Diesel Pollution Makes Us Sick

Diesel engines emit a mixture of particles, metals and gasses including over 40 "hazardous air pollutants" as classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Clean Air Act. Diesel pollution can trigger asthma and cause lung cancer, stroke, and heart attack, contributing to 21,000 early deaths a year. Nationally, diesel exhaust poses a cancer risk that is 7 times greater than the combined risk of all air toxics assessed by EPA. Diesel exhaust is particularly dangerous because it is emitted at ground level - just where people breathe it in¹ .

Location(s)

Date: Sunday, September 13, 2009
Time: 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Place: Andover-Newton Theological School, Newton Center, MA

Patrick Lucey, an aquatic biologist from British Columbia, has been an international leader in advancing new approaches to integrated water and energy management. Join us for an inspiring presentation on his work to transform barren, non-functioning landscapes into lush, lucrative enterprises. The evening will include dessert, a celebration of victories, and a forecast of what is ahead.

The EPA estimates that $8 billion is needed in Massachusetts over the next 20 years to rehabilitate our aging drinking water infrastructure: $6.6 billion to replace aging water mains, $877 million for treatment plants, $622 million for water storage facilities, and $318.2 million to develop new sources for public drinking water supplies.

In this report (pdf), Clean Water Fund reviewed the Annual Statistical Reports filed by municipal water districts in 2006; even with 56 of 266 Community Water Systems' data unavailable, the figures show that in 2006 there were at least 1,970 leaks found which lost hundreds of millions of gallons of potable water from leaks in water mains.

Water main breaks are only one manifestation, but a very visible sign, of our aging, crumbling drinking water infrastructure throughout the country. In Massachusetts communities alone there have been a dozen water main breaks reported in the last three months of 2007. Currently, there is no comprehensive, statewide compilation of water main miles, or of water main breaks in Massachusetts.

In January 2008, Clean Water Fund released a report which reviewed the Annual Statistical Reports filed by municipal water districts in 2006. Even with 56 of 266 Community Water Systems' data unavailable, the research revealed that in 2006 there were at least 1,970 leaks found which lost hundreds of millions of gallons of potable water from leaks in water mains.