Truck-Pollution Link Studied in Laredo

April 27, 2000 9:45 AM, EDT

Business owners and residents in downtown Laredo, Texas, wanted to know what millions of trucks running through their city and waiting at their bridges were doing to their air.

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Laredo beats out all other ports of entry on the U.S.-Mexico border in terms of freight volume. With its counterpart in Mexico, Nuevo Laredo, the two cities make up the largest inland freight port for both countries. In 1999, 2.7 million tractor-trailers passed between them.

With that much business carried on truck bottoms, Laredo is bathed in the exhaust from long queues of tractor-trailers waiting to cross the Rio Grande, and the consequence has been a concern for those living in the urban area.

For all that traffic, however, the Environmental Protection Agency has declared Laredo an “attainment” zone, which means the quality of the city’s air is acceptable to the clean air agency.

For the full story, see the Apr. 24 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.