More than 100 area diesel garbage trucks slated for pollution-curbing filters
This week, the public will get a closer look at Metro’s regional collaboration to put pollution-curbing filters on more than 100 area garbage and recycling trucks. After a project overview during the regular Metro Council session at 2 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29, at 600 NE Grand Ave., in Portland, visitors can step outside to see a retrofitted diesel garbage truck up close. The outdoor display will also include a refuse truck powered by compressed natural gas.
Metro and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, in cooperation with government partners and participating haulers, have teamed to install the state-of-the-art filters on up to 160 of the region’s diesel garbage trucks. The retrofitting is expected to cut each truck’s soot emissions by 25 to 90 percent, helping save money, reduce climate impacts and create more livable neighborhoods by making the most of clean-air technology.
Diesel particulate pollution harms human health, the environment and the bottom line. It’s linked to public health impacts such as heart disease and cancer and contributes to smog and global warming. Estimated health impacts for the Portland metropolitan area in 2010 alone include 129 premature deaths, more than 4,200 asthma attacks and nearly 20,000 lost work days.
With more than 1,100 tons of diesel particulate matter released in the local area each year from transportation sources, diesel soot is estimated to create more than $353 million in human health costs – about $235 per person.
Every dollar spent reducing particulate matter, however, yields $13 to $28 in avoided public health costs and other benefits, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA also estimates savings of $600,000 to $700,000 in human health and environmental impacts per mitigated ton of diesel soot.