Airport Neighbors Association
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Below is a picture taken in a back yard near the northwest corner of the airport looking southeast across runway 1L/19R. Notice the haze hanging over the airport. You can also see con trails beginning to form and one that is spreading out.
             Click here to see an example of con trails over Milwaukee.
WHAT CHEMICALS ARE BEING SPEWED OUT OVER OUR NEIGHBORHOODS?
ARE THEY DANGEROUS TO OUR HEALTH? WHAT'S BEING DONE TO CONTROL THEM?
LEARN ALL YOU CAN ABOUT IT, THEN LET YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. EXPANDING THE AIRPORT WILL ONLY MAKE MATTERS WORSE.
AND ONCE THE 7TH LARGEST COAL FIRED POWER PLANT IN THE U.S., JUST A FEW MILES AWAY IN OAK CREEK, IS FIRED UP BY WENERGIES WILL THERE BE ANY HOPE OF DRAWING A CLEAN BREATH OF FRESH AIR IN OUR COMMUNITY AGAIN?

TAKE A LOOK AT A DNR MAP OF AREAS NOT IN COMPLIANCE WITH FEDERAL TSP (Total Suspended Particulates) LEVELS. LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS PARTICULATE MATTER IN OUR AIR AND THE DANGERS IT POSSES AT http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/331.html   It has been known for a good while now that fine PM (particulate matter) has an impact on the mortality rate due to cardiac and lung disease in the elderly and on asthma in children, etc.
 

NOTE: On some browsers you may have to "right-click" and open page in new window.

If you live within six miles of an airport, you are at heightened risk of dying prematurely from environmentally induced cancer. The culprit is the pollution spewing from jet aircraft, ground vehicles and airport maintenance operations. (Click to get a PDF report).

What role does the Wisconsin DNR play in this? They can keep advising us about ozone alerts and bad air around the airport (see DNR TSP map), but they can't do a thing because of provisions in the Federal Clean Air Act that exempt airports from state regulation. Section 231 was bought and paid for by the airline industry. As airport emissions increase the DNR will have little choice but to put even tighter restrictions on emissions from other sources -- you and me and the places we work, the automobiles we drive, even when we can cut our lawns.

When will Milwaukee County inform its residents of the health impacts of its airport?

Are you short of breath or wheezing? Are you sick more often and for a longer period of time? What kinds of health effects may be occurring to the population in your neighborhood can be seen from a report, dated June 20, 1997 to the Georgetown Crime Prevention and Community Council by the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health. Georgetown is an area of Seattle, and surrounds the King County International Airport (Boeing Field), King County, in turn, surrounds greater Seattle. (The Georgetown Council is a sister organization to AReCO and member of US-CAW. When comparing hospitalization rates for Georgetown (Zip Code 98108) to those of King and North King Counties, the following, alarming statistics resulted:

      a 57% higher asthma rate

      a 28% higher pneumonia/influenza rate

      a 26% higher respiratory disease rate

      an 83% higher pregnancy complication rate

      a 50% higher infant mortality rate

      genetic diseases are statistically higher

      mortality rates are 48% higher for all causes of death:

      57% higher for heart disease,

      36% higher cancer death rate with pneumonia and influenza  among the top five leading causes

      average life expectancy 70.4 years (the same as in many developing nations)       compared to Seattle's of 76.0

The 1997 activity at the Seattle airport approximates 2004 GMIA activity.

Air emissions associated with Mitchell Airport operations include three primary sources: (1) aircraft; (2) ground service equipment (GSE); and (3) motor vehicles. Although a range of other sources including fuel storage, heating and cooling, also contribute to air emissions at the airport, aircraft are the largest single source of emissions.

Four principal air pollutants are emitted by aircraft: carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds (VOC), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), and particulate matter (PM10 and PM25 ). Ambient air quality standards exist for CO, sulfur dioxide (SO2), PM10, PM25 and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), one of the NOx compounds. There are no standards for VOCs; however, VOCs are precursors to ozone (O3) for which an air quality standard has been established.

CHEMICAL SOUP

Did you ever wonder what blows out of a jet airplane? Here is what you'll find in the air around an airport:

Freon 11, Freon 12, Methyl Bromide, Dichloromethane, cis-l,2-Dichloroethylene, 1,1,1-Trichloro-ethane, Carbon Tetrachloride, Benzene, Trichloroethylene, Toluene, Tetrachloroethene, Ethylbenzene, m,p-Xylene, o-Xylene, Styrene, 1,3,5-Trimethyl-benzene, 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene, o-Dichlorobenzene, Formaldehyde, Acetaldehyde, Acrolein, Acetone, Propinaldehyde, Crotonaldehyde, Isobutylaldehyde, Methyl Ethyl Ketone, Benzaldehyde, Veraldehyde, Hexanaldehyde, Ethyl Alcohol, Acetone, Isopropyl Alcohol, Methyl Ethyl Ketone, Butane, Isopentane, Pentane, Hexane, Butyl Alcohol, Methyl Isobutyl Ketone, n,n-Dimethyl Acetamide, Dimethyl Disulfide, m-Cresol, 4-Ethyl Toulene, n-Heptaldehyde, Octanal, 1,4-Dioxane, Methyl Phenyl Ketone, Vinyl Acetate, Heptane, Phenol, Octane, Anthracene, Dimethylnapthalene (isomers), Flouranthene, 1-methylnaphthalene, 2-methylnaphthalene, Naph-thalene, Phenanthrene, Pyrene , Benzo(a)pyrene, 1-nitropyrene, 1,8-dinitropyrene, 1,3-Butadiene, sulfites, nitrites, nitrogen oxide, nitrogen monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen trioxide, nitric acid, sulfur oxides, sulfur dioxide, sulfuric acid, urea, ammonia, carbon monoxide, ozone, particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5).

What symptoms can occur with prolonged exposure to these chemicals?

                        ASPHYXIATION
                        ASTHMA
                        BRAIN CANCER
                        CANCER
                        CONJUNCTIVE IRRITATION
                        COUGHING
                        DELAYED HYPERSENSITIVITY
                        DISTORTED PERCEPTIONS
                        DROWSINESS
                        DYSPNEA HEADACHE
                        EEG [ELECTRO ENCEPHALO GRAPH] CHANGES
                        EMPHYSEMA FLUSHING
                        HALLUCINATIONS
                        HEART DISEASE
                        HODGKIN'S DISEASE
                        KIDNEY DAMAGE
                        LACRIMATION
                        LIVER DAMAGE
                        LUNG DISEASE
                        LUNG STRUCTURE DAMAGE
                        LUNG TIGHTNESS
                        LYMPHOMA
                        MENTAL DEPRESSION
                        MULTIPLE ORGAN INVOLVEMENT MUSCLE WEAKNESS
                        MUTATIONS
                        MYELOID LEUKEMIA
                        NASAL EFFECTS
                        NAUSEA, VOMITING
                        PULSE RATE DECREASE
                        PULMONARY IRRITATION
                        RESPIRATORY SYSTEM DAMAGE
                        SKIN AND EYE IRRITATION
                        SYSTEMIC IRRITATION
                        TUMORS
                        WHEEZING

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Carbon Monoxide (CO)

    For CO emissions, the growth in aircraft emissions is a concern because of the role CO plays in harming human health. It is important in both the airport occupational and community environments. CO enters the blood stream and reduces the delivery of oxygen to the body's organs and tissues. CO is most serious for those who suffer from cardiovascular disease, particularly those with angina or peripheral vascular disease. Exposure to high levels of CO is associated with the impairment of visual perception, work capacity, manual dexterity, learning ability and performance of complex tasks. (Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ``National Air Pollutant Emission Trends,'' EPA/454/R-94/027, October 1994; ``Air Quality Criteria for Carbon Monoxide,'' EPA/600/8-90/045F, October 1991.)

Is there proof that airports affect health? Take a look at this map of the Minneapolis area.

The chart below shows cardiopulmonary deaths per 100,000 population attributable to air pollution for various cities. Notice which one is the highest -- higher than even Minneapolis-St. Paul