Toxic dust from coal tar sealcoat invades homes, watersheds.
Posted on 20 January 2010 | By: Robert McClure, Investigate West | | 
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That earlier study in the Journal of Environmental Science and Technology found that on average, the PAHs were 530 times higher in the parking lots sealed with coal tar.
For his part, Doggett, the congressman representing the Austin area, is glad that EPA is finally taking seriously the threat posed by the coal tar sealant.
“Under the prior administration, I confronted EPA inaction and excuses. I am pleased my repeated efforts have resulted in the EPA now initiating this long-overdue work, and we might finally move toward a nationwide ban on this dangerous substance,” Doggett said in a written statement.
Researcher Van Metre said the public doesn’t have to accept increasing levels of pollution as a price of development.
“Just because we live in urban environments — and most people do live in urban environments — doesn’t mean they have to be polluted,” he said.
InvestigateWest is a non-profit investigative news organization covering the environment, health and social justice. Find out more at www.invw.org and learn how you can make a difference by contributing to independent investigative reporting.
About the author
Robert McClure, Investigate West is a Pulitzer Prize finalist. After an academic year on the prestigious Knight-Wallace journalism fellowship, I realized that I needed to move West if I wanted to cover the really big environmental stories. So I left my native Florida, spending my 40th birthday — my second weekend as a Westerner — camping amid the snow on Washington’s Mount Adams. During my two decades on the environment beat, I prodded officials until they launched major ecosystem restoration projects in Puget Sound and the Florida Everglades. The latter remains the largest ecosystem restoration attempted on the planet so far. At the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, I was the backbone of five major projects, including one that uncovered a glaring loophole in the Endangered Species Act. I am a board member at the Society of Environmental Journalists and have won a number of awards, including the John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism. Contact me.
