Using your zip code (or the zip code from your family home, find out the following and enter info in your BLOG.
According to the scorecard website my county was ranked among the dirtiest/worst 20% of all counties in the U.S. Which honestly does not suprise me.
- Who and what are the top polluters in your zip code?
- The largest polluter in my country is New United Motor MFG. INC. with a whopping 499,459 pounds. The second polluter is Arch Mirror West with 44,985 pounds. That is a huge difference.
- What percent of the homes in your zipcode have lead-based paint?
- 3 percent of homes in my county have a high risk of lead hazards.
- Are there Superfund sites in your zip? (In your BLOG, make sure to tell us what a Superfund Site is)
- I had no idea what a superfund site was prior to reading this website. According to the EPA, a superfund site is land which has been contanimated by hazardous waste and has to be cleaned up due to health/environtmal risks it may cause. There are four superfund sites within the county.
- What can you tell us about the Superfund sites that are near where you live?
- Of the four superfund sites in my country, two are owned by the Department of Energy, another is the Alameda Naval Air Station, and the other is owned by AMCO chemical. I also learned that two have previously caused water contamination. Also two of these superfund sites are in mixed residential housing locations.
- What did you learn about the air quality in your zipcode?
- My county is among the worst for carbon monoxide, nitrogen, sukfer dioxide, and volatile organic compound emissions.
- How about the water quality?
- Apparently the water quality in my county is among the dirtiest/worst in the nation.
- How did your zipcode fair on a social justice / environmental justice basis?
- For the most part people of color had a high rate of being exposed to air pollutants, and cancer risks. However in almost every category, whites and high income families had a higher risk of being exposed to toxic chemicals. I found that super interesting.
My only question is where is your country? I can't remember exactly where you are from and are curious as to where all this is occurring. Looking back at my own assessment, I now wish I had done this for my home country of Tanzania. Do you ever think things will change back in your home country?
ReplyDeleteI also didn't know about Superfund sites, as a medical doctor and public health practitioner I was really shocked when I understood about the amount of hazardous the superfund sites provide. I am sure that almost all population living at the neighborhood of these hazardous sites, still do not have much knowledge about those sites, its health risks and or the way to prevent themselves.
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