Diesel exhaust blamed for deaths

Monday, February 28, 2000

Diesel exhaust blamed for deaths

BY DAVE FLESSNER
STAFF WRITER

A new study blames diesel exhaust for the premature deaths of 28 Chattanoogans and at least 485 local asthma attacks in a single year.

The Clean Air Task Force study rated Hamilton County as the 166th worst county in the United States for diesel pollution among the nation's 3,109 counties. The report was based on EPA data from 1999, the most recent year available.

But industry leaders said last week such data is outdated, and new engines, fuels and speed limits should cut harmful diesel emissions in Chattanooga.

Environmental groups seized upon the study to promote more pollution controls. The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and the American Lung Association of Tennessee urged state and local agencies to extend new diesel engine standards to construction equipment and to adopt new limits on truck and bus idling.

"We're all familiar with diesel's sooty smell," said Anne Gilliam, the diesel campaign coordinator for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy in Atlanta. "Now we understand that our lives are actually at stake from this pollution."

Ms. Gilliam said Tennessee should set a standard to reduce diesel emissions by at least 75 percent in the next decade.

A diesel industry leader said diesel emissions already have declined significantly since the 1999 EPA data was collected. New engines and fuels should further reduce such pollution, said Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum. "Diesel technology has been

See DIESEL, Page B5

BY THE NUMBERS

Diesel soot in Chattanooga in 1999 was blamed for:

• 28: Premature deaths
• 30: Nonfatal heart attacks
• 485: Asthma attacks
• 2,893: Lost work days
• 16,962: Minor restricted activity days

Source: Clean Air Task Force study