Metra tries to clear air on soot levels

Metra, while saying pollution levels on its trains fall within federal standards, nevertheless is looking for ways to cut down on diesel soot in passenger cars.

The commuter rail system is investigating ways to cut emissions, such as installing the diesel equivalent of a catalytic converter on train engines and instituting “anti-idling” measures, Metra spokeswoman Judy Pardonnet said.

The agency also is looking at ways to keep pollutants from passengers, such as upgrading filters, duct work and intake vents, she said.

At Union Station, Pardonnet said, Metra is already working with “landlord” Amtrak on its diesel engine emissions.

Metra has been under fire for pollution on trains, which tends to be worse on those that are outbound from Chicago to the suburbs. According to the reports, soot levels are highest in the first passenger car behind the engine.

Pardonnet confirmed that data released through the Freedom of Information Act showed that a train leaving the Ogilvie Transportation Center on the Union Pacific North line in December had soot levels hundreds of times higher than the average street level — 357 micrograms per cubic meter, compared with 1 or 2 on an average city street.

Yet, she maintained that was a statistical aberration borne out by the previously released averages on the line, which actually finished behind the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Line leaving Union Station in downtown Chicago in average soot levels.

Chief Mechanical Officer Rich Soukup said levels of various pollutants were all well below standards set by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Yet, there are no similar health standards for soot, or “black carbon” diesel emissions.

Pardonnet did not have a timetable for implementing pollution controls. She pointed

to a Metra task force which has been formed on the issue, and which is scheduled to meet again March 2.

“We reached out and invited anyone who was a public stakeholder to sit down with us and work out solutions,” Pardonnet said, and the group includes OSHA, the EPA, Amtrak and the Illinois Respiratory Health Association.

“What we want to do is find all the solutions possible to make the air on the train as clean as it can possibly be,” Pardonnet added. “Our No. 1 goal has always been the safety of our customers, and that includes the quality of the air onboard the train.”