The Post & Courier
In an area called “the Neck” — a cluster of small neighborhoods and industrial sites that straddle the border between Charleston and North Charleston — residents must cope with all sorts of unneighborly challenges.
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The Neck was home to a pretty big neighborhood that was split into two — Union Heights and Rosemont — by Interstate 26 when it was constructed in the 1960s. Through this low-income residential area, around 120,000 vehicles pass each day.
That number is about to increase now that the State Ports Authority’s Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal is open for business. The terminal is less than half a mile east of Union Heights and Rosemont, and the new Port Access Road connects to I-26 exactly between the two neighborhoods.
The SPA estimates that, once the terminal is at full capacity by the early 2030s, around 7,000 diesel trucks will use the access road every day. This has raised concerns among residents and health advocates that increases in air pollution — specifically the particulate matter spewed by diesel engines — will put people already at a disadvantage at further risk.
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But a collaboration among residents, the SPA, Palmetto Railways, government officials and the Medical University of South Carolina could help mitigate the looming problem. The air-monitoring project is spearheaded by the Charleston Community Research to Action Board, the environmental arm of the Lowcountry Alliance for Model Communities.