Sierra Club wants health risk added to U.S. 95 study

Thursday, June 22, 2000 | 11:36 a.m.

The Sierra Club asked the Federal Highway Administration today to supplement environmental impacts from expanding U.S. 95 because new studies link high traffic counts with childhood cancers and leukemia.

The highway expansion would cut through several neighborhoods in northwest Las Vegas, disrupting rather than relieving heavy traffic, Sierra Club attorney Patrick Gallagher said in a letter sent to the federal agency today.

New studies released this year show increased cases of cancer in children living next to major highways, Sierra Club Clean Air Project Chairwoman Jessica Hodge said, while standing outside Ruth Fyfe Elementary School at Bonanza Road and Valley View Boulevard, next to the freeway.

No health studies regarding the vehicle emissions were done by the Nevada Department of Transportation during its environmental impact study, she said.

"The recent studies demonstrate the urgent need for a reassessment of the U.S. 95 project with more attention paid to the public health of persons, especially children, residing or attending school in the U.S. 95 corridor," Hodge said.

A study by the South Coast Air Quality Management District in Los Angeles linked freeway construction and expansion to significant risk to public health.

The study found that the risk of cancer in Southern California is 1,400 cases per 1 million and 90 percent of the cancers are associated with mobile vehicle sources.

Another study in Denver showed that children living next to streets with more than 20,000 vehicles a day had roughly six times the number of cancers, including childhood leukemias.

Motor vehicles produce pollutants such as benzene and other organic compounds. Benzene is a known cause of adult leukemia, the Denver study said.

The Sierra Club also charged that traffic planners used inaccurate traffic forecasts, already noted by several NDOT employees.

"Using wrong traffic forecasts in studying the environmental effects of U.S. 95 is like using a faulty scale to find out how much you weigh," Hodge said. "We might like the scale to say we weigh 20 pounds less, but it doesn't reflect the truth."