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 .

Many Michigan residents who move from the city to more rural areas unknowingly become part of a worsening sewage problem for the Great Lakes system. Septic systems and other on-site sewage disposal are the method of choice for most rural homes out of the reach of city sewer lines. But tens of thousands of homeowners don’t realize that without periodic maintenance and pumping, these systems will fail and leak harmful wastes to Michigan’s lakes, rivers, streams and drinking water sources.

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Would you like to learn how to reduce the amount of trash that you're putting out at the curb and at the same time produce nutrient-rich soil to feed your garden? Then join us when Lillian Dean, Certified Master Composter with the Southeast Oakland County Water Authority, will talk with us about how to turn your trash into gardening gold.