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Impact of Woodbine Train Yard on Local Levels of Black Carbon

James Ross, Steven Chillrud, Ph.D

LDEO of Columbia University

Steven White, SVCC

Research partnership - LDEO and SVCC

• LDEO interest: Local v Regional source of air pollutants, esp. traffic and diesel in NYC

• NIEHS CBPR Grant to MSPH, LDEO & WEACT: included mechanism for small pilot studies on community group concerns

• SVCC: Concerned about exhaust and noise from Woodbine train yard at night

• Small scale study was possible and could answer questions of SVCC

US EPA: Diesel Exhaust in the United States

• Diesel exhaust contains tiny particles known as fine particulate matter. These tiny or “fine” particles are so small that several thousand of them could fit in the period at the end of this sentence. Diesel engines are one of the largest sources of fine particulate matter, other than natural causes such as forest fires.

• Fine particles in the air are a serious public health problem. They pose a significant health risk because they can pass through the nose and throat and become lodged in the lungs. Fine particles can cause lung damage and premature death. They can also aggravate respiratory conditions such as asthma and bronchitis. Diesel exhaust is likely to cause cancer in humans.

• Nationwide, particulate matter, and especially the fine particles such as those in diesel exhaust cause 15,000 premature deaths every year.

• People with existing heart or lung disease, asthma or other respiratory problems are most sensitive to the health effects of fine particles, as are children and the elderly.

• In general, children are more sensitive to air pollution because they breathe 50 percent more air per pound of body weight than do adults.

• http://www.epa.gov/NE/eco/diesel/assets/pdfs/Diesel_Factsheet_Schoolbus.pdf

Aethalometer and Black Carbon

• BC is combustion product, major component of diesel particulate matter.

• Associated with acute and chronic health effects but no health based standards

• Optical measurement• Good agreement among units• 1-minute data• Units inside homes, sample outdoor air,

deployed three weeks in May 2006

Goals

• Determine whether there are significant levels of exhaust reaching homes when residents say idling occurs.

• Relate Black Carbon levels to wind patterns.

• Assess impact of yard in context of regional air quality.

Aethalometer Reproducibility

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

5/1/0612:00

5/2/060:00

5/2/0612:00

5/3/060:00

5/3/0612:00

5/4/060:00

BC

ng

/m^

3

Unit 1Unit 2Unit 3Unit 4

4 units side-by-side in the Bronx

Hourly average of nights with trains

0

400

800

1200

1600

2000

18:00 21:00 0:00 3:00 6:00 9:00 12:00 15:00 18:00

avg

ho

url

y B

C n

g/m

^3

70 m NW70 m SE2000 m NW (control)200 m NE

n = 16 (train nights)

Time series 1

spring valley, 4 locations, hourly averages

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

5/10/06 5/11/06 5/12/06 5/13/06 5/14/06 5/15/06 5/16/06 5/17/06 5/18/06

BC

ng

/m^

3

70 m NW

70 m SE

2000 m NW

200 m NE

SacalmNE

We Thcalm

E

FrS-SE

SuN-NE

MoE-NE

TuVar

Wecalm

W

Time series 2spring valley, 4 locations, hourly averages

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

5/18/06 5/19/06 5/20/06 5/21/06 5/22/06 5/23/06 5/24/06 5/25/06 5/26/06

BC

ng

/m^

3

70m NW

70m SE

2000m NW

200m NE

SuW-SW

Thvar

wind

Frcalm

SaW

MoW-NW

TuW-NW

WeW-NW

ThW-SW

Time series 3spring valley, 4 locations, hourly averages

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

5/26/06 5/27/06 5/28/06 5/29/06 5/30/06 5/31/06 6/1/06 6/2/06

BC

ng

/m^

3

70m NW

70m SE

2000m NW

200m NE

Mocalm

Frcalm

S

SaS to

N

SuN

Tucalm

N

WeS

ThS

calm

memorial day weekend

Spring Valley - Woodbine train yard

• 10 diesel trains housed each night

• Residential/mixed area - > 5000 within 500 m

• 3 sampling locations around yard: 70 m SE, 70 m NW, 200 m NE

• Control site 2000 m NW

Effect of S-SE wind: 5/12/06

0

3,000

6,000

9,000

12,000

15,000

2:00 AM 4:00 AM 6:00 AM 8:00 AM

bla

ck c

arb

on

, ng

/m^

3

70m NW (downwind)70m SE (upwind)2000m NW (control)

Effect of W-NW wind: 5/21 - 5/22/06

0

2,500

5,000

7,500

10,000

9:00 PM 12:00 AM 3:00 AM 6:00 AM

bla

ck c

arb

on

, ng

/m^

3

70m NW (upwind)70m SE (downwind)2000m NW (control)200 m NE (downwind)

Elevated BC due to trains

5/10/06 - 6/1/06 n Out of Percent

Total nights 22

Train nights (resident) 17 22 77%

Elevated site (BC) 17 17 100%

Non-train nights (res.) 5 22 23%

Elevated site (BC) 2 5 40%

“Elevated” = average BC at one site > 2 times that of another, 10 pm - 7 am

Ross and Chillrud, unpublished data

Ramapo vs. New York

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

0:00 6:00 12:00 18:00 0:00

BC

ng

/m^

3

RamapoBronx

4/7/06

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

0:00 6:00 12:00 18:00 0:00

BC

ng

/m^

3

RamapoBronx

4/18/06

South wind North wind

Hourly average BC

Conclusions

• Obvious BC signal from Woodbine Yard at night.

• Confirmed resident’s perceptions that diesel emissions were reaching their homes.

• Typical hours of activity: midnight - 7 am.

NYS DEC: What is Environmental Justice?

• Environmental justice efforts focus on improving the environment in under served communities, specifically minority and low-income communities, and addressing disproportionate adverse environmental impacts that may exist in those communities.

• Environmental justice is defined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

• Fair treatment means that no group of people, including a racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic group, should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, municipal, and commercial operations or the execution of federal, state, local, and tribal programs and policies.

• http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/ej/#whatisej

5754 people live within 500 yards of the Woodbine Train Depot

"Air board targets rail yards' idling threats“The Los Angeles Times     (02/04/06)     Marla Cone

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-trains4feb04,0,7937938.story

Last week, California's South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) unanimously adopted two rules designed to protect people living near rail yards from train exhaust fumes. The rules will prohibit unattended trains in Southern California from idling more than half an hour and will require railroads to keep records on idling trains. The AQMD has received hundreds of complaints from neighbors about exhaust fumes coming from idling trains in recent years. The exhaust contains fine soot particles and gases that have been linked to lung cancer, asthma, and other diseases. Representatives of the four railroad companies affected by the new regional rules said the new rules were not needed because the companies were already working with the state to comply with a voluntary agreement that would reduce train fumes. Last June, the state's Air Resources Board (ARB) made a deal with two of the four carriers in which the carriers voluntarily agreed to end "nonessential" idling after 60 minutes. But AQMD Chairman William Burke said that agreement "simply does not go far enough to reduce emissions and protect public health, especially for those living near rail yards." The AQMD's rules will go into effect in August, but because of the ARB agreement, will likely be challenged in federal court.