(The following column appeared on the Kansas City Star website on September 2, 2009.)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In a strikingly straightforward letter, air quality experts at the Mid-America Regional Council say the BNSF freight yard proposed for Johnson County will worsen our already bad ozone problems.
“The expected increase in the volume of diesel truck and locomotive traffic will contribute additional (nitrogen oxide), fine particulate and hazardous pollutants to the area immediately surrounding the facility as well as areas downwind in the Greater Kansas City area,” said the letter written on behalf of MARC’s environmental air quality program.
“Because (nitrogen oxide) is a major constituent of diesel exhaust and the intermodal facility would concentrate diesel exhaust emissions in an area immediately upwind of monitors that routinely register high ozone levels, emissions from the facility would likely contribute to higher ozone levels…,” the letter states.
The letter from MARC was part of the public comments filed on BNSF’s effort to secure environmental clearances needed to start work on a sprawling rail yard proposed near Gardner in southwest Johnson County.
The U.S. Army Corps of Emgineers is considering the public comments and is expected to soon decide whether BNSF should be given the OK to move ahead.
BNSF finds itself in a hot battle with local residents and national environmentalists over the potential health risks that project could introduce to the region.
A preliminary federal report has already concluded that the project wouldn’t have much effect on the region, but environmentalists have been fighting back vigorously. They want a more thorough and exhaustive environmental impact study done on the project.
MARC challenges an initial federal conclusion that the only serious pollution issue emanating from the freight hub is dust kicked up from vehicles entering and leaving the site.
The MARC experts noted that diesel exhaust at the site includes fine particles of pollution that are considered hazardous and can aggravate asthma, cause irregular heartbeats and possibly lead to early death for anyone suffering from heart and lung disease.
MARC also homed in on the region’s ozone problem, which could lead to costly environmental controls that could affect area industries with the added compliance costs eventually passed to consumers.
The problem is exacerbated because the federal government lowered the bar for violating clean-air standards.
“We have a stricter standard now,” said Cindy Kemper, director of the Johnson County Environmental Department.“That ups the ante with regard to any new source of pollution that potentially could contribute to ozone formation in the region,” she said..