To: OHSU Knight Cancer Center and Dr. Brian Druker
Make building the OHSU Cancer Center cancer free with clean diesel contracting.
Construction of a state of the art facility dedicated to cure cancer should make every effort not to increase cancer risk for those who live or work near the project.
Why is this important?
Unfortunately, only 33% of construction equipment in Oregon meets the cleanest federal standards for diesel engines. Which means until our state passes regulations like California and Washington, the protection of the public from the most dangerous cancer causing air pollution, is in the hands of citizens and individual project managers.
The World Health Organization says that exposure to diesel exhaust at ambient levels can cause cancer. Diesel is also known to increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular disease; exacerbate asthma; and lead to low-weight and pre-term births. Oregon estimates that 460 deaths a year are attributed to diesel exhaust at an annual cost of $3.4 billion dollars. Off road engines, like construction equipment, account for nearly half of the 700 tons of diesel particulates emitted annually in the Portland Metro air shed.
But the good news is there is a ready solution at hand. New technology reduces harmful emissions by over 90%. And across the country, municipalities and project leaders, like the executive director of environmental field compliance for Columbia University’s Manhattanville Development Group, are instituting Clean Diesel Contracting Policy to minimize the impact of construction on the daily life of the community and its workers.
OHSU should commit first and foremost to not add to Oregon's diesel death toll by enacting a clean diesel contracting policy for the building of its new state of the art cancer center.
We have the technology to prevent cancer before it starts. This saves lives and money. Oregon leaders who invested $200 million of public money, and all those 10,000 individuals who donated directly, should expect the project won't cause cancer in the workers that build it or in the community that surrounds it.
When it comes to cancer, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. So please sign the petition and urge OHSU to set an example by committing to cancer free contracting.
The World Health Organization says that exposure to diesel exhaust at ambient levels can cause cancer. Diesel is also known to increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular disease; exacerbate asthma; and lead to low-weight and pre-term births. Oregon estimates that 460 deaths a year are attributed to diesel exhaust at an annual cost of $3.4 billion dollars. Off road engines, like construction equipment, account for nearly half of the 700 tons of diesel particulates emitted annually in the Portland Metro air shed.
But the good news is there is a ready solution at hand. New technology reduces harmful emissions by over 90%. And across the country, municipalities and project leaders, like the executive director of environmental field compliance for Columbia University’s Manhattanville Development Group, are instituting Clean Diesel Contracting Policy to minimize the impact of construction on the daily life of the community and its workers.
OHSU should commit first and foremost to not add to Oregon's diesel death toll by enacting a clean diesel contracting policy for the building of its new state of the art cancer center.
We have the technology to prevent cancer before it starts. This saves lives and money. Oregon leaders who invested $200 million of public money, and all those 10,000 individuals who donated directly, should expect the project won't cause cancer in the workers that build it or in the community that surrounds it.
When it comes to cancer, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. So please sign the petition and urge OHSU to set an example by committing to cancer free contracting.