City, university seek air pollution facts around San Bernardino rail yard

By Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer
SAN BERNARDINO -- Local scientists are pursuing federal dollars to fund a study of the health effects of living near the rail yard on the Westside.

The BNSF Railway yard in western San Bernardino is both a major employer and an important link in the transportation chain for imports that enter the United States from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

But the diesel-fueled locomotives, cranes and big rigs that rail yard employees and truckers use to move those goods are also a source of pollution.

The California Air Resources Board released a report in 2008 that concluded that people living in neighborhoods near the rail yard face elevated cancer risks compared to other Inland Empire and Los Angeles area residents.

That report, however, relied on estimates to provide a worst-case scenario type assessment of the health hazards posed by the tiny particles that enter the air when diesel engines do their work. Loma Linda University professor Samuel Soret said he and others want to collect data near the yard to obtain a clearer picture of where pollution goes and what happens to people who are exposed to the airborne toxins.

"My hypothesis is that there's likely a greater burden of disease in the communities that are immediately adjacent to the rail yard," Soret said Thursday. "I'm not sure we'll be able to show whether the greater burden of disease is directly related to the railyard."

A BNSF spokeswoman expressed skepticism that the study could pinpoint the rail yard as the source of observed pollution, since the train facility and adjacent neighborhoods are also close to the heavily traveled 215 Freeway.

Spokeswoman Lena Kent also said BNSF sent an application Wednesday to the South Coast Air Quality Management District to obtain funding that could help finance the purchase of cleaner locomotive technology.

Kent said the rail company is asking for $3 million to help buy four GenSet switching locomotives that would move freight around the yard.

GenSets use multiple diesel engines instead of a single large engine, enabling the machines to use less fuel when hauling relatively light loads.

Kent also said that more than 500 people, including contractors, work at the rail yard.

In regard to the planned study, Soret said faculty from Loma Linda University and Cal State San Bernardino are likely to take part in the study, as are local community groups.

The study would monitor pollutants observed at sites near BNSF's property and collect health data from residents and students who live or attend classes near the train yard.

The research plan also proposes to collect data from a neighborhood that's near a freeway -- but not close to a railroad -- and a third neighborhood that's not in the vicinity of neither a train yard nor a freeway to better understand how much pollution can be expected to have its origin at a train yard.

Soret said the study could cost about $1 million and require two years to complete. He said scientists plan to ask the National Institute of Health and Environmental Protection Agency for financial backing.

He expects the results will enable the scientists to propose policy recommendations related to the rail yard's freight moving activities.

"We need to move things, we all benefit from it, but the question is should just a specific community pay for us in terms of all the hidden costs?," he asked.

Jim Morris, chief of staff to Mayor Pat Morris said the Mayor's Office supports both the study as well as BNSF's application for cleaner locomotive technology that could be used at the Westside train yard.