What's at Stake
Fine particle pollution is the single greatest environmental threat that South Carolinians face to their health. Emitted primarily from coal-fired power plants and diesel-powered trucks, ships and machinery, the tiny toxic particulate matter gives us asthma, heart and cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, strokes and damages our immune systems.
Diesel exhaust contains over 40 hazardous pollutants, at least 15 of which are known carcinogens. The most dangerous particles are those with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less (human hair is about 70 microns in diameter) that easily penetrate lung tissue and enter the blood stream.
More than 30 million Americans suffer from asthma, which is the leading cause of hospitalization of children in South Carolina. The Medical University of South Carolina estimates that African-American pediatric cases in Charleston County alone have risen over 2,000 percent in the last 50 years. The EPA’s national air toxics data shows that up to 80 percent of Americans’ total cancer risk from air pollution is attributed to inhaling diesel exhaust.
Challenges
In 2007, the American Lung Association issued failing grades for four counties at high risk from fine particle pollution: Charleston, Greenville, Richland, and Spartanburg. Six other counties fell at least a letter grade in the scale. In Charleston County, residents have a one in 3,300 chance of developing cancer from diesel soot, over 300 times greater than the EPA’s acceptable risk of one in a million.
The federal standard for fine particle pollution is 35 micrograms per cubic meter of air. DHEC tests found 17 counties regularly testing over 30 mg/m3, putting them at risk of reaching non-attainment and thus threatening community vitality.
Ships, trucks and coal-fired power plants are the primary sources of these emissions. As we expand industry in the Upstate and consider an “inland port” in Santee and along the coast, we are potentially adding thousands of diesel-burning trucks and ships to our roads and waterways. Emissions-reducing policies must be a priority to minimize health impacts and avoid reaching non-attainment levels. Other ports are reducing their toxic air pollution by as much as 50 percent over a five year period.
Next Steps
Implement regulations to abolish the burning of unrefined bunker fuel by container ships in our ports. Ships should be required to switch to cleaner fuel within at least 20 miles of South Carolina’s coast.
Urge the Ports Authority to implement ship-to-shore power hookups, allowing docked vessels to cut their engines while in port, eliminating 100 pounds of cancer-causing particulate emissions for each ship’s average stay at port.
Encourage shipping facilities to utilize rail over trucks and require all state-based container trucks to use Diesel Oxidation Catalysts in their exhaust system.
For more information: Nancy Vinson, Coastal Conservation League, 843-723-8035
Fast Facts
Asthma costs over $154 million annually in South Carolina, including $88 million for direct and $66 million for indirect medical costs.
An 1,800 acre site in Jasper County, S.C. offers a better alternative to expanding the port of Charleston than the old Navy Base, a location surrounded by residential neighborhoods.
EPA indicates that significantly reducing emissions from trains, trucks, and ships to safe levels by 2030 would cost between $2 and $4 billion. The estimated savings in health and environmental costs would be $70 billion.
Comparison studies in other port cities indicate that port activity is responsible for over 50 percent of diesel pollution.