Who’s pollutin’?

EPA site lets you map toxic sites

This article was published on 01.01.09

If you’re curious just how clean your community is, the Environmental Protection Agency has a handy online resource that will give you an idea. It’s called Envirofacts. Log on to its portal page at www.epa.gov/enviro and, in the navigation rail on the left, you can enter your ZIP code, city or county. Envirofacts will create a map and a breakdown of various pollutant sites in your area.

Take Chico as an example. According to Envirofacts, the city has:

• two facilities that produce and release air pollutants.
• nine facilities that have reported toxic releases.
• 153 facilities that have reported hazardous waste activities.

Click on each category, and you get a list of the facilities by name and address. Use the EnviroMapper feature to zoom in on a specific area and delineate categories.

Envirofacts draws from various EPA databases, updated anywhere from nightly to biennially. More specialized and sophisticated reporting is available as well.

Check it out—you may be surprised by what you find.