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ENVIRONMENTALISTS' URBAN LEGEND:
THAT LIGHT RAIL IS POLLUTION FREE
by Tom Bazan
The Houston media has fawned over Light Rail Transit (LRT), parroting
the METRO press releases and computer generated graphics without
bothering to research the facts.
Environmentalists are enthusiastic not only that this transit mode
promises to ease pollution and save energy, but also, for every dollar
spent on LRT is a dollar that will not be spent on adding
capacity to our highway network in the form of car-pool/transit or
general-purpose traffic lanes.
Ever since the greater Houston area has been declared an ozone
nonattainment area, we have all been forced by government to pay more,
sacrifice our liberties, severely restrict our activities.
Local elites decided that Houston was going to have a trolley whether
taxpayers/voters wanted one or not. In their haste to complete this
system, as promised, in time for the NFL's 2004 Super Bowl, METRO
started construction even before the system was properly designed and
engineered.
No METRO official wanted to consider claims that serious amounts of
prohibited and harmful emissions will be created by the Main Street
trolley system. The pollutants will come from the electrified system's
sparking which occurs at the overhead wire that powers the vehicles.
Catenary-to-track power transfer entails a significant power loss. The
power loss is visibly manifested in arcing (sparking). When there is an
arc (corona discharge), some of the "trolley shoe" and a small amount of
the catenary are vaporized. At the arcing site you have air subjected
to intense heat which generates ground-level ozone and NOx, and other
gaseous compounds depending on other "stuff" in the environing air. NOx
generation is greater in humid environments, and, as we all know, to
live in Houston is to live with high humidity.
No federal, state, or local governmental agency has seemed willing to
study this obvious source of emissions, since the results would document
the system's probable violations of federal and state promulgated rules.
METRO now says the trolley is being built as a catalyst for economic
development along the Main Street corridor. Yet they still tout the
trolley's alleged environmental benefits. The project was also adroitly
woven into a Houston-backed proposal for the 2012 Olympics. It has been
fashioned into a project that offers all things to all special interests.
LRT manufacturers have long claimed that there are no emissions from
these vehicles, yet there is no data available on the question of
catenary ("trolley wire") arcing. The consultants only deal with
reductions based on the assumption the systems generate zero Nox and
ground-level ozone.
The initial 18-car Siemens system will be powered by nine 13.2 Kilovolt
substations, each generating 750 volts of direct current (DC)
electricity with sufficient current capacity to wreak the environmental
havoc I predict.
When I reviewed the HOUSTON METRO EIS, the same unsupported assumption was
made. One should not be surprised that the EIS's for all of the other cities
where light rail is being constructed mention the same
assumption.
Could it be that these flawed EIS reports serve some other Politically
Correct purpose? These studies are incredibly expensive. To think that
not one of these consultants ever thought to ask about ground level
ozone and NOx created by the overhead sparking is troubling.
Adding to the importance and urgency of this issue is the proposed
closing of Main Street for a pedestrian mall to be served by the trolley
now under construction. The workers and riders would be subjected to
noxious gasses, and under OSHA rules, all workers in the vicinity would
be required to don respirators. What measures will METRO have to
undertake in order to protect the trolley riders while waiting on the
platforms?
Also, the accumulated ground-level ozone would migrate to damage and
likely kill the trees along the trolley corridor, and will heavily
corrode everything in sight. The migrating ground-level ozone could
very well kill all of the historic oak trees in front of Rice
University, an unintended consequence which would enrage many
Houstonians and possibly violate the City's tree ordinance.
METRO has committed to build a trolley system that will add to our air
pollution, and, as an unintended consequence, may eventually cause far
more harm than anyone could have ever imagined.
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