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There has been a lot of progress since the first Earth Day in 1970. Communities around the country are spending billions of dollars in green projects. Companies like Disney [DIS
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], with its release of Earth today, are building awareness while automakers like GM [GM
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] have been advancing greener cars. Others are working to reduce their carbon footprint (See the Greenest Companies on the S&P here). However, according to the EPA's Toxic Release Inventory database, manufacturers disposed of or released over 4 billion pounds of waste in 2007. The EPA's Envirofacts Data Warehouse further provides details on the number of facilities per geography releasing waste broken out as follows:
- Air - Facilities that produce and release air pollutants
- Toxics - Facilities that have reported toxic releases
- Waste - Facilities that have reported hazardous waste activities
- Water - Facilities issued permits to discharged to waters in the US
Here are how the 15 biggest metropolitan areas in the US (per 2008 US census estimates) stack up when it comes to toxic output.
#15 Seattle
Metro Area Population: 3.3 million
City Population: 0.6 million
Total Facilities Producing and/or Releasing Pollution: 3,377 (1 for every 170 residents)
Air - 53
Toxics - 109
Waste - 3,026
Water - 189
#14 Riverside-San Bernardino
Metro Area Population: 4.1 million
City Population: 2.1 million
Total Facilities Producing and/or Releasing Pollution: 575 (1 for every 3600 residents)
Air - 17
Toxics - 40
Waste - 506
Water - 12
#13 San Francisco
Metro Area Population: 4.3 million
City Population: 0.7 million
Total Facilities Producing and/or Releasing Pollution: 1,175 (1 for every 630 residents)
Air - 41
Toxics - 28
Waste - 1,097
Water - 9
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Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes