Lehigh Valley air is one of nation's most polluted? (Philadelphia: houses, school)

[bluewin888]

True?


Compare to nyc or Philadelphia?

[darkplacezzz]

Why don't you start by telling us what your source is for this claim.

[bluewin888]

https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bre...one_of_na.html

[blazerj]

Since the EPA is run by the coal lobby now, I don't doubt this.

Also, given the massive development (removal of trees, grass, crops...) I don't doubt this.

[Patmcpsu]

I can see this being true, but mostly because you have three small cities packed in a relatively small area, and the spaces between those cities is pretty built-up too. It's like a mini-megapolis.

However, once you get out into the suburbs, the air gets cleaner. That said, there's still lots of cars and tractor trailers driving around. Lots of cars in the area are older and poorly maintained, which doesn't help with emissions.

All in all, the air is comfortable to breathe and there's no old-school industrial smokestacks spewing out unfiltered pollution. I would guess that the density of cars/trucks is the biggest culprit.

[darkplacezzz]

Originally Posted by bluewin888

https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bre...one_of_na.html

Thank you for the link. Just looking at the EPA's report for 2018 it would seem the Philadelphia metro area fairs worse than the Lehigh Valley metro area.

[blazerj]

Originally Posted by darkplacezzz

Thank you for the link. Just looking at the EPA's report for 2018 it would seem the Philadelphia metro area fairs worse than the Lehigh Valley metro area.

I'm not sure what your point is.

More people = more cars/ homes/ traffic... = worse air.

[Patmcpsu]

Originally Posted by darkplacezzz

Thank you for the link. Just looking at the EPA's report for 2018 it would seem the Philadelphia metro area fairs worse than the Lehigh Valley metro area.

I don't know what criteria you're using to make that judgement. When sorting by "AQI 90th %ile" which is defined as "90 percent of daily AQI values during the year were less than or equal to the 90th percentile value" the rankings are (from worst to best, with metro area added):

67th: Allegheny (Pittsburgh)
66th: Northampton (Lehigh Valley)
65th: Delaware County (Philadelphia)
64th: Philadelphia (Philadelphia)
63rd: Beaver (Pittsburgh)
62nd: Lancaster (Susquehanna Valley)
61st: Lehigh (Lehigh Valley)
60th: Bucks (Philadelphia)
59th: Dauphin (Susquehanna Valley)
58th: Mercer (N/A)
57th: Lebanon (Susquehanna Valley)
56th: Washington (Pittsburgh)
55th: Montgomery (Philadelphia)
54th: Cumberland (Susquehanna Valley)
53rd: Adams (Susquehanna Valley)
52nd: Berks (Susquehanna Valley)
51st: Chester (Philadelphia)
50th: York (Susquehanna Valley)
It goes on obviously, but it gets rural fast.

It's not rocket science: population density correlates with air pollution. Heavy industry creates pollution too. And finally, more affluent areas tend to have newer cars and more mass transit, which curb pollution.

We all know that Philadelphia-proper is dirty. Delaware County has a reputation for that as well. But all the other counties in the Philly metro (Chester, Montgomery, Bucks) are cleaner than Lehigh Valley.

I wouldn't get too caught-up in county-wide averages though. Air quality is bad in downtown Allentown but most of Lehigh County has good air. The average of these two is irrelevant if you never go into downtown Allentown. Likewise, if you live in a rural county but your house is next to a chemical plant, it doesn't matter much to you how many trees are off in the distance.

[blazerj]

It's only going to get worse, given the removal of trees for warehouses.

On 22, by the 191 exit there used to be a forest. Now there is gigantic warehouse being made.

[cshum372]

The topography of our region definitely contributes to our air quality- the report you referenced shows that most of the places with similar pollution are much larger cities than Allentown and the surrounding area. Being as though we are in a valley the air pollution that we do get often lingers..

I know that 1 in 3 grade school kids in the city of Allentown suffer from some sort of breathing/ respiratory ailment- and the ashtma rate is through the roof.