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Assessment of Diesel Pollution in Inner West Contra Costa County

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Assessment of Diesel Pollution in Inner West Contra Costa County Assessment of Diesel Pollution in Inner West Contra Costa County Technical Support Report By the Pacific Institute July 2005 Fanta Kamakaté 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 4 SECTION I: PROJECT BACKGROUND ......................................................................... 6 A. DIESEL POLLUTION: SOURCES AND EFFECTS .............................................. 6 a. What is diesel pollution? ................................................................................... 6 b. What is diesel particulate matter? ..................................................................... 6 c. What are the health effects of diesel exhaust and diesel PM? ......................... 8 d. What are the major sources of diesel pollution? ............................................. 11 e. How is diesel pollution regulated?................................................................... 12 f. Summary and Conclusion............................................................................... 15 B. WEST CONTRA COSTA COUNTY AND THE STUDY AREA ........................... 16 a. Study Area Geography ................................................................................... 16 b. Study Area Demographic and Economic Characteristics................................ 18 c. Study Area Health Statistics............................................................................ 21 d. Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 23 SECTION II: AIR QUALITY MONITORING................................................................... 24 A. MONITORING PROGRAM DESCRIPTION ....................................................... 24 b. Monitoring Station Locations in the Study Area .............................................. 24 c. Pollutants Monitored in Study Area................................................................. 27 d. PM Monitoring Technology ............................................................................. 30 e. How has the recently adopted PM 2.5 standard and diesel TAC determination affected the monitoring program? .......................................................................... 30 B. RESULT SUMMARY .......................................................................................... 31 C. DATA GAPS AND DISCUSSION ....................................................................... 34 SECTION III: EXISTING DIESEL EMISSION SOURCES STUDIES ............................ 36 A. HEAVY HEAVY-DUTY VEHICLES..................................................................... 40 B. SHIPS AND COMMERCIAL VESSELS.............................................................. 61 C. LOCOMOTIVE.................................................................................................... 63 D. CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT ........................................................................ 65 E. DATA GAPS....................................................................................................... 66 SECTION IV: STUDY AREA DIESEL EMISSION INVENTORY ................................... 68 A. OBJECTIVES ..................................................................................................... 68 B. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................... 68 a. Heavy Heavy-Duty Trucks .............................................................................. 68 b. Ships and Commercial Vessels ...................................................................... 72 c. Locomotives.................................................................................................... 73 d. Construction Equipment.................................................................................. 76 C. RESULTS........................................................................................................... 76 SECTION V: STUDY AREA INDOOR AIR MONITORING............................................ 80 A. MONITORING PURPOSE.................................................................................. 80 2 B. MONITORING PROJECT ADVISORY GROUP................................................. 80 C. MONITORING PROTOCOL ............................................................................... 82 a. Target Pollutant and Analysis Method ............................................................ 82 b. Sampling Equipment and Analysis Techniques .............................................. 83 c. Monitoring Sites .............................................................................................. 85 d. Time scale....................................................................................................... 88 e. Quality Control ................................................................................................ 90 D. MONITORING RESULTS................................................................................... 91 a. NIOSH 5040 Results....................................................................................... 91 b. Aethalometer Results...................................................................................... 93 E. RESULT DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS ........................................................... 99 F. CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................. 102 3 INTRODUCTION In 2003, the Community Health Initiative and the West County Asthma and Diesel Committee began working on assessing the impact of and strategies for reducing diesel pollution in West Contra Costa County. Diesel pollution, and its links to health effects including asthma, was a key concern identified by the community through a series of community meetings on air pollution and health. The West County Asthma and Diesel Committee is a collaborative effort joining community groups from West Contra Costa County, Contra Costa Health Services, and regional non-profits. The Asthma and Diesel Committee originated out of community residents’ concern about health and air pollution identified at a November 2003 Air Pollution Town Hall meeting organized by the Community Health Initiative. The town hall meeting was one of a series of events funded by a Partnership for Public Health grant from the California Endowment. The Community Health Initiative is a partnership of 14 community-based organizations that had been working together informally for nearly ten years to address the health needs of communities in West Contra Costa County. The Partnership for Public Health grant formalized the coalition linking these groups. One of major issues of community concern is the link between diesel pollution and the region’s asthma epidemic. There are numerous sources of diesel pollution in West Contra Costa County including diesel truck traffic on the major freeways surrounding the communities, rail yards near residential areas, and a major bulk cargo port on Richmond Harbor. The goal of the Asthma and Diesel Committee is to identify and help implement strategies to reduce diesel pollution in West Contra Costa County. Table i-1 is a complete list of the organizations that have attended committee meetings. 4 Table i-1 Asthma and Diesel Committee Meeting Participants Organization Type Organization Name Community-Based Community Health Initiative: Organizations - Neighborhood House of North Richmond - Asian Family Resource Center - Baptist Ministers Association - North Richmond Ministerial Council - Exchange Works - North Richmond Municipal Advisory Board - Greater Richmond Inter-Faith Neighborhood Council - Ma’at Youth Academy - West County Toxics Coalition - National Association for the Advancement of Colored People - Robinson-Weeks-Robinson Scholarship Fund Neighborhood House of North Richmond West County Toxics Coalition County Agencies Contra Costa Health Services West Contra Costa County Asthma Advocates Contra Costa Community Development Department Contra Costa County Public Works Department West Contra Costa County Transportation Advisory Committee Regional and State Agencies Metropolitan Transportation Commission Regional Non-Profit Pacific Institute Organization Regional Asthma Management and Prevention Initiative The activities of the Asthma and Diesel Committee are organized around a three-part work plan (see Appendix A). The first task is to identify community questions related to asthma and diesel pollution. The second task is to conduct research in order to answer community questions. The third task is to identify potential solutions and work together to implement them. This study is part of the second task and is carried out by the Pacific Institute’s Community Strategies for Sustainability and Justice (CSSJ) program. The CCSJ program activities are aimed at integrating the Pacific Institute's research skills with the strengths of community-based groups; an approach that meets the Asthma and Diesel Committee’s goals. This report serves as a technical support document to the Asthma and Diesel Committee’s future campaigns. The study provides general information on diesel pollution, especially diesel particulate matter pollution in Section I as a background for the rest of the report. Section I also presents the geographic boundaries of the study area and describes the demographic, economic, and health characteristics of the study area. In Section II, the last decade of ambient
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