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Six out of eight diesel bus depots are located in Northern Manhattan (map). In May 1997, WE ACT launched a major public awareness campaign urging the Transit Authority (TA) to commit to modifying these depots to accommodate natural gas buses, and to invest in clean-fuel buses only.
Even though a recent study conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides solid evidence that the levels of air pollution in a number of Northern Manhattan neighborhoods may exceed proposed federal standards by as much as 200%, and in the face of mounting scientific evidence that links the tiny particles from diesel exhaust fumes with increasing threats of asthma, emphysema, bronchitis, heart attacks, lung cancer and premature death, the TA continues to purchase deadly diesel buses. By doing so, they are putting a price tag on the health of over a half million predominately African American and Latino New Yorkers. WE ACT hopes to heighten the awareness of community residents, and encourage the TA to commit to a policy that will allow them to be part of the solution -- not the problem.
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