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  - Health costs to Californians, so far this year, of port related pollution in California.
The Ports of LA  Long Beach Clean Air Action Plan passed in November 2006, and 1500 clean trucks service the ports.
Port Pollution Facts
  • In Long Beach, 20% of children under 17 have been diagnosed with asthma - nearly twice the national average.
  • $67 million: The cost of respiratory problems associated with ports in CA.
  • Diesel Exhaust is responsible for 84% of the cancer risk from air pollution in the Southern California Air Basin.
  • $19 BILLION: Cost on health system due to port pollution. average.
  • Each day the Port of LA emits over 30 tons of NOx, while a half a million cars emits less than 24 tons and the average power plant emits less than 5 tons.
  • 2,400 - Estimated number of premature deaths caused by diesel emissions.
  • 800,000: Number of children that pollution reduction could save from lung disease.
  • Each day the Port of Los Angeles emits over 30 tons of NOx, while a half a million cars emits less than 24 tons and the average power plant emits less than 5 tons.

Our Economy

How Port Pollution Impacts Our Economy

Port Pollution Costs Us $61 Billion Per Year

Port Pollution Poisoning hurts the entire Los Angeles region—costing billions of dollars and 3700 premature deaths each year. It’s responsible for more than 20 percent of the smog in the L.A.-basin. And across the area—from Santa Monica to Riverside, and from Orange County to the San Fernando Valley—cancer risk rates exceed federal clean air standards.

Economic Costs – For ALL of US

The economic impact of the air and port pollution is also substantial. The estimated annual impact on California’s economy is $4 billion and encompasses the costs associated with hospitalizations and the treatment of major and minor illnesses related to air pollution. Furthermore, the value of preventing premature deaths resulting from exposure to air pollution in excess of the state’s PM and ozone standards is estimated to be $57 billion 2.

Port pollution is not only responsible for enormous health care costs, but is also responsible for millions of missed work and school days. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) estimates the financial impact on the region is $165 million for these lost days.

Facts

  • $19 billion: Overall cost of Particulate Matter (PM) and ozone on the health system from ports and goods movement through October 2005 2
  • $67 million: The cost of respiratory problems associated with ports in California 2
  • 2 million: The number of Americans who end up in the emergency room because of asthma each year 3
  • Attaining California PM and ozone standards would annually prevent approximately: 4,000 hospital admissions for respiratory disease, 3,000 hospital admissions for cardiovascular disease, 2,000 asthma related ER visits 4 
  • 360,000 work days were lost across California due to health effects associated with PM and ozone, costing the state an estimated $65 million. 2
  • 1,100,000 students stay home from school each day in California due to the health effects associated with pollution from port-related industries, costing the state $100 million. 2
  • 12,000 work days were lost due to health effects from activities at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach 1

Its Deadly Aim at those Most Vulnerable
Some communities suffer disproportionately from pollution from port-related industries. Specifically, residents of the communities adjacent to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, including San Pedro, Wilmington, and Long Beach, have increased rates of health illnesses associated with port-related pollution. Residents suffer from severe short-term and long-term respiratory illnesses, as well as some of the highest levels of cancer risk in the Los Angeles region. The roadways in and out of the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles are severely congested with more than 40,000 diesel-spewing trucks visiting the ports daily, a figure expected to triple by 2025. 1 

Closest to the ports is the notorious “Diesel Death Zone,” where cancer risk rates rise to as much as 20 times higher than federal clean air standards, which itself permits up to 300 extra cases of cancer per million population from all pollution sources. That’s as high as 5800 extra cancer deaths from pollution per million people.

SCAQMD also found that additional cancer risk along highway corridors with significant big truck traffic was 1,700 per million residents, higher than anywhere else in the L.A. region. (Of course, the regional average — 1,200 to 1,400 per million residents — is still significantly higher than federal clean air standards). And those same highway corridors cut through communities with large numbers of lower income and minority residents.1  Many people in these communities are also the least able to afford the personal and financial costs of greater health problems and higher medical bills 2.

1: "Harboring Pollution: The Dirty Truth About Port Pollution." Diane Bailey, Thomas Plenys, Gina Solomon, Todd Campbell, Gail Ruderman Feuer, Julie Masters and Bella Tonkonogy. NRDC, March, 2004.
2: "CARB: Emissions Reduction Plan for Ports and Goods Movement in California: Appendix A." CARB. March, 2006.
3: American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, Asthma Statistics.
4: "Recent Research Findings: Health Effects of PM and Ozone Air Pollution." CARB. 2004.


 

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