Train Pollution By: Andrea Lamoureux, and Autumn Fisher Whitefish High School, Mr. Spangler's 7th period Advanced Chemistry Class

Has the concern of increase in train activity in Whitefish, Montana affected the amount of PM 2.5 in the air? If so is it also affecting other towns with railroads passing through? Question:

If there is train activity, then the air quality of Whitefish will be affected by the pollution caused by train activity. Hypothesis

There is a concern about the increase of train activity affecting air quality. Train activity has increased due to the oil shipments from North Dakota. Train activity may increase significantly more if coal mines in Eastern Montana go in. Background:

Noise pollution from train horns Pollution from idling trains Health effects on town residents What is the Concern?

We tested at three different sites. One was at the school which was the control, the other was at a concerned community member's house, named Bill Jones, and the third was at Mrs. Haverlandt's house. We tested twice at Haverlandt's, and three times at Mr. Jones' house. All 6 tests used the High School as a control. Procedure:

We ran two meters at the same time for 24 hours starting at 10pm. One was always at the high school while the other was either at Bill's or Mrs. Haverlandt's. We kept a chart of what the weather was like on the dates that we tested, to see if weather had an effect on the results. Procedure:

High School, about 0.3 miles from railroad tracks Mrs. Haverlanst's House Railroad Tracks

High School Location: Mr. Spangler's Room with tube out the window Meter

About 25 yards away from tracks. Bill's House:

Weather- High: 53 ( F) Low:30 Precip: 0in Wind: low Overcast Data: Test 1 10/08/2012 Results: Bill's House: Average:.007 mg/m^3 Max: 043 mg/m^3 High School: Average:.008 mg/m^3 Max:.063 mg/m^3

Test 1: Graphs

Weather- High: 53 ( F) Low:37 Precip:.35 in Low wind Data: Test 2 10/29/2012 Results: Bill's House: Average:.008 mg/m^3 Max:.037 mg/m^3 High School: Average:.022 mg/m^3 Max:.159 mg/m^3

Test 2: Graphs:

Weather- High: 42 ( F) Low: 26 Precip: 0 Low wind Data: Test 3 11/16/2012 Results: Bill Jones House: Average:.031 mg/m^3 Max:.092 mg/m^3 High School Average:.042 mg/m^3 Max:.108 mg/m^3

Graph: Test 3

Weather- High: 44 ( F) Low: 32 Precip: 0 Medium wind Data: Test 4 12/03/2012 Results: Haverlandt's: Average:.020 mg/m^3 Max:.165 mg/m^3 High School Average:.028 mg/m^3 Max:.128 mg/m^3

Test 4: Graphs:

Weather- High: 43 ( F) Low: 33 Precip: 0.05 Low Wind Data: Test 5 1/9/13 Haverlandt's: Average: mg/m^3 Max: mg/m^3 High School Average: mg/m^3 Max: mg/m^3

Test 5: Graphs

Weather: High: 62 ( F) Low: 21 Precip: 0 Sunny Low Wind Data: Test 6 4/24/2013 Bill Jones House: Average: mg/m^3 Max: mg/m^3 High School Library Average: mg/m^3 Max: mg/m^3

Test 6 Graphs:

30 minute test Train Depot Amtrak train idling BNSF train idling

From the data collected, we concluded that no solid conclusion could be made. From our results, we saw that something was impacting the air quality making it rise above the EPA limit for pm 2.5. However, it is too difficult to actually pinpoint what exactly impacted the air quality. We could not conclude that the spikes over the EPA limit were due to train activity because we did not have a train schedule to compare the times with. Conclusions:

Bill Jones, concerned citizen Tony Ward, University of Montana Hoby Rash, Montana Department of Environmental Quality Mr. Spangler, Whitefish High School Chehala Hemmingson, Chemistry student Acknowledgements

References "Do Coal and Diesel Trains Make for Unhealthy Air?" Microryza. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 May "NCDC: Quality Controlled Local Climatological Data, Select State." NCDC: Quality Controlled Local Climatological Data, Select State. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 May "The News Tribune." - UPS Professor Taking Measure of Tacoma Train Emissions (print). N.p., n.d. Web. 28 May "Tacoma Study." Site. University of Puget Sound, n.d. Web. 28 May 2013.