Tuesday, October 7, 2014

NY: UAlbany professor finds elevated benzene near Albany rail yard

 

The Legislative Gazette  Oct 6, 2014      By KEITH J. FERRANTE, Gazette staff writer
 
According to a report submitted September 30 to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, residents of Albany's south end neighborhood face a significantly greater risk of cancer and other diseases because of chronic exposure to toxic pollutants associated with crude oil operations.
 
The report was written by Dr. David Carpenter, the director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the State University of New York at Albany.

According to the DEC's own air quality monitoring data in the area, benzene levels exceed the long-term health standard. Benzene is a known human carcinogen.

Carpenter's report criticizes DEC's August 2014 conclusion that the air in the South End does not raise a public concern. The results indicate that benzene levels in 20 out of 21 air samples exceeded the long-term benzene exposure standard, and the mean value for all samples is nearly three times the long-term benzene standard. The report also says that benzene is only one of a number of toxic pollutants, called volatile organic compounds, that were measured at high levels in the area....
 
read more here 


2 comments:

  1. Claudia - can you send me or post the link for this? I'd like to send it out but need to see the original source. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete