greenfreak
.
Member since 9/06 11483 total posts
Name:
greenfreak
|
Most toxic cities in the US
Falling home prices may not be the only thing poisoning your neighborhood. Landfills, abandoned manufacturing plants, and leaking underground petroleum tanks sometimes lurk in the backyards of unsuspecting homeowners and home buyers, leading to serious health issues and spoiled real estate markets.
---
For the residents of Danvers, Mass., awareness came too late. Last November, around 3 a.m., a local chemical plant exploded, knocking some homes off their foundations and damaging buildings as far as half a mile away. Though no one was killed, 10 people were injured and approximately 90 homes were damaged. Nearly a year later there are still 45 boarded-up homes and 20 displaced families, and home sales are slow, by local accounts.
---
Residents of the area around Greenpoint, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, N.Y., may have reason to worry. A 1950 ExxonMobil (XOM) oil spill has led to the accumulation of gasoline, solvents, and other hazardous substances in a vast underground lake.
The spill was first discovered in 1978 and has been estimated to contain as much as 30 million gallons of oil and other chemicals, according to a September, 2007 report from the Environmental Protection Agency. At the current clean-up rate, the EPA says it will take 25 years to remove 70% of the oil. According to the EPA, there are four primary dangers associated with petroleum spills: toxic vapors; contaminated drinking water; contaminated food; and toxic skin contact.
---
Full article on BusinessWeek
Top 10:
1. Baltimore
2. Milwaukee
3. Portland
4. L.A.
5. Minneapolis
6. Indianapolis
7. San Diego
8. Detroit
9. Seattle
10. Cincinnati
|
SweetestOfPeas
J'taime Paris!
Member since 3/06 32345 total posts
Name:
|
Re: Most toxic cities in the US
"BusinessWeek.com looked at number of contaminated sites per capita because the metropolitan areas with the most contaminated sites are, in general, the largest metro areas. Los Angeles ranks first when it comes to sheer number of contaminated sites, with a total of 271,360 on record. New York and Chicago follow, with 191,356 and 103,704, respectively. "
|
