At Stevens, particular characteristics make the campus and surrounding area what it is. Castle Point, Lackawanna, and the Hudson River are some examples. However, this unique collection of entities near the campus offers some disadvantages too. A recent New York University (NYU) study could show issues for Hoboken’s beloved Lackawanna station. NYU Langone Health and NYU Grossman School of Medicine released a study on December 30, 2022, which studied the correlation and possible causation of pollution levels in subway stations near city rivers. With the importance of Lackawanna, a riverside station, the results of this study will hopefully enact quick changes to protect the health of those who use the PATH system and other subways that use river-tunnel stations.
The origins of this study come from another NYU research project that examined the pollution levels of subway stations in The Metropolitan Transit Authority system. Although no causes were determined in that study, it was clear that something was affecting the air quality levels of stations across New York City. With the knowledge of that study, David Luglio, MS—a doctoral student at NYU Grossman School of Medicine—began work on a study that would uncover any correlations that led to causal relations in subway stations and their air quality levels. What they found was not what they expected: stations adjacent to river tunnels saw much higher levels of dangerous pollutants and lower air quality. In the stations near river tunnels, “they found that stations neighboring river tunnels had 80% to 130% higher concentrations of potentially dangerous particles in the air compared with stations only two or three stops further away from rivers,” according to an article on the study by Science Daily.
Luglio and the rest of the NYU team describe the phenomenon as the ‘river-tunnel effect.’ This strange occurrence is because of reduced airflow and circulation in tunnels underwater. While most tunnels underground can have a lot of ventilation, enough to keep the air clean, tunnels under rivers cannot have air shafts underwater, so the only circulation can come from systems on either side of the water. Waste and debris from the train systems, like iron and carbon particulates, build up on the ground and in the air of the tunnels. When a train comes through, it pushes all the stagnant air into the stations adjacent to the river tunnels, like Lackawanna.
Luglio and the NYU team wanted to test their ‘river-tunnel effect’ more closely. They focused on the B-Line of the New York City Subway system. The B-Line crosses the East River via a bridge, not a tunnel. The stations adjacent to the bridge (which are underground) had significantly less pollution than stations next to river tunnels. The stations next to the bridge had less pollution than stations nowhere near rivers, what Luglio phrases as ‘the river-tunnel effect.’ From the specific testing of the B-Line, NYU determined that river tunnels caused the stations adjacent to those tunnels to have significantly higher rates of air pollution.
Using this data, the NYU team hopes to increase the air quality of stations adjacent to river tunnels and other stations around New York and other cities. Another author of the NYU study, Terry Gordon, Ph.D., commented, “Now that our results have identified key contributors to poor air quality in New York City’s underground subway stations, we have a better idea of where to improve conditions in the most contaminated areas of the transit system […] Increasing ventilation and scrubbing the tunnel walls and floors to remove continually recycling debris may make stations safer for riders and transit workers.” It can be hoped that this study and others will work to make the transit system safer and healthier, like the historic Lackawanna station that so many Stevens students use.
Be First to Comment