Air
Quality
Every
industry, resident and business, big or small, in
Philadelphia needs to do their part on improving air
quality in this region. The ports in the Philadelphia
region are no different. According to a spring 2005
US EPA study, ports in Philadelphia are becoming hot spots
of diesel emission buildup. Of greater concern is the
fact that port expansion plans are in the works to
accommodate the steady rise in ship traffic along the
Delaware River. The high-volume use of diesel fuel to
power the ships, trucks, trains and cargo handling
equipment at ports creates vast amounts of dark soot that
affects the health of port workers and residents of nearby
neighborhoods. The Port Environmental Task Force is
considering a variety of sources in its report on air
quality at ports in Philadelphia. Among those are:
-
Particulate Matter, including both PM10 and fine
particulates (aka “soot”)
-
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)
-
Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx)
-
Sulfur Dioxide (SOx)
Water
Quality
Have you
ever looked out the window as your plane was coming in for
a landing at Philadelphia International Airport? If
so, you might have noticed a series of large cranes
starting as far south as Packer Avenue Marine Terminal,
just south of the Walt Whitman Bridge, north all the way up
to Tioga Marine Terminal in the Bridesburg area.
These and other ports of the Philadelphia Regional Port
Authority combine to create over 350 acres of mostly paved
surface buffering the Delaware River. Add to that the
private terminals in and around Philadelphia and the
concern becomes greater. Ports have an intimate
relationship with the Delaware Estuary. Port
facilities need to be proactive stewards of this precious
resource which provides drinking water for thousands of
local residents and habitat a variety of plants and
animals. The Port Environmental Task Force is
considering a variety of sources in its report on water
quality at ports in Philadelphia. Among those
are:
- Stormwater runoff
-
Oil spills
-
Bilge water
-
Antifouling additives
Brownfields
Clean Air Council worked with the Philadelphia Water Department and the Environmental Protection Agency to utilize targeted brownfields assessment funds for the development of a greenway along Frankford Creek, just north and west of Tioga Marine Terminal in Philadelphia. For more information on this project, please visit:
http://www.greenways.com/philadelphia.html
