March 12, 2013 – The precautionary principle states that in the absence of scientific consensus that an action is harmful, it's the job of the government or other entity proposing such action to prove it won't cause harm.
That's what activists have been urging since proposals were made public to ship coal from the Powder River Basin through the Northwest for export to China.
Now, Multnomah County's Health Department has followed suit, following a report undertaken last fall that was released earlier this month on the human health impact of transporting coal by rail.
“The basic recommendation was that the issue needs more study and it's really the responsibility of folks who are going to be transporting coal to show that it's not harmful,” said Dr. Gary Oxman, who retired at the end of January as the health official for Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties but consulted on this report.
Performing a more detailed assessment was “beyond the scope of the county,” said Oxman, since the proposed trains will travel through a large area and since regulating rail traffic is the job of the federal government. “The county is really just taking the role of saying, 'This is of concern to us but it's beyond the county's jurisdiction to manage this.'”
A call to the coal industry “could catalyze further public discussion about the uncertain risk of coal transportation, the demands for more research, and the need for local planning to assure the health and safety of Multnomah County communities,” the report says. It also asks for a federal programmatic environmental impact statement of coal export in the Pacific Northwest.
The county's report included a review of the available relevant studies on coal dust, diesel exhaust and other effects of increased train traffic, as well as a spatial analysis of which populations would most likely be affected.
It identified six major areas of environmental concern – including emission of particulate matter in the form of coal dust, increased emission of particulate matter in the form of diesel exhaust, production of noise and vibration by train movement, congestion and collision along roadways and rail lines, train derailments and fires due to spontaneous combustion of coal. Those are associated with a variety of adverse health effects, including heart and lung problems, cancers, growth and development problems, stress and mental health problems, injury and death.
The spatial analysis, using census data, found that one in three residents in Multnomah County live within one mile of rail lines, and that people of color in Multnomah County are disproportionately likely to live in census tracts close to rail lines. Literature cited in the report says that coal dust may travel between one-quarter and 1.3 miles from the trains in which it's transported. The report also noted that communities of color are disproportionately affected by some of the most common health effects of coal dust and particulate matter.
An earlier story in the Lund Report noted that county officials were interested in looking into the economic effects of increased coal exports, but Oxman said those were difficult to extrapolate, particularly since the report focused on Multnomah County. Since the coal will be mined and processed in other areas, the railroad and shipping industries are the only ones likely to see any change in employment, and it’s difficult to determine the extent.
Much of the information staff uncovered did not come as a surprise, Oxman said, but they were interested to discover that there is little research on community (as opposed to occupational) exposures to coal dust.
“You know the stuff is potentially dangerous. You just don't know how much people are likely to get exposed to with train transportation,” Oxman said.
Regna Merritt, the campaign director for Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility's coal campaign, said the report largely confirmed what her group – and other activists concerned about the environmental and health impacts of coal trains – has been saying all along.
“For us, this is an important timing for the release of the report because the decisions by the Department of State Lands are to be made April 1,” Merritt said. “They laid out some pretty serious impacts, even without being able to identify all of them for lack of data and resources.”
Oregon PSR, along with several local governments and other activist groups, has called for a comprehensive, cumulative regional health assessment, which would investigate in more detail the health effects of diesel particulate matter, the health impacts of coal dust and noise pollution, the health impacts of delayed emergency services (due to the increase in freight traffic creating a long wait at intersections) and the health impacts of global transport of emissions, including mercury blowback.
Anti-coal activists are also planning to protest at the state capitol Wednesday.
TO LEARN MORE
To read the county's report, click here.
