A breath of fresh air
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While some would dispute the evidence -- from the scientific studies conducted by the Clean Air Task Force, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh to the experiences of parents caring for their asthmatic children on air-alert days -- it is clear that the quality of the air in Pittsburgh does not measure up to the high standard of excellence set by so many other aspects of this great city.
Still others might acknowledge the problem, but believe that any efforts to improve air quality would come only at the expense of economic activity.
Tomorrow, we launch the Breathe Project, a regional coalition of individuals, corporations, environmental groups, academic institutions, governmental entities and nonprofit organizations committed to working in collaboration to significantly improve the air in the Pittsburgh region.
This represents a dramatic departure from recent history when the air-quality issue could be guaranteed to cause shouting matches in meeting rooms and political grandstanding in election campaigns. Instead, our coalition is going about its business in collegial fashion. We intend to set goals, encourage individual and corporate action, and measure results.
The type of action envisioned by the coalition is exemplified by the recent agreement between McConway & Torley, a Lawrenceville foundry manufacturing railcar products, and the Group Against Smog and Pollution.
In January, the Allegheny County Health Department issued an air permit allowing reactivation of a furnace at the foundry. GASP appealed the permit, citing concerns about the potential emissions of heavy metals. M&T approached GASP in hopes of working together on a solution. The great result is an agreement to employ supplemental emission controls beyond those required by the Environmental Protection Agency and the county health department.
The improvements covered in the agreement will reduce the emission of both particulates and heavy metals. Most important, the agreement allows M&T, which employs 273 area residents, to go forward with its plant modernization, creating more manufacturing jobs while also improving air quality.
Chief among the lessons from this example is that, contrary to what we see in many parts of the country, people with different perspectives can work together and come to agreement around difficult and complicated matters. Yet another lesson is that air-quality improvements need not be held hostage to the need for economic development.
First Published October 26, 2011 12:00 am
