Clean Diesel Campaign


Transit Bus Riders Exposed to High Levels of Deadly Diesel Emissions, Coalition Calls For Action To Reduce Diesel Pollution

CTA and Pace buses are among the dirtiest-and deadliest-in the country. That's one finding in a new report on diesel pollution issued by the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago and the Illinois Campaign to Clean Up Diesel Pollution, a coalition of over 45 groups. (Click here to view this report entitled "Missing the Bus to Cleaner Air") "Chicago has one of the highest risks for cancer due to diesel pollution of any city in the country," says Ashley Collins, RHAMC's Environmental Health Associate. "And we lag far behind New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and Dallas in cleaning up our diesel bus fleets."

The Coalition is calling for equipping CTA and PACE buses with clean technology to reduce diesel pollution by more than 90%.

"Diesel emissions are almost impossible to avoid," says Collins, "that's why we need to retrofit diesel vehicles with particulate filters to reduce their harmful emissions."

These findings build on the conclusions of another new report, issued by the Clean Air Task Force, which suggests that pollution levels inside CTA and PACE buses are four times deadlier than the air outside. (click here to view the report entitled "No Escape from Diesel Exhaust")

How you can help today:

Write or call the CTA and PACE today and urge them to clean up their dirty buses!!!

Mr. Ron Huberman
President
Chicago Transit Authority
567 W. Lake Street, 3rd Floor
Chicago, IL 60661
Phone:  888-YOURCTA (1-888-968-7282)
E-mail:  ctahelp@transitchicago.com

Mr. T. J. Ross
Executive Director
Pace Suburban Bus Service
550 W. Algonquin Rd.
Arlington Heights, IL 60005
Phone:  (847) 364-PACE (7223)
E-mail:  passenger.services@pacebus.com

RHAMC Seeks to Reduce Diesel Pollution in the Chicago Metropolitan Area and Illinois

Diesel fuel emissions are damaging our health and the quality of our environment. Each year, diesel engines emit millions of tons of particulate matter (soot) and air toxins that cause adverse health effects such as lung cancer, asthma attacks, heart attacks, and premature birth. The U.S. EPA recently strengthened the air quality standards for soot after scientific findings that these particles are more dangerous than previously thought.

While new engine standards that reduce soot emissions by 90% will go into effect in the coming years (see http://www.epa.gov/cleandiesel/), older vehicles may continue to pollute for another generation. Retrofitting 10,000 older engines with pollution control technology, such as diesel particulate filters, would eliminate roughly 15,000 tons of harmful pollution each year.

Through our campaign efforts, we hope to see over 2,000 CTA and Pace buses retrofitted, expand the use of green contract language, and achieve state and federal funding for diesel initiatives.

  • Every year in Illinois, diesel exhaust triggers over 19,000 asthma attacks and nearly 1,200 heart attacks and causes 878 premature deaths.
  • In Metropolitan Chicago alone, diesel fine particles cause 755 deaths (65 from cancer), 1,021 heart attacks, 476 cases of chronic bronchitis, and 17,017 of asthma attacks annually.
  • National estimates indicate that a child with asthma misses an average of 7.6 days of school per year.
  • In Illinois, the average charge per hospital stay for asthma is $5,283.
  • The cancer risk that diesel exhaust poses is 8 times greater than the cancer risk from all other 133 air toxics tracked by EPA combined.

To determine the diesel risk in your area, click here.

Click here to review the Clean Air Task Force's report Diesel and Health in America: The Lingering Threat.

How you can help:

If you would like to get involved, please contact Ashley Collins at acollins@lungchicago.org or fill out an application to volunteer.