P5.
ALIGN WITH TRIBORO ECODISTRICT
AIR QUALITY Sharpsburgers will breathe clean air indoors and outdoors.
On average, Sharpsburg residents spend
8%
of their annual household income on healthcare (the average American spends 6%).7 It must be noted that healthcare costs and health are related to, but cannot be directly attributed to, air quality.
2026 METRICS Air Quality # of air quality action days annually Improvement Projects % of shade tree canopy All metrics in Millvale Pivot 2.0 for Air Quality
GASP Air Permits Clearinghouse. The Breathe Project, CREATE Lab, CMU CAPS, 2018. 3 SWPA Community Profiles, ACHD, 2015. 4 The Breathe Project, U.S. EPA, Clean Air Task Force, 2017. 5 PennEnvironment, Toxic Ten, 2015. 6 EPA, NEI Inventory Data, 2011. 7 ESRI, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Surveys 2013 and 2014. 1 2
46 | Sharpsburg Community Vision Plan
While the greater Pittsburgh area’s air quality has greatly improved in the last half decade, the region still ranks in the worst 4% for particulate pollution in the United States.4 Air quality affects health, views, and ecological wellbeing. Considering that this is largely an invisible problem, Sharpsburg should educate their residents about the magnitude of the problem, provide recommendations to lessen impact and improve indoor air quality, and participate in regional advocacy. Added population due to the riverfront development may accelerate these efforts. Regional Sources Five of the county’s most toxic regional polluters are located in relatively close proximity to Sharpsburg, including McConway & Torley, which is right across the river in Lawrenceville.5 The proximity of these sources, combined with environmental factors such as the predominant wind direction and location along the river, makes Sharpsburg’s position particularly susceptible to poor air quality. Local and Mobile Sources Green space and street trees can lessen the impact of local air pollution. While Sharpsburg has a few parks, the borough could benefit from more street trees and vegetation. Sharpsburg’s air quality is also impacted by local sources, some of which are known and can be mapped, while others occur only once in awhile and are not easily tracked. Local sources include restaurants, dry cleaners, autobodys, paint shops, and small-scale industrial sites. Sources that are not easily tracked include fire pits, burning trash, gas and charcoal grills, wood burning stoves, cooling towers, and pizza ovens.
Mobile sources also impact Sharpsburg’s air quality and may vary in intensity over the course of the day or week. These include car and truck emissions from heavy traffic along Route 28 and the two bridges, and moderate traffic along Main Street. While the bus routes are helping to lessen car emissions, they also contribute to local air pollution, in addition to emissions from boat launches and trains. Off-road mobile sources such as construction equipment and lawn and garden equipment also contribute. Indoor Air Quality Sharpsburg’s location within the floodplain can lead to mold and other indoor air quality concerns. Due to the age of the homes in Sharpsburg, they are more susceptible to poor indoor air quality. Old furnaces, a lack of filtration or ventilation, indoor combustion, cracks in the basement that may allow radon in, and other behaviors and conditions should be monitored and homes should be improved to lessen these impacts. Health Impacts While it is known that poor air quality has an impact on health, it is difficult to directly attribute poor air quality to specific health conditions. However, it is known that Sharpsburg residents experience a higher death rate due to lung cancer than the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County (67.6 per 100,000 people compared to 61.6 and 52.7 respectively). Another factor that may contribute to this health outcome is that Sharpsburgers also have a higher smoking rate than the City and the County (27% compared to 19% and 23% respectively).3