Bridge Authority’s plans to reduce air pollution include fume-absorbing concrete

Chemical in concrete will help absorb fumes

Shrubs, trees and fume-absorbing concrete are part of the Peace Bridge Authority’s new plans to reduce air pollution that has infuriated West Side neighbors for decades.

The binational board on Friday approved a $3 million plan to improve air quality and reduce the “carbon footprint” at the bridge. It intends to especially concentrate on cutting exhaust fumes plaguing the Buffalo plaza as a way to ease tensions with neighbors who have gone to court over air pollution.

An experimental type of concrete designed to suck in diesel fumes is even part of the plan submitted by Wendel Engineers.

“I want this authority to be a national leader in being proactive in addressing environmental issues at this crossing,” said authority Chairman Sam Hoyt of Buffalo.

General Manager Ron Rienas of Ontario echoed Hoyt’s sentiments in a rare point of agreement on a board often divided between U.S. and Canadian interests.

“This is an opportunity for the Peace Bridge to be really on the cutting edge,” he said. “I would anticipate we will get some positive input from the community.”

West Side residents near the bridge have complained about high levels of asthma in the area, and earlier this month they obtained a temporary restraining order halting work on new ramps from the Buffalo plaza to the Niagara Thruway by citing environmental concerns.

And after being told of the new effort, one neighborhood leader did not seem impressed,

“They now feel compelled to address this,” said Kathleen Mecca, president of the Columbus Park Association and a longtime authority critic. “Until they get it right, we’re just part of a human experiment,” she added.

But Hoyt and Vice Chairman Anthony M. Annunziata of Ontario emphasized Friday that they have already implemented steps such as establishing a “no idle” zone for trucks on the plaza, requiring “green” provisions for much of the authority’s buildings and equipment, and planting trees on berms acting as environmental buffers.

“We are not in denial that bridge traffic results in emissions issues on both sides and it’s a priority for the board,” Hoyt said.

And Annunziata said the authority is “committed to air quality.”

“It is our responsibility as a corporate citizen to move forward and be leaders,” he said. “It’s our commitment to see this happen.”

Nevertheless, neighborhood reaction to the new plan proved tepid.

Mecca, the long time authority critic, said she was unaware of the program and that any study devoid of input from local scientists familiar with the situation will “ring hollow.”

“It’s more of the same,” she said, adding that neighborhood efforts have at least “changed the conversation.”

She also reiterated the neighborhood call for removing truck traffic from the Peace Bridge to another Niagara River crossing, a move Peace Bridge officials say is unlikely.

Still, the authority will now hire firms to implement recommendations from the Wendel report over the next several years. It seeks to significantly expand the presence of trees and other vegetation in the area to absorb truck emissions and to use titanium dioxide as an additive to pavement and building coatings.

The Wendel report cites the “challenging” nature of absorbing so much pollution via the titanium dioxide additive, but it notes that research in Europe and Japan points to its potential “to remove nitrogen dioxides and volatile organic compounds from polluted urban air.”

Immediate opportunities are especially envisioned for concrete technologies on the Buffalo plaza, the report said.

“One benefit, among many, is the immediate result once constructed,” the report said, “as opposed to the landscape enhancements that may take 10 to 20 years before any true benefits are realized.”

Source: The Buffalo News