Repairing older school buses a waste of tax dollars
Monday May 12, 2008
Millvale - The Green Party of PEI has called on the Minister of Education and the Minister of Transportation and Public Works to pull all pre-1994 school buses off the road because they are a toxic threat to children's health. Last week all 76 of the Province's pre-1994 school buses were taken off the road after the discovery of serious rust problems.
The Department of Education announced that 21 of these older buses are back in service today and some others may be repaired and put back on the road.
"Spending tax payers' money to repair these old buses is a huge waste," said Green Party leader Sharon Labchuk. "Pre-1994 diesel school buses are the absolute worst for poisoning children while they ride the buses. The buses are too old to be retrofitted to reduce pollution and other jurisdictions in North America are getting rid of them."
Exhaust from diesel school buses is sucked inside the buses and pre-1994 models are known to have high levels of fumes and particulate matter in school bus air that cause a wide range of heath problems including cancer, as well as trigger asthma attacks and worsen allergy symptoms.
Diesel exhaust can irritate eyes and lungs and cause light-headedness, headache, weakness, coughing, nausea, loss of appetite, poor coordination, and difficulty concentrating.
The Green Party would retrofit all newer school buses to reduce toxic exhaust exposure, gradually replace the 1994-2003 model buses, and establish a Healthy School Bus program with the goal of reducing childhood exposure to diesel exhaust in school buses. We would also enact no-idle legislation. In the short term, government should advise students, parents and school bus drivers about how to reduce exposure, including discouraging children from sitting in the back of buses where pollution levels are highest and keeping windows open.
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Contact: Sharon Labchuk 902-621-0719 or 902-940-1262 www.greenparty.pe.ca
For more information:
Reducing Children's Exposures on Board School Buses - Ontario and Toronto
Dr. David McKeown, Medical Officer of Health, City of Toronto
(attached)
Clean School Bus USA
United States Environmental Protection Agency
http://www.epa.gov/cleanschoolbus
Diesel School Bus Retrofit Project in Abbtsford, BC
A school board partnership with Environment Canada
(attached)
Evaluation of the Levels of Diesel-related Pollutants on School Buses During the Transportation of Children
Health Canada
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/pubs/air/bus-autobus/index_e.html#5
New Brunswick Lung Association
Healthy School Program - School Bus Idling
http://www.nb.lung.ca/schools/3000e/ehi_sbi_e.htm
New Brunswick Department of Education Anti-Idling Legislation
6.2.1.3 A driver must avoid idling the school bus. This includes during drop-off
and boarding times at school, when the bus is awaiting student
dismissal and when parked. School buses may only idle during
extreme weather conditions.
(attached)
Natural Resources Canada
Idle-Free Zone
http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/idling/idling.cfm?CFID=60001109&CFTOKEN=36639037