Simpson emitting in downtown Shelton, WA USASubmitted to Shelton Blog by John Cox Mason County Progressive
It is very clear that particulate matter 2.5 micron (PM 2.5) is a health hazard. Exposure to this component of biomass burning pollution shortens life spans, and is a general, all purpose health hazard.
In the past year, the American Lung Association, the American Heart Association, and most of our local physicians among others, have all concluded that PM 2.5 is bad news. The recent study cited below shows a correlation between PM 2.5 and increased diabetes, just to add a bit more evidence.
So why, with all of that evidence, all of that expert scientific opinion making a VERY convincing case for PM 2.5 being something we should not be exposed to, are there people who would ignore or not believe it?
It's fairly easy to see how people who have a vested interest in the biomass process, or people whose senses only function when a profit is involved, can ignore the problem. It is not, however, easy to understand how people who oppose the proposed ADAGE project can ignore the problems the Simpson incinerator(s) also represent. And yes, they are out there!
Simpson and Olympic Panel already gift us with approximately 70 TONS/year of PM 2.5. With a second Simpson incinerator, we'll have around 100 TONS/year of PM 2.5 in downtown Shelton for our bodies to play with. And for what?
Simpson does not care about our health. It does not care about the environment. It does not care about Shelton. It does not care about Mason County. It cares only about its bottom line, and as we have been shown over and over again, our national and local politician$ $eem to $hare thi$ ob$e$$ion.
So why would anybody who understands the problems with the ADAGE incinerator, not see problems with Simpson, or any of the other incinerators planned for our state? I don't get it.
It doesn't matter where the PM 2.5 is coming from. It is bad news.
Particulate Matter Linked to Diabetes(Source: Diabetes Care, Oct. 29, 2010)
"From a policy perspective," said John Brownstein of the Children's Hospital Informatics Program, "the findings suggest that the current EPA limits on exposure may not be adequate to prevent negative public health outcomes from particulate matter exposure."
Among counties well within EPA limits for exposure to PM 2.5, those with the highest compared to the lowest measurements of pollution demonstrated a greater than 20 percent increase in diabetes.
For every 10 microgram per cubic meter increase in PM 2.5 exposure, prevalence of diabetes went up by 1 percent.
The findings of the report correlate with studies where mice exposed to PM 2.5 showed an increase in insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes.
Photo by Christine
Your question, "So why would anybody who understands the problems with the ADAGE incinerator, not see problems with Simpson, or any of the other incinerators planned for our state? I don't get it." is relevant and timely and my family and I don't get it either.
ReplyDeleteI find it inconceivable in fact that anyone who is opposed to the Adage facility is not also opposed to the Simpson/Solomon second proposed facility.
In my case, I am opposed to the existing Simpson/Oly Panel plume. The idea of adding a second plume downtown, and one on John's Prairie is beyond understanding; it simply does not compute...
One would think, considering all we know about the effects of air pollution on public health, that no one would even think of locating a lumber or paper mill, or any major source of air pollution, in a densely populated area. But here we are, entrenched in misguided loyalty to Simpson/Solomon, a pollution sewing dinosaur attempting to pass itself off as the future hope of Mason County. There is, in fact, a future in timber and logging, if performed in an environmentally sensitive manner, but the milling of dimentional lumber has always been a dirty business, and has no place in downtown Shelton.
ReplyDelete