The only thing wrong with Cleveland, he says, is the attitude of some of its residents - "Hot", isn't that!

On June 3, 2010, I reported on realNEO [1] "our air around Northeast Ohio has been unhealthy by most standards every day for the past week, and is never nearly healthy enough" and asked "why the hell was air quality in Cleveland and so Northeast Ohio, the region, the state and the world so "UNHEALTHY" last night, while we slept, and why is it so unhealthy RIGHT NOW - and HOW UNHEALTHY really, where, as indicated above?"

The diagrams above and below are actually from today - June 16, 2010 - two weeks later. In checking the same pollution monitoring service of NOACA [2] to see current pollution conditions, I find our regional pollution control house of cards has completely collapsed, with NOACA "near real time" pollution monitoring systems (which should be data driven and perfect) still reporting we had "SEVERE" levels of MP2.5 pollution in Northeast Ohio over the past 24 hours (see line and rose charts at bottom of diagram below) - for many hours reading over 300, leading up to these charts - yet NOACA posting an "OFFICIAL" explanation that "NOTICE:  The PM2.5 monitors are experiencing difficulty this week. Data shown is incorrect. Local air agencies are working with the monitors. In addition, high humidity is being reflected. We appreciate your patience."

In that case, were the MP2.5 monitors experiencing difficulty the week of Memorial Day, when they also reported such severe conditions (in which case they have been broken for long over a week), and who is responsible for that?

I find this situation especially insulting and disgraceful as the man in charge of the poor environment in Cleveland, Mayor Frank Jackson (the city owns and operates our pollution monitors) has been quoted saying the only problem with Cleveland is that the citizens are depressed, aping what was quoted in the Cleveland Plain Dealer today [3] as the official PD-PositivelyCleveland-Forest City Enterprises take on our chronic condition... "The only thing wrong with Cleveland, he (Neil Mohney of Forest City Enterprises) says, is the attitude of some of its residents. "It's our defeatist attitude that we have to change. If we don't change it now, we might as well turn the lights off and say goodnight to the city."

"The only thing wrong with Cleveland is the attitude of some of its residents"?!?!

Scientists and doctors very much disagree. On June 7, 2010, I posted "Identifiable effects on public health which may be expected from the presence of a pollutant in ambient air, e.g. Heart Attacks [4]", reporting:

you are certainly being harmed greatly by the high levels of PM clearly released into the air in Northeast Ohio, especially near major roadways and coal burning facilities that are source points, like Mittal and MCCO. For example: "Epidemiologic studies that examined the effect of PM 2.5 on cardiovascular emergency department (ED) visits and hospital admissions reported consistent positive associations (predominantly for ischemic heart disease [IHD] and congestive heart failure [CHF]), with the majority of studies reporting increases ranging from 0.5 to 3.4% per 10 μg/m3 increase in PM 2.5".

As I've long written on realNEO, Northeast Ohio has a pollution crisis and does a poor job or monitoring our pollution [5], putting citizens' lives in danger. How much in danger is the subject of this lengthy EPA analysis. In short, you are certainly being harmed greatly by the high levels of PM clearly released into the air in Northeast Ohio, especially near major roadways and coal burning facilities that are source points, like Mittal and MCCO. For example: "Epidemiologic studies that examined the effect of PM 2.5 on cardiovascular emergency department (ED) visits and hospital admissions reported consistent positive associations (predominantly for ischemic heart disease [IHD] and congestive heart failure [CHF]), with the majority of studies reporting increases ranging from 0.5 to 3.4% per 10 μg/m3 increase in PM 2.5".

On June 3, 2010, I reported [1]: "those living near and downwind of the St. Theodus monitoring station were exposed to PM2.5 levels reading as high as 317.5 - nearly 6 times the ambient standard 24 hour concentration of 65 ug per cubic meter Primary and Secondary...  more than 21X the annual mean standard... and who knows if that was even a peak measurement."

What were those people exposed to by our leaders today, when these monitors reported equally hazardous pollution levels... yet claim the monitoring equipment is broken, THIS WEEK.

Do you believe your problems with Cleveland are all in your mind?

Here is what expensive hardware had to say about what was actually harming your brain on Memorial Day... "HOT, isn't that: