"Clean Air for Little Lungs Stroller Parade": Monday, July 20th 10-11 am Queen's Park

A Callout to Parents, Caregivers, their Supporters, and Children! 

Event: "Clean Air for Little Lungs Stroller Parade"

When: Monday, July 20th, 10 - 11 am

Where: In front of the Ontario Legislature (Queen's Park)

Why: Parents say NO to over 400 dirty diesel trains a day running through our neighbourhoods. For the sake of our children's health, tell Premier McGuinty that electric trains are the only solution. Bring your kids and noisemakers. 

Featuring a musical performance by children's entertainers, Rob and Soli of Alistair Ant Productions.

For more information, go to http://www.cleantrain.ca and register through the Clean Train Facebook site to the "Clean Air for Little Lungs Stroller Parade" invitation list to RSVP.

As an educator, I support the Clean Train Coalition's "Clean Air for Little Lungs Stroller Parade" as research has proven that diesel emissions can:

• impair lung development and lung capacity in children
  
• decrease school children's ability to learn and retain information 
  
• increase the incidence of childhood asthma
  

The recent Air Quality Assessment Report by Metrolinx admits that this GSSE/UPRL diesel corridor expansion will emit nitrous oxide levels far beyond legal limitations.  There are 76 schools,  96 daycare centers, and 4 long term care facilities, (including one chronic respiratory care hospital), within 1 km of this expansion whose school children and elderly residents will be negatively affected by these tonnes of nitrous oxide and particulate matter emissions. Children are particularly vulnerable due to the small particulate NOx matter impairing the growth of their lungs and diminishing their future lung capacity. 

Come and protect the future health of our children!

Diesel in, Diesel Out

Vancouver gets Canada Line- an electric Air Rail Link for their 2010 Olympic Games which will open three months before schedule. Calgary gets a renewable energy-driven electric rail system, powered by wind turbines.  Toronto gets a 145 page report, commissioned by Metrolinx, from an environmental consulting firm stating that our health will be damaged 'within established standards' by over 400 diesel trains a day running through our neighbourhoods.  Diesel in, diesel out - garbage in, garbage out.  If a report is written using the worst case diesel emissions data to generate air quality results, the worst case air quality assessment will have to be carefully skewed by those who write the report to justify the expenditure on diesel trains, and protect the 'necessity' for diesel emissions into our air, soil and water sheds. And don't forget our homes and lungs.

What gives? Don't we deserve a better, cleaner and quieter train system like the rest of Canada? And why can SNC-Lavalin work with InTransitBC in Vancouver to build an automated light rapid rail system, but not work to utilize the same electric train technology for the Georgetown South Service Expansion with Metrolinx in Toronto? Why is Metrolinx  still commissioning Air Quality Assessment Reports on the implementation of a diesel train corridor in Toronto? Why would the same transit company, SNC-Lavalin, go back in time to use diesel trains in a private public partnership in Toronto, when SNC-Lavalin has proven expertise to build an electric train system in Vancouver in exactly the same capacity?

 

Let's look at this logistically.  Our taxpayer's money is being spent by Metrolinx on an Air Quality Assessment Report that justifies this logic - since the west end of Toronto's air quality is so bad already, a 'negligible' increase of 15% air pollution is considered irrelevant as added to this region's air quality by this rail corridor. This includes the fact that these diesel trains will be the greatest source of emissions for nitrous oxide in all of Toronto, and that these standards are far beyond legal guidelines. If the west end of Toronto's socioeconomic population is considered at risk, as well as this region, one of the most polluted regions in all of Ontario, would it not be logical to protect this at risk population and region, rather than adding to present environmental stressors? Why would a diesel corridor even be considered  to be built in a region which has the greatest number of 'sensitive receptors' - young children - per capita when this region's existing air quality is already benchmarked as the worst in Ontario?

Enough already, Metrolinx. Use the proven track record of SNC-Lavalin to build electric trains in Vancouver for the GSSE in Toronto. Improve upon what SNC-Lavalin has learned in Vancouver while building this electric train system to adapt it to specifically meet the needs of the GTA. Work with the municipal government's TransitCity to streamline this rail corridor so that it works as a comprehensive transit system which does not duplicate services, such as the Air Rail Link provided by the Eglinton LRT, but supports an easily accessible, clean, unified transit system for the people that matter most- the passengers and those who live near the corridor.  

Time's a-wasting. Our health is worth more than yet another report. 

References: Canada Line at http://www.canadaline.ca/ and their FAQs at http://www.canadaline.ca/aboutFAQ.asp

GSSE and UPRL EA - Human Health Assessment of Air Quality Impacts June 2009 Intrinsik Environmental Sciences Inc.  Link to http://www.metrolinx.com/gsse/docs/GSSE_UPRL_EA-Human_Health_Assessment-Air_Quality_Impacts-Full_Draft_Report-June-09.pdf

At Risk Neighbourhoods and Sustainable Development

According the June 3rd Toronto Public Health report, the population most affected by the air pollution that will be generated by the Georgetown/Newmarket/Milton/Air Rail Link corridors has a lower socioeconomic status and higher incidence of illness than much of the Greater Toronto Area. I know this area well, as it includes my beloved ward- Ward 18. 

These diesel corridor expansions, as planned by Metrolinx to begin construction in 2010 and enter service in 2014, will add to the west end of Toronto's pre-existing stressors for additional illness through pollution.  For this fact alone, the rail infrastructure expansion should be electric, not diesel, as it passes through these at risk and vulnerable neighbourhoods to undermine their health further. This should be especially true for corridors owned by GO Transit, either in its entirety (Newmarket), or part of the corridor (Georgetown from Bramalea to Union).  Particulate diesel emission pollution is even worse than previously thought- current research is coming out which states that the fine particulate exposure of diesel emissions to lungs increases the amount of lung cancer and other disease and mortality rates.  In children, it prevents lungs from developing properly as they grow up near these corridors.

Sustainable development involves the streamlining of infrastructure development according to best business practices for supplying need on demand - the additional track for the Air Rail Link for the Private Public Partnership (P3) should be examined to see if this ARL, and its exclusive track, fulfills a proven market need for the GTA and whether business travellers will use this link to the airport in the numbers required, and $20 cost, as part of its cost-benefit analysis environmentally and socially. 

Metrolinx claims that this track is not exclusively for the ARL, but for VIA and GO Express, in addition to ARL, so that they can overtake local trains.  However, the need for this ARL track needs to assessed as part of a transparent, public study of the infrastructure through a systems analysis. Metrolinx refuses to conduct such a study, however, on the dubious grounds of the ARL being a "legacy project."  If this ARL does not serve essential purposes according to the results of this study, and if this additional track does not need to be built, this revised infrastructure plan will be able to minimize the amount and impact of this expansion for the at risk neighbourhoods by not having to build the additional ARL track. This will also save Metrolinx, hence taxpayers, money.

As this Air Rail Link is duplicated by the Eglinton LRT as part of the TTC's Transit City Light Rail Plan, this exclusive Air Rail Link and its track will probably not be necessary to be built at all, certainly not at its elitist fare at least, and this will help to minimize the extent of home acquisition and amount of rail traffic through this vulnerable corridor.  An updated market analysis should be done by Metrolinx to provide information on prospective passenger statistics, including the fare and its impact on ridership, and including the TTC's Eglinton-Crosstown LRT as its competition, and to provide the real cost of electrifying all components of the corridor. 

Whether the train corridor uses diesel as the worst case scenario, or uses electric, in the better case scenario, the goal of this infrastructure plan should be to streamline the amount of rail traffic and justify the extent of the expansion of the infrastructure so that the at risk region's health, air quality and property value's are not undermined further. The best case, most sustainable scenario would be to use electric trains, and streamline the amount of traffic according to passenger use to least affect this area at risk. Although this a regional transit initiative, there is no reason why Metrolinx cannot work with the City of Toronto to analyze their overlap in transit service to co-ordinate the GSSE/ARL/Milton/Newmarket corridors with Transit City's infrastructure planning to save money, co-ordinate components of the infrastructure design, and gain social credibility in the process. 

It is also a far stretch to build an entire track for the Air Rail Link to honour a contract, written in the 1990s with SNC-Lavalin, to use retrofitted, 1950s diesel engines when the frequency of trips is not yet proven by recent market need. As these BUDD diesel engines are 50 years old, they have outdated environmental standards for noise, vibration and emissions. This Air Rail Link alone comprises 140 trips a day on this corridor. Surely, this Air Rail Link can be electrified, have fewer trips, and be incorporated into the greater GSSE rail expansion to be less intrusive, such as coupling to GO Trains at their nearest common station in the northwest if both are using the same model of train cars, which would cut Georgetown South traffic by almost half.  

This makes a very strong case for GO Transit to be operating service to the airport instead of SNC-Lavalin, as the use of infrastructure becomes dramatically more efficient. This reduction in traffic is necessary to minimize the Air Rail Link's noise, vibration, and, through electrification, pollution on this at risk region to protect schools, nursing homes, parks and daycare centres. In any case, the Air Rail Link has already been given crippling competition by Transit City planning and no longer has any viable business case with SNC-Lavalin, so really should be abandoned as expensive and unnecessary, unless turned over to GO Transit and to use coupling/decoupling with its Georgetown services in the northwest part of the City. 

In addition, Metrolinx has moved up the completion date of the ARL link to 2013 from 2014. This is cause for alarm as it indicates that they will use cost cutting measures which do not consider us- the affected communities- and means we must move quickly to contest the present, poorly planned design of the Air Rail Link. 

A quote from 'The Big Move' by Metrolinx published in 2007: "We can protect and enhance our environment by helping to conserve energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and alleviate air pollution." As the market is approaching peak oil prices and availability, including speculation by some analysts that peak oil has already been hit but cannot be confirmed until about 5 years after the fact, diesel engines should be replaced by electric to conserve energy as electric trains use 1/4-to-1/3 the energy of diesel trains, and can use any source for electrical generation, with no air emissions into the corridor proper and surrounding vicinity. 

There are many best case scenarios for the construction and use of inner city electric trains available through international consultation. Metrolinx is spending $5 million on the study of the electrification of the entire system, even though simultaneously refusing to release another GO electrification study completed just last year. Why is Metrolinx not consulting with internationally trained transit experts on the most streamlined and efficient systems and planning to develop this corridor's infrastructure to utilize electricity only?  Metrolinx claims that  as it stands, unless these principles of sustainable development, infrastructure improvement, and social urban planning policies are applied, the GSSE/ARL/Milton/Newmarket expansions do not fulfill any aspect of Metrolinx's own enviromental mandate.  SNC-Lavalin is using electric trains for the Air Rail Link for the Vancouver Olympic games- surely, it can use electric trains in Toronto for the same purpose if this ARL is realized.

A special thank you to Karl Junkin from TRAC for fact checking, technical input, and help with editing this entry.

Reference: Article from ‘The Star’:  On the wrong track, but still time to change trains, http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/644565

by André Sorensen, Associate Professor, Department of Geography,

University of Toronto Posted on Jun 03, 2009 04:30 am

Over 400 Diesel Trains a day will run beside 76 Schools

In the Environmental Assessment as performed by Metrolinx, 'receptors', which are residences and families, along the corridor are viewed as less important than 'sensitive receptors', which are schools, daycare centers, and nursing homes. A family residence can also house young children and the elderly, so should be considered a 'sensitive receptor' as well, but this is an implicit admission that the projections of the toxicity of the environmental pollution will be very high as emitted by this diesel train corridor. The density of the population is 300 000 in 300 metres from the edge of this corridor, including a minimum of 30 000 school children, and 76 schools, daycare centers, nursing homes and parks. The second draft of the Metrolinx Environmental Assessment says that air quality is so bad in Toronto that a 15% increase in our air pollution is negligible as contributed by this diesel corridor - tell that to those who will wipe soot off their windowsills daily, and wonder how much of this has ended up in their lungs.

It is known that exposure to fine particulate matter in diesel emissions stunt the growth of young lungs so that they never reach full capacity, so electrifying the diesel train system in 15 years time to electric is not fast enough, as proposed by Metrolinx- these students will be a generation of young adults with impaired lung capacity. An environmental expert has gone on record to say that he would not live within 250m of this corridor as it increases all types of illness by 18% as the particulate matter is absorbed through the lungs into the blood stream to become heavy metals as an additional load for the kidneys to bear, and accumulate as bodily toxins permanently.

In my neighbourhood, the Newmarket and Georgetown corridors run directly beside the West Toronto Collegiate's running track. And I mean directly- the Newmarket corridor is beside the fence of the field, and the Georgetown is 75 meters from the Newmarket. So, as students have gym class, they will breathe the diesel emissions of both the Georgetown and Newmarket corridors, as well as the Air Rail Link, of up to 464 train trips daily, rushing by their playing field.

Tell me then- why is the federal and provincial government voluntarily, under the moniker of Metrolinx, with full, readily available environmental knowledge regarding diesel emissions, choosing to endanger the health of school children? And, as the City Council has a mandate to decrease greenhouse emissions by 80% by 2050, why is the federal and provincial government working deliberately against the municipal government's mandate? Why is the City Council not moving more quickly to actively protect Toronto residents and school children through *more* than strongly worded municipal bylaws? Why does the City Council view this as outside their jurisdiction when it will undercut the positive effects of their greening policies?

Will Metrolinx, by extension the the federal and provincial government, pay the difference in what our houses can sell for after this corridor is built as opposed to what they were worth before it was built? The immediate area around the rail corridor will quite possibly become a ghost town in parts of the west end as people choose to sell their houses and move away from the noise and the smell. Will MPAC, if the municipal government does not protect the interests of homeowners, give me a reduction on my rising property taxes as my property and quality of life are devalued? Will Metrolinx be willing to pay the additional burden of my own, and many others, rising health costs and sick days due to my proximity to the corridor, to OHIP?

And why is this diesel corridor being built in the first place when electric train engineering standards and specifications are readily available for electric trains and used throughout major cities in the world? New York's electric train system was successfully built in 1908, why is the GTA one hundred years behind?

There must be a reason why this irrational project is being pounded through the GTA, and I will discuss it on my next post.

For more information about this GSSE, please go to the Clean Train Coalition Site at http://www.cleantrain.ca and the Weston Community Coalition Site at http://westoncommunitycoalition.ca/

Industrial Corridor or Residential Neighbourhood?

I just learned that the Environmental Assessment process was deliberately shortened from one and a half to three years down to four months by the federal government to enable this massive Metrolinx expansion to be pushed through quickly so that those along the corridor do not have time to fight its expansion, or its overriding plan to use diesel trains.

According to the Environmental Assessment as posted by Metrolinx, 65 000 households, or 300 000 people will be affected by the expansion of this rail corridor, which is defined by those living 300m from the tracks. As a result, the area directly beside that corridor was termed 'industrial' and not worthy of preservation. However, if we extend that distance to 1km, 112 000 households and 1.2 million people will be negatively affected. Is this corridor still considered an industrial corridor with these updated numbers of people in houses, schools, parks, and nursing homes, and how was it considered 'industrial' with the original estimate of 300 000 people affected?

A proper Environmental Assessment needs to ask this question: how do environmental scientists determine how far particulate matter spreads from 400+ diesel trains a day realistically? Computer projections, as used by Metrolinx, do not support natural events such as wind currents, smog and precipitation, and certainly not how pollution spreads in actual time and space.

I teach new media and interaction design to my students, and one of my favourite quotes was from the original German movement of Greenpeace - 'What is in the air today, ends up in our cornflakes tomorrow'.

To prove this quote, I showed them this lecture by Bill Moggridge, founder of IDEO, which demonstrates how an interactive globe, designed by Shinichi Takemura, works to visualize data. This globe, called 'Tangible Earth', was created to be one ten millionth the scale of the earth, and shows how pollution spreads in realtime data. As you watch this globe, you can see pollution spreading by wind currents from continent to continent as it is actually happening- from Russia over to North America over to the North Pole.

So, if we consider that the diesel emissions from these trains can travel up to 30 km according to statistics from the World Health Organization, which is a conservative estimate, shouldn't we all be supporting electric trains in Ontario? This pollution will not just be in my backyard, but the entire Greater Toronto Area if this diesel corridor is installed...why not make this corridor electric, with no emissions?

Video Reference:
Bill Moggridge at PICNIC08: Design as a Collaborative Process, link to http://vimeo.com/2814939 go to 17:05 for the demonstration of 'Tangible Earth'.

My Little House and 'NIMBYism'

So interesting to see the word 'NIMBYism' ('Not in my Backyardism') come into play in the political arena, thrown at protesters as if it explains anything and everything. If I do not protect my backyard, who will? As I sit by my window and work in West Toronto, I hear the horns of trains, the pounding of the West Toronto Diamond piledrivers, and the overhead, converging flight of airplanes- all present sources of pollution, and harbingers of more pollution yet to come.

I wonder each morning as I wake up- if this massive diesel rail expansion comes to pass- how much will I hear of the traffic between 5:30 am and 12:30 am daily as the 400+ trains go through this corridor near my little house? How much soot will I have on my windowsill? Why will I have to breathe particulate matter for the rest of my life? And why am I, a citizen who is so careful with every, single environmental decision I make, have to eat the diesel dust of commuters from the 905? And why am I paying taxes to the federal and provincial governments for transit which will pollute my backyard and my home for the rest of my life?

NIMBYism is a term that should be valid only if you do not reply to the issue with an alternate solution- and the obvious solution, used internationally, is electric trains. This is why I am fighting with facts for the electrification of the Georgetown, Union-Pearson Rail Link and Newmarket corridors- this dust will be in my backyard, and in my home, and in my life forever, and there is a solution that is not even being considered by the present provincial and federal governments. And where, oh where, are the Toronto city councillors who spend an inordinate amount of time discussing road narrowing and speed bumps to 'green' the City of Toronto, when I need them to protect my rights as a resident and taxpayer?

Democracy and Metrolinx? No way.

Fair Political Representation without Corporate Conflict of Interest, and Primary Health Prevention:

Canada is a democracy. As it is a democracy, residents of Toronto should have City Councillors as representatives on the Board of Directors of Metrolinx who express our grave concerns about this rail expansion in our neighbourhoods. Mayor Miller, who has worked so hard to implement greening measures in the City of Toronto, and Councillor Giambrone, the chair of the TTC, have been removed as our last representatives from Metrolinx' Board of Directors. Therefore, the residents of Toronto no longer have any representation for this project on Metrolinx at all.

By replacing Toronto's representatives entirely with Board of Directors on Metrolinx who actively represent the industrial, corporate interests of the rail expansion, these new Board of Directors have a direct conflict of interest with an unbiased Environmental Assessment and the democratic rights of the residents of Toronto to protect our quality of life and health. They will vote in favour of infrastructure implementation as their corporate interest.

Moreover, as primary prevention in the healthcare community becomes internationally accepted as the norm to prevent the creation of carcinogens at the source (in this case, diesel emissions), thereby future medical treatment, the federal and provincial governments are in direct conflict with their role as advocates for a healthy society. Will the federal and provincial government be prepared to carry the costs of medical treatments for the respiratory ailments that they have incurred in this rail corridor through these self-generated diesel emissions? Is it not contradictory that this corridor will put at risk children in parks and schools, hospitals nearby the tracks, and the elderly in nursing homes- all institutions that the government funds? Why would the federal and provincial government choose to undercut their support of federally and provincial institutions and faciliities by choosing to pollute the environment around the facilities that they have built and funded? This is an even greater conflict of interest of public interest with corporate investment, and indicates that the federal and provincial government no longer represents or protects its citizens.