Comments on TommyWonk: NRG and the Sussex County Cancer Cluster

Nausea hit when you said DNREC's Ali M- showed how...

2007-08-14T21:03:00.000-04:00

Nausea hit when you said DNREC's Ali M- showed how "most" PM2.5 comes from west of us. So what. We cannot command PA, Ohio or WVA to reduce their pollution. Nor can NJ, CT and MA influence a whit what we do with Indian River. How can DE ignore its responsibilities to clean up IRPP for Millsboro and all our neighbors?
Were DNREC so confident that IRPP has little to do with the cancer and other disease rates, John Hughes would not have come down personally to tell the CConsortium, never mind, we're taking care of NRG and the Sussex County crowd.

Having the State of Delaware do a smoking study is a "fox in the henhouse" proposition. So let's forget them. Instead, let's all spend our time writing Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia to ask them if they would mind reducing their emissions sometime soon. I'm sure they're paying attention.

Thanks for stats on infant deaths. The numbers tel...

2007-08-14T15:21:00.000-04:00

Thanks for stats on infant deaths. The numbers tell a troubling story.

I learned yesterday that there are ten air quality monitors in Delaware. Placing one near Millsboro would make sense to me. If you think you have a problem, measure it.

I remember the effort that went into placing one in Wilmington in the 1990s. The PM2.5 monitor in Wilmington shows non-attainment on a regular basis.

While the Indian River Power Plant is a source of ...

2007-08-14T15:08:00.000-04:00

While the Indian River Power Plant is a source of 1000-1500 ton PM10 and PM2.5, there is no down wind PM air mointor in Sussex County. There is one in Seaford and it has shown non-attainmet with the new PM2.5 standards in 2001-2003 (38 ug/m3) and 2003-2005 (36 ug/m3). 2003-2005 sweeked in at 34.7 ug/m3.
The standard is 35 ug/m3, 24-hour average, 98th percentile, averaged over 3 years.

Particulate pollution increases infant deaths. Just go pull the death rates of The News Journal web page. No more argument about people moving to DE or smoking.
Infant deaths rates are in deaths per 1000 live births.

19951 Harbeson 12.8
19966 Millsboro 10.7
19939 Dagsboro 10.5
19958 Lewes 9.1
19947 Georgetown 8.6

Look upstate along the river where there are many pollution sources and:
19801 Wilmington 15.3
19802 Wilmington 12.4
19806 Wilmington 12.1
19805 Ellsmere 10.6
19809 Edgemoor 10.1
19703 Claymont 9.1

The US Average is just 6.9. Delaware is 6th worst in US. Now go read the DPH report. The word pollution does not appear.