Air quality across the Pittsburgh region has improved significantly in recent decades, but it still rates near the bottom in the United States, according to a report released Wednesday by the Heinz Endowments.
Citing data gathered by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Allegheny County Health Department from 1999 to 2009, the report also notes that the improvement trails average gains experienced across the rest of the country.
"Air quality is improving, but it's not improving as quickly as other places," said John Graham, senior scientist with the Boston-based Clean Air Task Force, which conducted the six-month study at the request of the Downtown-based Heinz Endowments, a nonprofit that funds a wide range of initiatives, including environmental improvements.
The study found that North Braddock and the Liberty-Clairton area around U.S. Steel's Clairton coke works exceed EPA standards for particulate emissions -- defined as minute bits of dust that can become embedded in the lungs and cause heart and lung disease. Harrison, in far northeast Allegheny County, also exceeds federal ozone limits, according to the report.
At least half of the pollution is generated locally, Graham said, and the biggest polluters are coal-fired power plants. The findings mirror annual reports issued by the American Lung Association, which lists Pittsburgh among the U.S. cities with the highest levels of air pollution.
Heinz Endowments announced the formation of a commission to address the issue that will include government and industry leaders. It also plans a public relations campaign to educate the public about air pollution and its hazards.
Guillermo Cole, spokesman for the county health department, said department projections indicate all areas of Allegheny County should meet EPA air standards by 2013. One of the biggest polluters -- U.S. Steel -- has agreed to make improvements to the Clairton coke works designed to dramatically decrease particle emissions, he said.
Data gathered by the health department since 2009 indicates air quality in North Braddock now meets EPA standards, Cole said.
"Our position is fine particulate pollution is not a countywide problem," Cole said. "We recognize that Liberty-Clairton is a problem, and we have a plan to address that."
