State considers diesel cancer threat
Copyright 1998 United Press International
July 30, 1998
State regulators are assessing the
potential
cancer threat of California's diesel engine exhaust. The Air
Resources Board opened
a two-day public hearing today on the issue, which pits
environmentalists and
health advocates against the California Trucking Industry, whose
25,000 members
operate more than 400,000
vehicles.
At the heart of the assessment is an ARB staff report that
estimates that 435
of every 1 million Californians, or more than 14,000 people, will
contract
cancer from a lifetime exposure to diesel exhaust. Whether the
board will list
diesel exhaust as a carcinogen depends partly on what happens
at a scheduled state legislative hearing Tuesday. The Senate
Transportation
Committee will consider a trucking industry bill that would
prohibit action by
air pollution regulators until more studies are completed. Each
side in the
dispute has amassed conflicting scientific findings and economic
estimates to support their arguments. Truckers estimate increased
costs of up
to $2 billion to switch to natural gas between 1999 and 2005. ARB
staff says
there's no intention to ban diesel, although cleaner-burning fuel
and engines
may be required -- but at a much lower
cost than what truckers predict.
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