Air Pollution
Zip code: 94710
Alameda County
Who and what are the top polluters in your zip code?
The data on scorecard.org is from 2002 and lists the top polluters in my county as:
1. New United Motor MFG, Inc (an automobile manufacturing company that closed in 2010)
2. Arch Mirror West (a company I could not find when I searched on google so I'm assuming they have also closed)
3. Pacific Galvanizing Inc. (Northern Californa's largest hot dip galvanzier. Galvanizing is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting. The most common method is hot-dip galvanizing, in which the parts are submerged in a bath of molten zinc.)
What percent of the homes in your zipcode have lead-based paint?
3% of houses in Alameda County have high risk of lead hazards.
Are there Superfund sites in your zip? [Toxic Waste Sites] What can you tell us about the Superfund sites that are near where you live?
In 2004, Alameda County ranked among the cleaner 30% of all counties in the U.S. in terms of the number of designated Superfund sites. There are 4 Superfund sites in my county - Alameda Naval Air Station, AMCO Chemical, and Lawrence Livermore Lab (2 sites). 2 Superfund sites caused caused contamination of drinking water sources. (these 2 sites were both part of Livermore Labs which is about 40 miles from where I live but still in Alameda County)
What did you learn about the air quality in your zipcode?
I was surprised to learn that the air quality in my zip code was not good. In 2003, this county ranked among the dirtiest/worst 10% of all counties in the U.S. in terms of person-days in exceedance of national air quality standard for ozone (8-hour).
How about the water quality?
I was also surprised to find out that Alameda county has dirty water and is listed in some of the worst counties for water quality.
How did your zipcode fair on a social justice / environmental justice basis?
The distribution of environmental burdens in Alameda County seemed pretty equal - the ratio was about 1 toxic chemicals and hazardous air pollution. Whites were more likely to live near a superfund site, but less likely to live near a facility emitting air pollutants.
Overall this was very interesting to look at all the different pollutants in my county. I was surprised to learn about so many pollutants in my county, however most of the data is over 10 years old and outdated. Additionally, the data was for the entire county and not my zip code which I think has much less pollutants than the rest of the county.
Alameda County
Who and what are the top polluters in your zip code?
The data on scorecard.org is from 2002 and lists the top polluters in my county as:
1. New United Motor MFG, Inc (an automobile manufacturing company that closed in 2010)
2. Arch Mirror West (a company I could not find when I searched on google so I'm assuming they have also closed)
3. Pacific Galvanizing Inc. (Northern Californa's largest hot dip galvanzier. Galvanizing is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting. The most common method is hot-dip galvanizing, in which the parts are submerged in a bath of molten zinc.)
What percent of the homes in your zipcode have lead-based paint?
3% of houses in Alameda County have high risk of lead hazards.
Are there Superfund sites in your zip? [Toxic Waste Sites] What can you tell us about the Superfund sites that are near where you live?
In 2004, Alameda County ranked among the cleaner 30% of all counties in the U.S. in terms of the number of designated Superfund sites. There are 4 Superfund sites in my county - Alameda Naval Air Station, AMCO Chemical, and Lawrence Livermore Lab (2 sites). 2 Superfund sites caused caused contamination of drinking water sources. (these 2 sites were both part of Livermore Labs which is about 40 miles from where I live but still in Alameda County)
What did you learn about the air quality in your zipcode?
I was surprised to learn that the air quality in my zip code was not good. In 2003, this county ranked among the dirtiest/worst 10% of all counties in the U.S. in terms of person-days in exceedance of national air quality standard for ozone (8-hour).
How about the water quality?
I was also surprised to find out that Alameda county has dirty water and is listed in some of the worst counties for water quality.
How did your zipcode fair on a social justice / environmental justice basis?
The distribution of environmental burdens in Alameda County seemed pretty equal - the ratio was about 1 toxic chemicals and hazardous air pollution. Whites were more likely to live near a superfund site, but less likely to live near a facility emitting air pollutants.
Overall this was very interesting to look at all the different pollutants in my county. I was surprised to learn about so many pollutants in my county, however most of the data is over 10 years old and outdated. Additionally, the data was for the entire county and not my zip code which I think has much less pollutants than the rest of the county.
I didn't realize how "dirty" Alameda county was. I live in San Mateo County and we're still not the cleanest either. I do see Alameda county was 30% cleaner than other counties! I wonder why your drinking water is ranked dirtier than mine when the water supply flows downward. You would think we would get the dirtier more unfiltered version?
ReplyDeleteYes, you make a great point about data being so old. I wonder what would happen if they updated it. I would like to see the change and impact from the past decade.
ReplyDelete