While digging around for my last post, I came across a series by NPR titled “Poisoned Places: Toxic Air, Neglected Communities”. This is exceptional journalism. I believe all americans should take a look, because toxic air is a neglected health hazard.
The best part of the series is the interactive map. It lists more than 17,000 facilities that have reported emitting hazardous chemicals in the air.
If you have asthma or any other respiratory illness, clearly you want to live somewhere in the Midwest.
Within a mile of my mom’s house in Hickory was a Shurtape manufacturing plant. I’ve always wondered what was coming out of those stacks. Now I can get a little of that information.
While that data only goes back to 2002, I can see that they emitted Toluene, Zinc compounds, and n-Hexane. Over the years, they have cut their emissions by half. That’s good news. But they were issued a Notice of Violation of the Clean Air Act last July, which is bad news. Unfortunately I could not find what the actual violation was, but they did receive a $4,329 fine.
So enter in your zip code and see what is around you. The results may surprise you. Knowledge is power, and power is extremely important when it comes to your health because, in the end, you are the only one who cares about your health.
hugging you GOODBYE 