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Multnomah County’s Office of Sustainability announces it’s association with OTA and our Healthy Air Oregon campaign to encourage drivers to turn off their engines while waiting on drawbridges this Summer. Together we are raising awareness about the personal and public health risks of idling and cost savings available to individual drivers and businesses of all kinds by ending the practice of idling while not in the flow of traffic.

Read more about Multnomah County’s “Idling Gets You Nowhere” campaign.

The Spirit of Portland is a private cruise company that has various cruises with different sized boats people can take to go site-seeing on the Willamette River. The Portland Spirit is their largest yacht and the route goes under the Hawthorne Bridge, which is a major car drawbridge connecting downtown Portland with the SE side. Because the Willamette River water level has not gone down like it normally does over the summer, Spirit of Portland has had to schedule bridge lifts for the Hawthorne Bridge to be able to pass underneath.  It passes through the bridge 3 times a day, which stops traffic and causes people to idle their cars for at least a mile in each direction. Multnomah County’s Office of Sustainability saw this as a perfect opportunity to remind drivers of the health and environmental risks of idling and the potential cost savings of turning off their engines while they wait. This Summer OTA is partnering with the educational effort to raise the issue in the public’s eye.

Find out how you can become an endorser of our Healthy Air Oregon campaign.

EVENTS SCHEDULED THIS SUMMER:

Hawthorne Bridge Outreach # 2
7/27/11 – 2:30 pm – 3:15 pm
Where: Hawthorne Bridge
MORE–>

Hawthorne Bridge Outreach # 3
7/29/11 – 2:30 pm – 3:15 pm
Where: Hawthorne Bridge
MORE–>

ALSO: Multnomah County adopts Vehicle Idling Reduction Policy (PDF file)
Includes this important stipulation:
“Effective immediately, Multnomah County employees shall reduce idling time to no more than twenty seconds in al County Fleet vehicles…”

Is there a relationship between outdoor air pollution and children’s asthma in our community? Published research on children’s asthma tell us:

• Asthma accounts for 14.4 million lost days of school every school year.
• Asthma is the leading cause of a child missing school.
• Asthma kills 600 children every year and is the leading cause of chronic disease.
• When air quality worsens, the lung function of asthmatic children worsens.
• Air pollution can interfere with treatment of asthma by continuing to provoke inflammation even as asthma medications work to calm inflammation.

Pollution from cars and trucks, especially diesel exhaust, is linked to asthma. One way to help children with asthma is to improve air quality by reducing commercial truck idling.

HB 2081, a bill about idling, would make it illegal for a city or county to reduce truck idling. Two of our local policy makers, Senators Beyer and Edwards, are on the committee that can fix this bill. We need our local politicians to work with cities – not prevent cities – from taking local action to improve children’s health related to the quality of our air.

NOTE:
Please see our campaign page to find out how you can get involved to remove this language from the legislation!
Oregonians deserve to have a say in what their cities and counties do on behalf of better health and air quality!

See also, this recent article in the Oregonian on the same subject:

Bill to curb idling shows how Oregon Legislature just keeps on truckin’
Published: Saturday, May 07, 2011

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Legacy Health Puts the Breaks on Idling

Portland, Oregon
Legacy Health will soon begin educating company drivers about the harmful effect of unnecessary vehicle idling. The effort is part of a larger green strategy called Healthy Air Oregon and new partnership with the Oregon Toxics Alliance, an environmental health based non-profit group focusing on protecting air and water quality.

“As an organization, we are trying to do whatever we can to prevent air pollution that harms our health, and one significant thing we can do is not idling our cars and trucks.” said Pat Lydon, Strategic Resources Coordinator for Legacy Health. “This effort is just one more way we can demonstrate our commitment to creating a healthy sustainable environment for ourselves and generations to come.”

Idling cars and trucks puts harmful pollutants into the air including benzene, a chemical present in gasoline fumes, known to increase risk of childhood leukemia and other cancers. According to Environmental Protection Agency, there is no safe level of benzene exposure. Children and pregnant women are especially vulnerable.

“Medical research has confirmed that exposure to tailpipe emissions significantly raises the risk for childhood leukemia and asthma,” said Lisa Arkin, director of the Oregon Toxics Alliance. “Oregon has a very high incidence of both diseases, so this is a partnership developed out of a shared concern for our community’s health.”

Other Healthy Air partners include the City of Portland and Multnomah County. Both have adopted “No Idling” policies for all city and county vehicles, respectively. This policy supports the goal of their joint Climate Action Plan to reduce local carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. Multnomah County became the first entity in Oregon to work with Oregon Toxics Alliance to develop a “No Idling” policy in 2007.

Contacts:
Legacy Health Contact:
Amber Shoebridge
Phone: 503-413-2939
Email: ashoebridge@lhs.org

Oregon Toxics Alliance Contact:
Lisa Arkin
Phone: 541-465-8860
Email: larkin@oregontoxics.org

Full Press Release

[See our Press Page for details and press resources]

The announcement came via Mayor Sam Adams’ blog:

The City of Portland is proud to join Oregon Toxics Alliance’s Healthy Air Oregon Campaign. Current members include government entities such as Multnomah County and the City of Eugene. National and local businesses like Enterprise Rent a Car and Elephants Deli are partners as well as non-profit and educational organizations. Check out Oregon Toxics Alliance’s web site for a full list of partners. These businesses and government offices have endorsed and adopted idling reduction policies based on Healthy Air Oregon campaign guidelines.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality recently completed a report on medium- and heavy-duty vehicle idling that concluded that idling by commercial vehicles uses up to 38 million gallons of fuel per year at a total cost of $108 million. This results in the emission of 381,000 metric tons of CO2.  Much of the idling that is done could be characterized as avoidable, in some cases supported by the availability of a variety of technological upgrades that can more efficiently serve the operator’s needs than by running the propulsion engine. The report makes a recommendation that the state adopt an idling law based on a national model already in effect in all or portions of 29 states.

The City of Portland’s own fleet has an idle reduction policy which states that employees shall reduce idling of City vehicles and equipment whenever possible to improve engine life, reduce fuel costs, reduce vehicle emissions, and improve health and safety. According to Fleet industry analysis, reducing idle time can save about 12% of the fuel they consume, which equates to a potential savings of about 228,000 gallons per year. Please see the Portland City Fleet Idling Reduction Policy in its entirety here.

City of Portland’s Idle Reduction Policy

For more information please visit the City of Portland’s blog post.

“PeaceHealth joined the campaign because it offers a money-saving solution to a chronic health care problem simply by raising awareness and giving people an easy way to make a difference,” says Jenny Ulum, Director of Public Affairs & Advocacy at PeaceHealth, Oregon Region. “The campaign should help our patients, vendors and employees breathe cleaner air, reduce our carbon footprint and improve Oregon’s environment.”

An employee education campaign is being developed to raise awareness about the dangers of exposure to pollutants found in vehicle exhaust:  benzene, carbon dioxide and particulate matter.

On the new alliance with Lane County’s largest hospital, Lisa Arkin, Executive Director of Oregon Toxics Alliance, said, “Environmental advocates and h Health care providers, like PeaceHealth, are natural allies in the effort to diminish disease and suffering.  Air pollution in general is a major risk factor for many chronic illnesses, so this partnership just makes a lot of sense.”

The Oregon chapter of the American Lung Association also signed on the statewide campaign.

Why it’s important to stop idling when not in the routine flow of traffic…

1. Protects our health by reducing the risk of cancer, heart disease and asthma (link to PDF from DEQ on health risks).
2. Reduces climate-changing greenhouse gases. Each driver who turns off the motor instead of 5 minutes of idling, just reduced CO2 emissions by 1/2 pound.
3. Saves money by not wasting fuel and reduces wear and tear on engines that comes from idling.

A driver can save as much as $150 each year by not idling. [Read our PDF document on the wise economics of a No Idling policy: "Idling By The Numbers."]

“Our goal is simple: to end unnecessary idling in Oregon,” Lisa Arkin explains. “Partnering with Oregon businesses is part of a groundswell of support for healthier air.”

The recommendation is: if you are going to be parked for more than 20 seconds, turn off the engine. Ten seconds of idling uses more fuel than turning off the engine and restarting it.

Heather Hintze

EUGENE, Ore. — Northwest Community Credit Union is hoping to save its customer’s money and help the environment with its new no idle policy. Staff say just one branch could prevent 50 pounds of carbon dioxide from going into the air if customers going through the drive-up would turn off their engines while they wait. Oregon Toxics Alliance also says each person could save nearly $150 each year in fuel costs if they cut their idle time.

Northwest Community Credit Union says this is just another way for the company to continue making green improvements.  ”We have a conservation crew and it’s a group of employees that have reduced our footprint on the Earth.  And this just fit right in with what we’re doing,” said Rex Fox, Branch Operations Vice President for Northwest Community Credit Union.

Staff from the department of environmental quality were on hand to check emissions from idling cars in the parking lot. They found most cars emit carbon dioxide at 100 parts per million.  Up to nine parts per million is considered safe.

Springfield, Oregon
Just two days before Earth Day 2010, Northwest Community Credit Union announced the adoption of a green strategy called Healthy Air Oregon.

As part of our Healthy Air Oregon campaign, Northwest Community Credit Union will educate their customers about the three-fold benefits of stopping unnecessary motor idling. The Credit Union is hoping to spread the word that idling a car or truck costs money in wasted fuel, puts dangerous fumes into the air and adds climate-changing greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

“If ever there was a win-win for our customers and the environment, this is it,” said Matt Purvis of Northwest Community “When you think about it, not idling saves money and prevents air pollution that can harm your health. There is a simple solution – just turn the key to off anytime you’re not in traffic and not moving.”

This includes instances like waiting in drive-up windows, waiting in parking lots, waiting to pick someone up, or pulled over to talk on your cell phone.

“We are adopting the Alliance’s Healthy Air Oregon project at all our credit union branches throughout the state,” said Purvis. “We want our customers to know that every two minutes of idling adds one half pound of greenhouse gases to Oregon’s air, and wastes the same amount of gas as driving a mile.”

“In fact, by turning off your car, rather than idling, you can improve fuel economy by nearly five percent – so, reducing idling is a good way to save money,” Purvis stated.

Lisa Arkin, director of Oregon Toxics Alliance, finds that Northwest Community employees are receptive to the information about vehicle exhaust and health. “Significant health risks are caused by vehicle idling,” she noted. “Not idling is better for customers and employee health, especially at the drive-up window. Reducing idling lowers the risk for cancer, heart disease and asthma attacks.”

According to the Oregon Department of Human Services, leukemia, a cancer of the blood, is the most common cancer diagnosis for Oregon children.

“We want to remind drivers that when a car is idling, the fumes can go right back into the car, making the air inside the car more polluted than outside,” said Arkin.

Staff with the Department of Environmental Quality, will demonstrate air pollution exposure with a hand sized air toxics monitor, which measures what our lungs are breathing. The monitor (pictured below) is able to demonstrate the fumes that can be emitted from a vehicle tailpipe. When placed near a dirty exhaust stream, “the monitor shrieks like a banshee and flashes bright red lights!” said DEQ staff.

Northwest Community Credit Union will be providing fact sheets and free “no idle” stickers during Earth Week for customers who want them. The Credit Union is also making sure that employees know the benefits of not idling cars and can answers their customer’s questions about the program.

Multnomah and Lane County governments adopted “no top off” and “no idling” policies in 2008. A number of Oregon cities have done the same. Northwest Community Credit Union is the first business with a drive-up window to adopt these environmental health measures for its own operations and as an example of a simple step anyone can take to improve air quality and fuel efficiency.

Elephants Deli in Portland has also joined the campaign. Read more about their green initiatives on their web site.

See the clip on KEZI’s web site

Oregon Toxics Alliance’s Healthy Air Oregon is a comprehensive project to protect children’s health by reducing benzene emissions from gas stations throughout Oregon.  OTA also recommends steps that individual car owners can take to cut down on the amount of benzene and other hazardous air pollutants from gas tanks and tailpipes.