SEATTLE - A community?watchdog group says the Port of Seattle needs to find out how it?is affecting the health of its neighbors.
Puget Sound Sage released results from a public survey today. They say it shows most residents of the Georgetown and South Park neighborhoods believe?emissions from truck traffic connected to the Sea?Port are making them sick.
Those two?neighborhoods are in the?bull's eye of the Port's massive ground transportation zone. Trucks rumble through on their way to and from the Port all day long and leave behind?potentially dangerous diesel emissions.
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The group makes the following claims in its study: According to Public Health - Seattle & King County, children in the South Park, Georgetown and Beacon Hill area have the highest asthma hospitalization rate in King County, and residents of these neighborhoods can expect to die an average of 2.5 years sooner than other King County residents.
The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency reports that the average particulate matter concentration in Georgetown and South Park is the highest in King County, and for Seattle and Tacoma residents living close to freeways, ports or industrial areas, the risk of getting cancer from breathing toxic air pollutants is more than 27 times higher than the national average - 1,000 potential cases per million people as compared with 36 potential cases per million.
The group is demanding the Port of Seattle to get to?the bottom of its affects on neighbors.
The Port's Wayne?Grotheer told King 5 it?acknowledges the Port cause air quality problems, but says it invested in several?projects to reduce it, including convincing 75 percent of the truck owners serving the Port to meet tough new emissions standards.
But he says when it comes to air monitoring, that's better left to experts like the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency.
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