Patrick Dowd: Allegheny County's progress on air quality

The op-ed “Environmental priorities for Allegheny County executive’s first 100 days” (Sept. 25, TribLIVE) by environmental activist Ashleigh Deemer, deputy director of PennEnvironment, contained a great deal of misinformation and bias. The Allegheny Health Department (AHCD) has made tremendous strides in air quality during the last decade. The next county executive will have a lot of successes to build on, including continuing the improvements made in air quality.

It is noteworthy that Allegheny County was in attainment at all eight monitors (including the Liberty monitor) for the first time in our history in 2020. Quite an accomplishment. But rather than rest on our laurels, we repeated it by doing it again in 2021 and 2022, with even better numbers. We are currently on pace to improve again in 2023 and will again be in attainment.

This work has meant that there has been a huge reduction in air pollutants. Over the last decade, we have seen a 50% reduction in fine particulates, an 80% reduction in “hazardous air pollutants” and an 87% reduction in sulfur dioxide. It is also worth noting that we have seen an 87% reduction in emergency room visits for asthma in the last decade.

We are very proud of these improvements and hope that this work is recognized for the accomplishment it is. It would be significant if this region had the same 80% reduction in crime, infant mortality, opioid addiction, drop-out rates or other health determinants.

False narratives that ignore the amount of progress that has been made are not helpful or truthful. Op-eds like this give the wrong impression about the progress we’ve made. While they might drive financial contributions to the environmental activists, they don’t paint an accurate picture about the progress this region has made.

While the ACHD Air Quality Program did once have a backlog of Title V permits, the most serious emission sources, we have dedicated resources to meet such challenges. Today, the backlog of Title V permits has effectively evaporated.

And when it comes to addressing climate change, Allegheny County has been a leader. We were the first government to join the Green Building Challenge and are proud that Pittsburgh has more square feet of office space reducing carbon footprint than any location in America.

We are getting off of fossil fuels to power our operations by building a hydroelectric plant on the Emsworth Lock and Dam.

Building a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and replacing diesel buses with electric buses through our most heavily used bus routes (Oakland to downtown) and beyond will also improve air quality and our carbon footprint. That work, along with the replacement of other diesel-powered vehicles, particularly in the Mon Valley, has not only been championed by ACHD, but the department has provided significant funding for those initiatives as well.

Finally, planting 12,000 trees over the last decade has also improved air quality and adds to carbon removal from our environment.

These initiatives as well as many others gives the next county executive much to build on to continue improving air quality and deal with climate change. We look forward to our continued role in that work.

Patrick Dowd is acting director of the Allegheny County Health Department.