Cities Grapple With Pollution From Surge in Urban Warehouses
Fueled by demand for same-day delivery, facilities heavily trafficked by diesel trucks are moving into densely populated areas.
Liberty Warehouse in the Red Hook neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough of New York.
Photographer: Jeenah Moon/BloombergBooming demand for same-day delivery, fueled by e-commerce giants like Amazon, means more warehouses are being built in urban areas, raising concerns that diesel exhaust from trucks will contribute to more emergency room visits and even early deaths.
Warehouse-specific emissions generally aren't regulated, leaving cities at a loss to handle a problem so acute that, in many places, it's now considered the best explanation for differences in air pollution from one neighborhood to the next. In response, lawmakers in New York and elsewhere are now looking for novel solutions.