Southend resident Marya Aladwar has asthma and attends Salina Elementary School in Dearborn. Aladwar is holding up the inhaler she uses to treat her asthma.  Air pollution from industrial sources can trigger asthma attacks.

DETROIT — Air pollution from industrial sources in Wayne
County— especially in the low income ZIP codes— is linked to deaths and
life-threatening respiratory diseases.

Last year, the Clean Air Task Force examined the deaths
and other adverse health effects and costs attributable to the fine particle
air pollution resulting from power plant emissions in the county and determined
that 70 deaths, 110 heart attacks, 1,400 asthma attacks, 47 hospital
admissions, 43 cases of chronic bronchitis, and 98 asthma-related ER visits
occurred because of that pollution.

As part of my project for the 2014
National Health Journalism Fellowship, I wrote a four-part series, “Fighting
for the Right to Breathe Clean Air”, which referenced several studies
that show the relation between pollution in Wayne County and life-threatening
health conditions.

After the series was published, I reported on a study
conducted last year by Wayne State University researchers that concluded the
pulmonary health of Arab Americans living in the Southend of Dearborn is
adversely affected by environmental factors.

A lot of data shows the impact of pollution in Wayne
County, so why aren’t the local mainstream media doing more in-depth
environmental reporting that exposes the plight of residents in these
communities?

I asked this question over and over again as I reported on
environmental issues in the region for six months and spoke with residents who
told me devastating stories about how they believe their mothers, fathers,
daughters, brothers, sisters, grandparents, friends and neighbors have suffered
severe — and sometimes fatal — health issues because of pollution.

I found it incredibly troubling that I uncovered so many
environmental issues that would have gone unreported otherwise and which are
critical to human lives.

There isn’t enough in-depth environmental reporting being
done on pollution in Wayne County. This is not acceptable, considering the toll
pollution has taken on people’s health.

I encountered several people who denied air pollution in
Wayne County impacts peoples’ health. Dearborn Mayor Jack O’Reilly, Jr. leads a
city that is home to an area with the worst air quality in the state, but he
told me he never commented when a controversial emissions permit was issued to
the former Dearborn-based steel company Severstal because there was no data to
show air pollution impacts local residents’ health. AK Steel later purchased the Severstal plant.

Two elementary schools are located across the street from
the facility, but school administrators and the school district told me they
couldn’t comment on the third part of my series, which was about the impact air
pollution has on students, because they weren’t aware of any data to prove
there are issues. In that part of my series I published a study showing air
pollution from industrial sources jeopardizes both children’s health and their academic
success.

Speaking out against the impact of pollution doesn’t
benefit the cities or school districts, for obvious reasons.

It is time for the people who are purportedly serving the residents
in these communities to stand up and join in the fight against air pollution
caused by heavy industries, rather than deny that it exists.

Companies— no matter how deep their pockets— must comply
with state and federal environmental laws in order to prevent air pollution
violations. No exceptions.

More in-depth environmental reporting will help put
pressure on these companies and regulators, including the Michigan Department
of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
which many residents feel have neglected them.

We have to be the watchdogs of these companies and monitor
them because — as I learned over the last several months — regulators are not
enough.

In part four of my series, I published emails between the
MDEQ, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Gov. Snyder that show
the state’s business-promoting agency and Snyder were involved in the state
environmental group’s permitting process. The state environmental agency should
act independently when making decisions on granting permits and not be
influenced by outside sources, which is contrary to what the emails showed.

A part of Wayne County is failing to meet air quality
standards for sulfur dioxide. DTE Energy is responsible for 85 percent of
sulfur dioxide emissions in the county. As I reported in part two of my series,
DTE Energy’s River Rouge and Trenton Channel coal plants are the major
contributors to this problem.

According to the Sierra Club Detroit Chapter, MDEQ’s draft
permits for DTE’s River Rouge and Trenton Channel coal plants required
relatively little reduction in the amounts of sulfur dioxide those plants have
been emitting; and MDEQ’s own analysis acknowledges that the proposed limits
would be inadequate in bringing Wayne County into compliance with air quality
standards. It is time regulators put the interests of residents before
corporations when issuing emission permits.

Again, the mainstream media has a responsibility to focus
more on pollution in Wayne County.

What can happen when we dig a little deeper

After my series ran, a fire broke out at AK Steel’s
facility in the Southend of Dearborn. Local news outlets reported the fire and
got a statement from the company.

However, when I looked into it in more detail I discovered
that the air quality monitor at Salina Elementary School, which is located
across the street from the plant, doesn’t test for sulfur dioxide— even though
the facility is located in the part of Wayne County failing to meet air quality
standards for the toxic gas. The facility was listed as one of the main
emitters of sulfur dioxide in that part of Wayne County.

Since the air quality monitor does not test for sulfur
dioxide, there is no way of telling whether emission levels violate state and
federal environmental laws. What other toxins are AK Steel’s facility and other
plants in Wayne County emitting for which air quality monitors are not testing?
Are air quality monitors in the region really working the way they should? I plan on writing a report on this.

Giving voice to the voiceless

Southwest Detroit resident Vincent Martin’s brother
recently died. When I interviewed him for my fellowship project at his home, he
told me about all the health problems his brother suffered and how he believed
air pollution had contributed to his death.

I will continue raising awareness on environmental issues
in Wayne County because it is too important to people like Martin, who for
decades fought heavy industry over pollution concerns.

These people need our help. They are voiceless and need to
be heard — the type of people we became reporters to serve and whose stories we
should be bringing to people’s attention.

Will you— my fellow journalists— help them through
environmental reporting?