** FILE ** In this July 2, 2003 file photo, the skyline of Pittsburgh is seen through the morning haze from across the Allegeheny River. A city outside California has for the first time been named the sootiest in the nation.(AP/Keith …
Updated: Friday, 10 Feb 2012, 10:21 AM CST
Published : Friday, 10 Feb 2012, 10:21 AM CST
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Rhode Island has joined 10 other states in a lawsuit designed to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to issue new regulations on soot pollution.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin says the lawsuit was filed Friday in U.S. District Court in New York. The suit asks the EPA to issue new standards for soot produced by diesel vehicles and power plants.
Kilmartin says the EPA missed a deadline last fall to issue federal standards on soot exposure.
Soot exposure is linked to chronic respiratory disease, impaired lung function, heart disease and asthma.
Kilmartin says Providence County is among the worst 6 percent of U.S. counties for health impacts from diesel soot pollution.
The state estimates that 50 Rhode Islanders died each year from heart disease related to soot pollution.
Advertisement
Email This
Print This
View Story on a Single Page