Cleveland Clean Air Century Campaign
The U.S. EPA selected Cleveland to host the first demonstration of a new approach to air toxics control that will serve as a model for communities nationwide. The pilot put into place a risk reduction program to combat serious urban toxic air pollutants in the city. An important part of the pilot is bringing together interested residents, businesses, industry, environmental organizations and city personnel to guide the project. Cleveland Clean Air Century Campaign <http://www.ohiolung.org/ccacc.htm>

To better assess Cuyahoga County air quality, the U.S. EPA prepared an air toxics emissions inventory for the year 2002, which serves as an initial measurement for future comparison. An emissions inventory is an effort to identify and quantify priority air pollutants and their sources within a certain geographic area. Included are the limitations of the inventory, areas of improvement, and next steps in the overall inventory process.

The Clean Air Century Campaign (CACC) prepared a summary of the county inventory and toxic emissions inventories for 2 neighborhoods in Cleveland, Ohio:

Inventory Summary (pdf) (9 pages) See excerpts below.
Slavic Village, Cleveland, Ohio (pdf) (3 pages)
St. Clair-Superior, Cleveland, Ohio (pdf) (4 pages)
Full Inventory Report (pdf) (127 pages)

From the Cuyahoga County Air Toxics Emissions Inventory Summary

What are the main source types and pollutants in Cuyahoga County?
In the 2002 Cuyahoga County air toxics emissions inventory, the majority (64%) of emissions were estimated to come from mobile sources (this includes both onroad vehicles and nonroad vehicles). Nonpoint area sources made up 22% of total air toxics releases and large point sources constitute 14% of the county total.

How many tons per year (tpy) of air toxics come from Mobile Sources?

What are the main urban air toxics in Cuyahoga County?
The primary air toxics released into Cuyahoga County are volatile organics.

• Benzene and formaldehyde constitute over 90% of mobile source emissions
• Over 99% of 1,3-Butadiene and acetaldehyde emissions are emitted by mobile sources
• Methylene chloride constitutes 74% of nonpoint sources
• All perchloroethylene is emitted by point (54%) and nonpoint (46%) sources
• Nearly all 1,3-Dichloropropene is emitted by nonpoint sources

What are the primary findings of the inventory process?
Mobile Sources

• Mobile sources (e.g.,cars, trucks, lawn mowers, construction equipment) contribute the most air toxics emissions in Cuyahoga County.
• Onroad mobile sources: Onroad cars, trucks, and buses contribute by far the most air toxics emissions.

Point Sources

• Of the three emissions categories (mobile, point, nonpoint), large point sources contribute the smallest percentage of air toxics emissions. However, due to incomplete/missing data, it appears likely that not all point source air toxics emissions are accounted for in the inventory.
• Emissions from point sources in the county are generally comparable to other similar industrialized metropolitan cities (such as Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Chicago), taking into account differences in the number of sources.
• The primary contributors to point source emissions are metallurgical industries, wood products industries, chemicals-related industries, auto manufacturing, and waste disposal-related activities.

Nonpoint Sources

• The quality of the nonpoint source emissions inventory was significantly improved by using local level activity data (e.g., residential heating, gas stations).
• The primary contributors to nonpoint source emissions are solvent-using processes and small combustion sources (e.g., consumer products, paint stripping, dry cleaning, residential heating).
  
  

[TOP]