IN THE NEWS
May 29th, 2008: The Patriot News
Filthy Footprint: Harrisburg-Carlisle Ranks Among Worst in the Nation in Carbon Emissions
By Gary Lenton
Excerpt: "If you live in the midstate and worry about global warming, consider this: You are responsible for more carbon pollution than, say, a guy who lives in South Philly or Brooklyn.
That's the finding in a study of carbon emissions in the 100 largest metropolitan areas of the U.S. released today by the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution."
May 20th, 2008: The Sentinel News
Carbon Footprint Heavy in Local Area
Editorial
Excerpt: "We’re starting to get accustomed to bad news on the pollution front for the Harrisburg-Carlisle metropolitan area.
Studies have previously cited lower-than-average air quality in general and high particulate matter content in our local air. Now, there’s a new study from the Brookings Institution that ranks our region ninth among the metro areas with the highest carbon footprint."
January 20th, 2008: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Proposal Would Limit Engine Idling Time
By Don Hopey
Excerpt: "From the Second Presbyterian Church on Garland Drive in Carlisle, Cumberland County, the Rev. Jennifer McKenna can see, hear and smell the constant stream of 18-wheelers speeding by on Interstate 81.
The associate pastor also has seen members of her congregation and neighbors sickened by the sooty air pollution produced by the thousands of big diesel trucks that daily roll through and often stop to idle in her town, where the interstate and the Pennsylvania Turnpike cross paths."
January 14th, 2008: The Patriot News
Clearing the Air: Hearings Schedules on Proposed Idling Rules
By Dan Miller
(Archived article; Fee to view)
January 12th, 2008: The Sentinel News
Public Can Comment on Idling Bill
By Andrea Ciccocioppo
"The public will have the opportunity to weigh in on a proposed statewide idling reduction regulation designed to improve air quality and save gallons of diesel fuel.
The American Lung Association lists the Harrisburg-Carlisle-Lebanon area as No. 14 in the nation among metropolitan areas 'most polluted by short-term particle pollution.'"
December 2nd, 2007: The Sentinel-News
By T.W. Burger
Excerpt: "It stands 7 feet tall and looks like a gangly tin scarecrow. But Airestotle’s mission is to measure, not to frighten.
Even so, what it is finding is scary enough.
Airestotle is a machine designed to sift the atmosphere for microscopic crud and measure how much there is.
The $15,000 gizmo was purchased by the Clean Air Board, a nonprofit group formed in 2005 by a group of about 100 physicians and a Unitarian Universalist Church concerned about air quality in the Carlisle/Harrisburg area. The board was helped with a grant from Keen Transport Inc., a construction equipment hauler based in New Kingstown."
November 26th, 2007: The Sentinel News
New Air Monitor to Watch Quality, Raise Awareness
By Naomi Creason
Excerpt: "Clean Air Board President Jennifer McKenna says the acquisition of an
air quality monitor will help her organization get its message out.
The new monitor is important, McKenna says, because of Carlisle’s current ranking as the 14th most polluted metropolitan area in the country on the American Lung Association’s 2007 list of best and worst cities for air quality."
October 25th, 2007: The Patriot-News
Control on Truck Idling Would Provide One Step Toward Cleaning the Air for Central Pennsylvania
Editorial
Excerpt: "It's not rocket science to draw a connection between poor air quality in this region and the large trucking and warehousing industries.
A proposed regulation by the state Environmental Quality Board to control truck idling is a good step, both statewide and in central Pennsylvania.
Trucks could idle their engines for no more than five minutes out of every hour under the regulation, which does not need legislative approval but is subject to public hearings and scrutiny from the Independent Regulatory Review Commission."
October 18th, 2007: The Sentinel-News
Clean Air Board Gets State's Ear
Editorial
Excerpt: "It’s almost considered quaint to think that citizens can move a state government to take action on an important issue, but the Clean Air Board of Central Pennsylvania has done just that.
The organization, which came together in the Carlisle area over the issue of growing truck traffic and its effects on local health, has successfully petitioned the Environmental Quality Board of the state Department of Environmental Protection to consider restrictions on diesel truck idling."
October 17th, 2007: The Sentinel-News
By Andrea Ciccocioppo
Excerpt: "The state is pushing ahead with anti-idling regulation, thanks largely to the Clean Air Board of Central Pennsylvania.
The new regulation advocated by the Clean Air Board that would limit the amount of time a diesel-powered commercial motor vehicle can idle its engine to no more than five minutes in a 60-minute period.
The rule — to be fully enacted in 2010 — will reduce annual emissions of nitrogen oxides by about 1,610 tons, volatile organic compounds by about 45 tons, and particulate matter by about 30 tons, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection. The regulation is in the public comment phase."
October 10th, 2007: The Sentinel-News
Candidates Clear Air Over Pollution Concerns at Debate
By Alex Roarty
Excerpt: "The two Democratic candidates competing for Cumberland County commissioner and other candidates campaigning for positions in area municipalities tried to establish their environmental credentials Tuesday night."
September 25th, 2007: The Sentinel-News
Bill Seeks to Reduce Idling Emissions
by Alex Roarty
Excerpt: "A bill introduced in the state Senate last week seeks to improve the area’s air quality by restricting the amount of time tractor-trailers can sit idling.
The bill, proposed by state Sen. Patricia Vance, R-31, would forbid commercial diesel-engine vehicles from idling for more than five minutes per hour in many circumstances. Drivers often idle their truck engines when they aren’t driving to keep the power on in their cab."
September 11th, 2007: The Patriot-News
Running on Fumes: A Breath of Brown Air
by Pat Carroll
Excerpt: "Exercise is good for you, right? Yes, except for the part where you breathe.
Fine and ultrafine particles in the air measure as little as four-millionths of an inch, visible only with an electron microscope. They bypass the filter in your nose and settle in your lungs or migrate into your blood.
'What happens, especially if you're exercising, is there's a deposition of these particles,' Rundell said. 'The more particles, the more are deposited in the lungs. As you exercise, the deposition fraction goes up -- the amount of particulate that stays in the lung even after you exhale.'"
September 3rd, 2007: The Sentinel News
This Traffic Study Needs Green Light
Editorial
Excerpt: "Five influential bodies have joined in asking borough council to undertake a comprehensive traffic study - the Downtown Carlisle Association, the Clean Air Board of Central Pennsylvania, the LeTort Regional Authority and the Redevelopment and Housing Authorities of Cumberland County and Dickinson College. Dickinson College is offering to put up as much as $50,000 so the borough can hire an engineering firm to do a comprehensive traffic study of the downtown and surrounding area."
September 1st, 2007: The Sentinel News
Dickinson College Helps Fund Traffic Study
By Joseph Cress
Excerpt: "Four community groups which include the Downtown Carlisle Association, the Clean Air Board of Central Pennsylvania, the LeTort Regional Authority and the Redevelopment and Housing Authorities of Cumberland County, have requested the borough council have a professional engineering firm conduct a comprehensive traffic study of downtown Carlisle and the surrounding area."
August 7th, 2007: The Sentinel Sentinel Reporter August 7, 2007
It’s Not the Volume, It’s the Trucks
By Naomi Creason
The large number of trucks going in and out of Carlisle, whether stopping for the night or heading to Interstate 81, has made Carlisle the third highest grossing interchange on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. “About 39 percent of vehicles from the Carlisle interchange are trucks,” DeFebo said. “Looking at all of the interchanges, it’s the highest percentage of trucks than any other interchange on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. On average, 13 percent of all vehicles are trucks in the statewide system.”
HARRISBURG (July 25) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved the state Department of Environmental Protection’s requests to redesignate Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lebanon and Perry counties to attainment for the eight-hour ozone quality standard.
EPA had designated these counties as non-attainment in 2004, but monitoring results that show improved air quality, along with the state’s plan to maintain those improved levels over the next 10 years, resulted in the redesignations.
EPA has proposed lowering the ozone level necessary to meet attainment status. This means that Pennsylvania must continue working to lower the pollutants emitted to the air, which can cause ground-level ozone particularly on hot, humid summer days.
Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lebanon, and Perry counties were five of 37 Pennsylvania counties designated as non-attainment for ozone in 2004. DEP has submitted redesignation requests for 32 of them. Lancaster and Tioga counties were previously approved by the federal government; the remainder are pending with EPA.
CBS-21 News, May 18th, 2007
"Trucking Company Fights Pollution"
Central Penn Business Journal, Friday, May 18th
"Truck Company Helps Pay for Pollution Monitor"
by Jim T. Ryan
Excerpt: "Keen Transport Co., based in Middlesex Township, Cumberland County, donated $7,500 to the Unitarian Universalists of the Cumberland Valley (UUCV) for the purchase of a portable air-quality monitor."
May 18th, 2007: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 6th, 2007: DEP Press Release
Carlisle Area Particulat Emissions Monitor to Begin Collecting Air Samples
Excerpt: "A stationary air monitor is now in place near the intersection of Route 81 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike for a year-long study by the Department of Environmental Protection into the level of fine particulate matter in the greater Carlisle area. The monitor will begin gathering data on this busy transportation hub on Wednesday, May 9."
Central Penn Business Journal, Friday, May 18th
"Truck Company Helps Pay for Pollution Monitor"
by Jim T. Ryan
CBS-21 News, Thursday, May 10th
"Monitoring the Air"
Reporter: Paul Lynch
The Patriot News, Tuesday, May 8th
"Midstate High Pollution Ranking Calls for Action at Several Levels"
("It's Personal" Column)
The Sentinel News, Monday, May 7th
"The Monitor is On Duty"
by Jessica Bruni
Sentinel Morning Update, May 7th
"Clean Air Board Celebrates New Air-Quality Monitor"
Department of Environmental Protection
Press Release, May 6th
"Carlisle Area Particulate Emissions Monitor to
Begin Collecting Air Samples"
The Patriot News, Sunday, May 6th
"Agency to Consider Truck Idling Limits for State"
by Charles Thompson
The Sentinel News, Thursday, May 3rd
"Air Quality From Bad to Worse"
by Jessica Bruni
Patriot News, Thursday, May 3rd
"Wind Blows Pollute Air Our Way"
by Ford Turner
ABC27 News - April 27th, 2007
"Clean Air Forum: Tractor Trailers Take a Toll on Air Quality"
March 8th, 2007: The Sentinel News
State to Monitor Air Closer to Downtown Carlisle
by David Blymire
Excerpt: "A year-long air pollution monitoring station in the west end of Carlisle will fill a void in what is known about the area’s air quality, state officials and activists say."
March 7th, 2007: The Patriot News
Girl's Work on Air Quality is Lesson for All
by Andrea Ciccocioppo
Excerpt: "Seventh-grader Shannon Greenbaum recently confronted two of her fears: the quality of the air and public speaking.
Shannon, a pupil at Yellow Breeches Middle School in Boiling Springs, enjoys spending time outdoors. Like many other kids her age, she rides her bike and runs, never thinking about what she's taking into her body every time she draws a breath.
But that changed after her mother, Susan, showed her the Web site www.air now.gov, which has data compiled from across the nation on air quality. Measurements of ozone and particulate matter are collected from areas, including the Carlisle region."
February 2007 Issue: National Idling Reduction Network News
United States Department of Energy
CAB Works to Reduct Idling in Central Pennsylvania, Engages DEP to Monitor Air Quality (PDF)
Excerpt: "CAB members say that Pennsylvania has become a haven for inter-state truckers taking their required 10-hour breaks because it is the only State in the Mid-Atlantic region that has no restrictions on idling."
February 23rd, 2007: The Sentinel News
Air Quality Focus of Truck Hearing
by Jessica Bruni
Excerpt:
"'Do you hear my voice?' Marilyn Zatinsky asked in a raspy whisper. 'That’s because of the air quality here.'
A recent transplant to Carlisle, Zatinsky has lived in major cities across the United States, including Chicago, New York and Miami. When she moved to the borough, she expected to find relief from her asthma problems. Instead, things got worse."
February 5th, 2007: The Sentinel News
Grumbling about Rumbling
Legislation takes aim at truckers’ practice of letting their rigs idle — Members of a local clean air group are leading the charge
By Joseph Cress
Excerpt: "We are getting the pollution of the whole East Coast.
That is how the Rev. Jennifer McKenna sees the problem of trucks idling for extended periods.
Truckers have told her they plan stops in Pennsylvania because the state has no laws restricting the idling of commercial diesel vehicles.
But if she and others like her have their way, the state General Assembly may soon shift gears and enact rules to cut down emissions polluting the air."
Featured Article:
Diesel and Health in America: The Lingering Threat
Published by the Clean Air Task Force of Boston
October 31st, 2006: The Patriot-News
Editorial
Excerpt: "It's pretty hard not to draw a connection between the large presence of trucking and warehousing in the Harrisburg region and poor air quality. The time is at hand, if not overdue, for Pennsylvania to join the growing number of states in adopting regulations limiting the time trucks can idle during long breaks at rest stops. "
October 19th, 2006: The Patriot-News
Cut Idling by Trucks, Group Asks Regulators
by Charles Thompson
Excerpt: "Living in the midstate means co-existing with a lot of trucks. But a Carlisle-based group is aiming to curb the pollutants coming from tractor-trailers. "
October 19th, 2006: The Sentinel News
By David Blymire
Excerpt: “'With our particular problem in Carlisle... we thought this was one way to tackle the problem locally,’ said the Rev. Jennifer McKenna, president of the board.
Pennsylvania is the only state in the mid-Atlantic region with no restrictions on idling. The group cites a DEP estimate that 13,000 diesel vehicles idle in the state for up to 10 hours a day.”
October 18th, 2006: The Sentinel News
No Idling Standard for Buses Nets Praise
By Eric Harkreader
Excerpt: "South Middleton’s school directors found themselves on the receiving end of a citizen advocacy group’s praises Monday night as it sought support for legislation to limit commercial truck exhaust.
‘(Superintendent Patricia Sanker) doesn’t mess around. She just says no idling and that’s that,’ said Winston Cleland, the treasurer of Clean Air Board of Central Pennsylvania and former superintendent of the West Perry School District.
Appearing along with Dr. Phil Carey, a pulmonary physician of 25 years with offices in Carlisle, Cleland thanked the district for its practice of shutting school buses off when they’re not in use.”
October 10th, 2006
Press Release: Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Diesel Technology Forum (DTF)
Eight Million Cleaner Trucks and Buses Means Healthier Air for All
"Starting Sunday, operators of more than eight million diesel-powered trucks and buses plying America's streets and highways will be able to fill up with a new, ultra-low sulfur fuel that is 97 percent cleaner than the old formulation it replaces. The new fuel, combined with innovative engine technology, will reduce diesel tailpipe pollution dramatically, with far-reaching clean air benefits, say both industry and environmental organizations."
August 10th, 2006: The Sentinel News
With Just the Flick of a Switch...
By John Hilton
Excerpt: "Customers and neighbors have long dreamed of eliminating the noise, fumes and vibrations generated by truckstops with the flick of a switch.
Kathleen McGinty did just that Wednesday morning at the Petro truck stop in Middlesex Township..."
June 28th, 2006: The Sentinel News
Pledge Can Help With Air Quality
Editorial
Excerpt: "It’s good to see a local firm take the lead on an important issue, so we’d like to compliment Keen Transport on its offer to take the 'no-idling' pledge."
June 28th, 2006: The Sentinel News
Firms pledge crackdown on idling
By Linda Franz
Excerpt: “’I think the No. 1 thing we can do is educate our drivers,’ said Jesse Keen, vice president of Keen Transportation, Middlesex Township, and cosponsor of the meeting along with the Clean Air Board of Central Pennsylvania. ‘Fuel is money. When you’re out of the truck, shut it down.’
June 26th, 2006: The Sentinel News
Keen: Reduce Diesel Truck Idling
By David Blymire
Excerpt: “Keen Transport and anti-pollution activists are meeting Tuesday to encourage area trucking companies to reduce unnecessary diesel truck idling.”
June 25th, 2006: The Patriot News
Trucking Firm Co-Sponsors Effort to Clean Air
By Matt Miller
Excerpt: "It might seem odd that a trucking company and an environmental group would be allies. Yet, Middlesex Twp.-based Keen Transport and the Clean Air Board of Central Pennsylvania are on the same page regarding cleaning up the local atmosphere."
June 14th, 2006: The Sentinel News
DEP to Monitor Carlisle Area’s Air
By David Blymire
Excerpt: “State officials took the first step Tuesday toward fulfilling a pledge to study air pollution in Cumberland County.”
June 14th, 2006: The Patriot News
State's Portable Lab Tests County Pollution
By Matt Miller
Excerpt: “[…] McKenna applauded yesterday's arrival of a portable laboratory truck the state Department of Environmental Protection will use to test the air and show local residents what they're breathing.”
June 13th, 2006: abc27 News
Video Update: DEP Testing Air Quality in Cumberland County
Excerpt: "The intersection of I-81 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike is just a few miles away, and because of that a large number of trucks not only pass through the area, but stay there overnight at truck stops and idle. "
CAB and Department of Environmental Protection Press Conference:
View Coverage of this Event by ABC27 News
In response to CAB's request for a monitor of the particulate matter in Cumberland County, Governor Rendell and Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty have taken action. Secretary McGinty is sending the Bureau of Air Quality to do a special monitoring study in the Carlisle area for one year. Through the use of the DEP's Mobile Analytical Unit as well as a stationary monitor, valuable information will be collected through all four seasons.
Secretary McGinty announced the details of this exciting initiative at a press conference that took place on Friday, April 21st at 1:00pm. Thank you for coming out and showing your support!
Department of Environmental Protection Press Conference with Secretary Kathleen McGinty and CAB Location: |
source: www.keentransport.com |
April 23rd, 2006: The Sentinel, Carlisle, PA
CAB gives thumbs up to Keystone Biofuels
By John Hilton
Excerpt: "Rarely has such a large group of skeptical consumers so embraced the start of a new business as they did Saturday when Race Minor spoke about his Keystone Biofuels venture.
Of course, it didn't hurt that Minor's product may be a potential anecdote to the toxic air pollution produced by the neverending stream of trucks rumbling through Cumberland County."
April 21st, 2006: The Patriot News, Harrisburg, PA
Earth Day seminar aims to clear the air
by Angela Pomponio
Excerpt: "The Rev. Jennifer McKenna, the board's president and associate pastor at Second Presbyterian Church, said residents might not realize that soot on their homes or doctor visits for bronchial problems could be linked to particulate pollution.
'I think that's part of the problem. I don't think people do know,' McKenna said. 'It's a matter of educating our community.'
McKenna said the group is not opposed to the trucking industry, but wants community leaders to consider air quality when making future land-use decisions. "
April 18th, 2006: The Patriot News, Harrisburg, PA
System fights area truck fumes
by Dan Miller
Excerpt: "A Tennessee company intends to reduce diesel exhaust from trucks in central Pennsylvania. IdleAire Technologies of Knoxville will install equipment this week at 72 parking spaces for trucks in the Petro Travel Plaza along the Harrisburg Pike in Middlesex Twp.
Instead of running their truck engines and burning fuel, drivers can use IdleAire as an alternative power source for heating and air conditioning, television, Internet access and other comforts of home in their trucks. "
by Leah Farr
Excerpt: "Poor air quality in Pennsylvania is harming public health, according to a recent report by a state environmental organization. Locally, a concerned citizen group hopes to address the local impact of air pollution at a free symposium in Carlisle Saturday."
March 13th, 2006: Johns Hopkins University Gazette
Exposure to Fine Particles in the Air Increases Hospital Admissions
by Kenna Lowe
Excerpt: "In 2002, for every 10 micrograms per cubic meter increase in particulate matter, the researchers calculated 11,000 additional cardiovascular and respiratory disease hospitalizations. Increased risk for cardiovascular disease hospitalizations, as a result of increased levels of particulate matter, was highest in counties located in the eastern United States."
February 22nd, 2006: Business Wire
Pennsylvania Eighth Dirtiest State for Lethal Diesel Pollution
Excerpt: "Clean Air Task Force (CATF), Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future (PennFuture) and the Clean Air Board of Central Pennsylvania (CAB) called on the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to "tell us the whole truth," in response to EPA's release of its National Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) today, estimating that people in the U.S., as a whole, are exposed to a risk from 133 toxic air pollutants that is 42 times the one-in-a-million risk of cancer that EPA considers safe. However, EPA declined to estimate the risk of exposure to diesel exhaust despite their conclusion that "diesel exhaust is among the substances that the national-scale assessment suggests poses the greatest relative risk."
January 20th, 2006: The Sentinel, Carlisle, PA
Residents advocate for clean air
by David Blymire
Excerpt: "Jennifer McKenna decided to do something about air pollution after she saw a newspaper ad last summer in which 100 area doctors called for improved air quality standards."
January 19th, 2006: PennEnvironment Newsroom
Excerpt: "'I love living and raising my family in Carlisle and it is so sad to me that the air has become toxic,' said Pam Frohman with the Carlisle Area Clean Air Board. “It is time to pass anti-idling ordinances and prevent further land development for the trucking industry until technology significantly reducing diesel emissions is mandated in local municipal codes."