environmental contaminants. Fine particulate matter (PM _2.5) consists largely of carbon (soot) to which other chemical substances bind. As we breathe, these tiny particles carrying toxic substances enter our lungs and are deposited in the deepest recesses of our lung tissue. Some of these toxic substances can cause cancer or other adverse health effects.

Breathing diesel emissions containing these fine particles can result in exacerbation of lung disease, i.e. asthma and emphysema, and can precipitate heart attacks. Populations at particular risk include infants, children and the elderly with pre-existing heart and lung disease. In addition, diesel exhaust is known to contain three carcinogens that cause lung and bladder cancer. According to ALA reports, scientists estimate that 50,000 to 100,000 people die each year as a result of air pollution. Studies have shown that children exposed to diesel exhaust exhibit abnormal lung development which appears to be permanent.

The construction of additional distribution parks will undoubtedly bring more diesel trucks into the area and will have public health implications. Carlisle already is a “hot spot” of diesel pollution.

We acknowledge that the trucking industry is vital to our way of life and to the economy. We have benefited from it as much as anyone and do not advocate eliminating the trucking industry. However, we also believe that proper and insightful environmental planning is essential for our community’s future and its health and well-being.

As the American Lung Association slogan states:

“When you can’t breathe, nothing else really matters!”

*Based on 24-hour PM _2.5 measurements.

The foregoing is authored by Dr. Phil Carey and agreed to by:

Adam C. Abram, MD Ali Ahmed, MD David P. Albright, MD Edwin A. Aquino, MD Daniel M. Armesto, MD Ramesh Arora , MD Shiv S. Aggarwal, MD William Bachinsky, MD Bruce. O Bailey, MD David C. Baker, MD Michael J. Banach, MD Sherma B. Bharucha, MD Gary L. Blacksmith, Jr., MD Richard N. Blutstein, MD Todd A. Bokelman, MD T. Alex Boshnakov, MD Joseph Brazel, MD D. Shaun Bryant, MD Howard W. Burkett, DPM David Calcagno, MD Joseph J. Campbell, MD Philip D. Carey, MD John Caruso, DO David P. Chernicoff, DP Howard R. Cohen, MD Johnson G. Coyle, MD J. Edward Dagen, MD Faith Daggs, MD Michael Daniels, MD H. R. Davis, MD Lisa M. Davis, MD Richard L. Davis, MD William E. Demuth, Jr., MD George W. Ehly, MD David B. Evans, MD Katarzyna Ferraro , MD Thomas S. Filip, MD Thomas J. Green, MD L. Greer, DPM Darryl Guistwite, DO Kenneth R. Guistwite, MD J. L. Hardesty, MD Richard C. Harker, MD Jeffrey H. Harris, MD David L. Hartzell, MD Creston C. Herold, Jr., MD Daniel P. Hely, MD Webb S. Hersperger, MD Louis Hieb MD Mohammad Ismail, MD Russell R. Janson, MD William K. Jenkins, DDS James R. Johnston, III, MD

Marion N. Johnston, MD John C. Jurgenson, MD Sharad K. Khetarpal MD Serge Kolev, MD Donald J. Kovacs, MD Stephen J. Krebs, MD Robert Lasek, MD Gregory L. Lewis, MD John G. Loeffler, MD Wallace A. Longton, MD Michael E. Lupinacci, MD Russell Macaluso, MD Ronald G. Mangan, DMD Robert E. Martin, MD David S. Masland, MD Allan Mira, MD George K. Moffitt, Jr., MD Barry Moore, MD Thomas C. O’Malley, MD Louis Myers MD Michael J. Oplinger, MD George P. Ong, MD Roger H. Ostdahl, MD Maria Papoutsis, MD William J. Phelan, MD Mark Pinker, DPM Joseph A. Pion, DO Larry S. Rankin, MD Kent R. Rentschler, DMD Keith S. Rice, MD Carol Robison, DO Noelle, Rotondo, DO Ronald Schlansky, MD William L. Shelley, MD Michael F. Smith, MD A. Sposic, MD Bruce H. Spivak, DMD L. M. Stankovic, MD Drew Stoken, MD Leon Sweer, MD David I. Thompson, MD J. B. Tocks, MD Jay A. Townsend, MD E. Violago, MD Timothy P. Walsh MD David L. Wampler, MD William J. West, Sr., MD Willis W. Willard, MD Raymond J. Wiss, MD Bradford J. Wood, MD James A. Yates, MD James P. Yeager, MD John P. Zornosa, M

Interview with Reverend Jennifer McKenna: October 2007

Interview with Reverend Jennifer McKenna

Conducted by Ellen Simon

October 2007

Summary:

Jennifer McKenna, a reverend at the Second Presbyterian Church in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, organized the Clean Air Board in 2005. Motivated by medical consensus regarding the effects of Carlisle’s poor air quality, Rev. McKenna and members of the Clean Air Board have made significant accomplishments in lobbying for legislation of the air quality in Carlisle. In my interview with Rev. McKenna, we discuss the origins, projects and goals of the Clean Air Board. Truly a community effort, Rev. McKenna describes the Clean Air Board’s coalition with doctors, lawyers, professors and, most interestingly, the truck industry.

Air Quality From Bad to Worse: Sentinel News

May 3, 2007: Sentinel News

Air Quality From Bad to Worse

by Jessica Bruni

Excerpt:

For months, members of the Clean Air Board have spoken to the community in horrified tones about the Carlisle area’s ranking as the 24th most polluted metropolitan area in the nation regarding fine particulate matter.

Well, the area no longer ranks at 24. It’s now at No. 14.

On Tuesday, the American Lung Association released its 2007 list of best and worst cities for air quality standards. Moving up the ladder from No. 24 to No. 14 in the category of metropolitan area “most polluted by short-term particle pollution” was the Harrisburg-Carlisle-Lebanon area.

People, truck, traffic affect quality

However, Kevin Stewart, director of environmental health for the American Lung Association, said, there’s little doubt the influx of people, trucks and traffic into the area has had a negative effect on air quality. For the record, the Carlisle area had 44 bad air days over a three-year period while Dauphin County had 38. Both, Stewart said, were enough to qualify the areas to make the ALA’s bad air list.

The Carlisle area also has the unlucky distinction of being located upwind from the Baltimore Washington corridor — meaning all the pollution from that congested area travels here. At the same time, the area also draws in down winds from the west, bringing in pollution from the rest of Pennsylvania, Virginia and beyond.

“All of those sources together are what has created the air pollution problems that we observe here,” Stewart said.

Area’s Latest Ranking Doesn’t Surprise Asthma Sufferers: Patriot News

May 3, 2007: Patriot News

Wind Blows Polluted Air Our Way: Area’s latest ranking doesn’t surprise asthma sufferers (Archive Fee Required)

by Ford Turner

Blow up a big balloon, then try to keep your mouth in place and let all the air shoot back into your lungs.

That is what an asthma attack feels like, Carol Crupi says. And as she learned this week, asthma sufferers in the midstate might be more susceptible to attacks than those who live elsewhere.

A report from the American Lung Association ranked Cumberland and Dauphin counties among the 25 worst places in the nation in terms of short-term particle air pollution.