If you are looking for cleaner air, don't come to Cumberland County. The Susquehanna River Valley has terrible air quality. People here suffer from asthma, sinus problems and allergies year round.
I grew up in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. There are three massive coal power plants within or near the county border. It is unbelievable how much pollution this relatively small area contributes.
The report for Pittsburgh is terribly unfair. An entire metropolitan area's air gets slammed based on a sampling point adjoining a lone coke works downwind of the city.
I moved to Pittsburgh after living in the DC area, Blacksburg, VA and Lexington, Kentucky. The air in Pittsburgh is visibly far cleaner than the DC area and is comparable to much smaller Lexington. Because it is a city of compact neighborhoods and communities still-reasonable public transit (for which better funding would greatly allevate the diesel soot problem from old buses) Pittsburghers generally contribute far less air-pollution per person than the sprawling, freeway and car-clogged environment of most other cities.
I have neighbors who have a bonfire every single night of the week. I can't open up my doors and windows on beautiful spring day from the smoke. I am forced to close up and put the air on when it starts to get warm. My son can't play outside on some days. I've never smoked and have just been diagnosed with emphysema. I have been told to go to local council meetings but its a small rural area and I was not born and raised here and the council is made up of family members from all the locals. Nothing would get done since they are the ones guilty of it. I am told since it is rural we can not have a burn ban but the farmers are not the ones who burn. It is mostly one neighbor and in the fall it gets worse. Leaves get lit up along side the road until the flames are 10 feet high. What can I do? Moving is out of the question. This family even has 2 younger children who play right next to the fires and they even hang clothes on the line directly above the bonfires. Hard to believe but I see it every day of my life.
I seriously do hope that these reports are infact misleading, like most of you say above me. I live in Cumberland County, going through college right now, and this is just disguisting. It acually worries me quite a bit to know that I am breathing in all of this pollution and could be putting my health at risk. Hopefully something is soon done because at this rate, if factual, it's going to be much harder to live longer!
Submitted by Seeing through ALA at: April 29, 2009
Once again ALA puts their fundraising goals ahead of science. The methodology is faulty and the messaging is sensationalist. They don't seem to care about the damage caused in their wake. They have attempted to damage the reputation of a great city like Pittsburgh that has cleaned up its air and invented new air pollution control technologies now being used around the world. Fortunately the public has finally begun to see through their farce.
What a load of hoooey! It's a wonder anyone survived in the past with the crap you are trying to sell. You don't even know what pollution is really like.
I live in Tioga County and am shocked to see our grade for air quality. As I sit here and write this my 6 year old little girl is coughing from severe allergies and am horrified to think where I live could be causing this. The problem is when I check the map it seems there are very few places to live where they receive a high grade.
I can't believe you are sending out this report as gospel. If the air quality was as bad as you indicate there would be no breeding hawks in the area and we have several. We also have falcons nesting in downtown Pittsburgh. You should be ashamed of yourselves for printing such trash.
By measuring the highest particulate level in each county, you are not representing the average air quality the population is exposed to. All this does is give cities such as Pittsburgh a dirty name.
Garbage in and Garbage out. The report before this measured the air quality for the region out side a bus terminal. Now you measure the air outside coke works. ALA SHAME ON YOU. Maybe you guys can get Vince from ShamWow to do your reports as it would hold the same credibility. What political agenda is behind your reports
The air in southwestern PA is dirty - far too many people breathe too much particle pollution. Even if there was no pollution from the Clairton works, Pittsburgh would still be one of the most polluted cities. We deserve clean healthy air in Pittsburgh, when are our leaders going get serious and clean it up
Is the recently released report for Pittsburgh still based on measurements in Clairton? Next to the coke works? Several miles downwind from Pittsburgh? If so the ALA is seriously misleading the public. They should take more care to protect their reputation.
