AIR POLLUTION IN JEFFERSON COUNTY
Goetz H . Kloecker , MD , MBA
Over the last months , James Bruggers of the Courier Journal has written several important articles on Kentucky ’ s air pollution .
Kentucky ranked 9th for industrial greenhouse emissions in 2014 and 6th for toxic air emissions nationwide . Over the last decade some of the power plants such as Mill Creek and Cane Run invested billions of dollars in new technology and have since reported improvement , with emissions reduced by more than half . Between 2010 and 2014 , the industrial toxic air emissions for all of Kentucky also improved from 60 million pounds down to 40 million pounds .
For overall toxic emissions , in 2013 Jefferson County was among the worst in the nation - only 5 th from the very bottom . In 2014 , the nation ’ s worst by self-reporting were two plants in Beulah , ND , pumping out 20 million pounds of foul air . Altogether in 2014 , of the top 20 highest-emissions plants , eight were in KY and Indiana . But by 2015 , Jefferson County had improved to 13 th from the bottom nationally , again based on industry self-reporting . After ongoing enforcement of the Clean Air Act , the toxic air emissions here fell from 7.2 million pounds to 4.7 million pounds in 2015 .
An MIT study from 2013 concluded that air pollution contributes to 200,000 deaths a year in this country . Many of Louisville ’ s citizens suffer from chronic allergies , asthma and sinus respiratory problems , and accept this as the inevitable fate of living in the steamy , hot , green Ohio Valley . In fact , Louisville is ranked as one of the worst cities in the US for asthma . However , one has to wonder , searching for mountain chains around Louisville , and looking across the Ohio River at the fairly flat state of Indiana - where is the valley part ? And how much is the poor air quality due not to geography , but instead to the consequences of modern times ?
In 2016 , the World Health Organization ( WHO ) published a global assessment of ambient ( outdoor ) air pollution . Its database compiles information on PM ( particulate matter ) 2.5 µ m and PM 10 µ m for 3,000 locations worldwide . Particulate matter is an important part of toxic air emissions , beside noxious gases such as oxides of nitrogen , sulfur and ozone . PM levels of 2.5 µ m were used in the WHO report as an indicator of air pollution risk for cardiovascular disease , emphysema , lung cancer and respiratory disease in children . The WHO report assumed that air pollution was responsible for 3 million deaths in 2012 . The report makes clear that the data and
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