QuoteForbes has put out a list evaluating the toxicity of the 40 largest US metropolitan areas. The results may surprise you. Atlanta topped the list for most toxic city, while Las Vegas earned the distinction of being the least toxic. The New York metropolitan area, which is the most populous in the country, also found a spot on the least toxic list.
Forbes explained their methodology:
We counted the number of facilities that reported releasing toxins into the environment, the total pounds of certain toxic chemicals released into the air, water and earth, the days per year that air pollution was above healthy levels, and the total number of Superfund sites--contaminated areas that the federal government has designated for cleanup efforts--in each metro area's principal city.
Forbes also points out that chemical plants and industrial processing outside of the more populated areas contributed greatly to some of the cites' toxicity.
The full list.
The most toxic cities:
1. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta
2. Detroit-Warren-Livonia
3. Chicago-Naperville-Joliet
4. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown
5. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington
6. Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor
7. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana
8. Jacksonville
9. Baltimore-Towson
10. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/04/the-most-toxic-cities-in_n_345417.html
Interesting methodology. Didn't the Environmental Almanac and the Places Rated Almanac give Jacksonville much more positive ratings for environmental health? In fact, I think Environmental ranked Jacksonville 3rd best metro behind only (IIRC) Honolulu and Phoenix. Surely with a different set of parameters.
Saw that. Did you look at our numbers? Crazy. 15.2 million pounds of toxic chemicals, I'm assuming in the year the study was done. We're also 4th in the worst air quality ranking. But the crazy thing is that for all the other cities in the study, we have wayyyy less facilities actually releasing chemicals, and a pretty high ranking of superfund sites. Meaning...for what few actual bodies emitting nasty things, they emit a LOT.
So when are we going to see fields of sunflowers and other hyperaccumulators and phytoremediators helping to clean our air and soil?
How about testing the water, soil and air for pollution instead of counting the number of potential polluters?
You might be interested in this, JefferyS. I'm skimming it right now to try and find some data tables.
http://www.jcci.org/jcciwebsite/documents/07%20air%20quality.pdf
Althought I can't attest to the study's objectivity.
Quote from: kellypope on November 04, 2009, 03:12:43 PM
You might be interested in this, JefferyS. I'm skimming it right now to try and find some data tables.
http://www.jcci.org/jcciwebsite/documents/07%20air%20quality.pdf
JCCI is a community based, non-partisan non-profit. It's reports are generally accepted as benchmarks by all players and have led to many improvement initiatives in our community.
Interestingly, this report relates a good bit about how urban sprawl is a major factor in deteriorating air quality due to more autos and less green spaces to absorb their output.
Just one more reason to kill 9B and the Outer Beltway and to build mass transit sooner than later. Our health depends on it!QuoteIn regard to energy production, the committee recommends that JEA 1) expand their educational programs to promote energy conservation by individuals and by city agencies; 2) restructure electric rates to promote conservation; 3) increase the percentage of local energy production from renewable sources; and 4) explore alternative energy technologies.
Mobile source emissions are addressed in a number of recommendations, including expansion of JTA mass transit and the provision of various incentives for carpooling, vanpooling, and use of public transportation. Other emission-reduction recommendations are 1) increasing the number of hybrid or alternative fuel vehicles in the fleets of the JTA, the City and its several Authorities, as well as the school bus contractors to Duval County Public Schools; 2) encouraging the Jacksonville Port Authority to work with all stakeholders in decreasing shipment by truck and increasing direct ship-to-train transit; and 3) installing Intelligent Transportation Systems on major roads to diminish vehicle idling time.
Finally, in the hope of developing a regional response to growth, the committee, like other study committees before them, recommended the creation of a regional transportation authority and a regional planning authority
with mandates and funding to plan for the growth and transportation needs of the seven counties that form the region.
Northeast Florida must develop visionary leadership to plan for future population growth, while protecting air quality and the natural environment. The ability to enjoy, protect and preserve environmental quality depends to an important degree on the economic well-being of Northeast Florida, and the ability to sustain long-term economic well-being depends on the protection and preservation of its environmental quality.
....Today Jacksonville enjoys relatively clean air and has remained in compliance with Federal air quality standards. However, the rapid growth that has fueled Jacksonville’s economy is putting an ever-increasing burden on our environment and the ability of the natural environment to cleanse and replenish our clean air supply. Since 1997, Jacksonville has developed more than 16 percent of its land area and lost 12 percent of its tree canopy in the woods and wetlands that help cleanse and oxygenate our air.
Within 25 years Jacksonville is expected to be “built out.†Resource speakers stated that all developable green spaces will be expended, and the region’s population will have doubled. The population of the seven counties of Northeast Florida was 1.3 million in 2005, and estimates for growth by 2030 are 2.7 to 3 million population. This growth will bring with it increasing utility demands, decreasing green space, and vastly increasing motor vehicle traffic that will severely tax the ecosystem and air quality. At the same time, advances in scientific research and air testing technology improve our ability to identify ever smaller concentrations of air hazards resulting in the potential adoption of ever more stringent standards for human exposure. Together these factors raise serious concerns about Jacksonville’s future air quality. The same assets that contribute to the quality of life in Northeast Florida and that draw 50 new residents a day to Jacksonville are at risk....
this topic was also dicussed yesterday in another thread: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php/topic,6235.0.html
i find it funny how in this list we are one of the most toxic, which wieghs heavily air quality, yet (as seen in the other thread) Jax was recently named one of the best for air quality.
that doesn't jive.
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2008-apr-your-neighborhood-affects-your-health
Look especially at the contaminated well water and lead toxicity maps.
If building 9B created 1000 jobs, you would have a mob after you stjr.
Quote from: mtraininjax on November 06, 2009, 08:54:17 AM
If building 9B created 1000 jobs, you would have a mob after you stjr.
If taking the money to build 9B and using it to build mass transit created 1000's of jobs was a better use of our resources, prevented urban sprawl and the accompanying tax increases, government subsidies, traffic jams, and other ills of poor planning, and gave us better air quality, environment, and quality of life, the mob should go after the short sighted special-interests-representing public officials who support this dud of a project.
City and State officials respond to Forbes article:QuoteJacksonville ranking on Forbes' toxic list rankles City Hall
Last year, magazine rates city among the best in air quality
* By Brandon Larrabee
* Story updated at 6:44 PM on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009
TALLAHASSEE â€" City and state officials laced into Forbes Magazine for a list released last week that ranked Jacksonville as America’s eighth most toxic large city.
Those concerned with the First Coast’s rankings weren’t the only ones to howl, leading Forbes to correct at least one classification used to put together its list.
Atlanta ranked No. 1 in the survey of the 40 largest metropolitan areas in the country, and three other urban areas in Florida joined Jacksonville in the “top†half of the list: Orlando-Kissimmee (No. 13), Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach (tied for No. 16) and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater (also tied for No. 16).
The list took into account the number of times an environmental hazard was reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the number of facilities in each area emitting toxic chemicals into the environment and the amount of those emissions, and the air quality in each area.
The confusing thing is, a Forbes list last year ranked Jacksonville as one of American’s cleanest cities based on air quality, water quality and spending on Superfund sites.
The Florida Department of Environment Protection isn’t buying the latest list.
The FDEP “has not done a thorough review of the Forbes Magazine study, but based on our initial review, the methodology used does not appear to provide a reliable assessment of the potential risks associated with air toxics,†it said in a statement.
The agency said the magazine’s ratings misused data on toxic emissions. The Department of Environmental Protection also said the state’s Air Quality Index showed that the air in Florida’s cities is generally safe to breathe.
“In 2007, the year Forbes based its ranking system on, Jacksonville experienced only nine out of 365 days that were classified as unhealthy, Miami only four days and Orlando only eight days,†the department said. “These ‘unhealthy’ days are often attributed to unusual air pollution episodes or unusual weather conditions. For example, in 2007 Jacksonville experienced a high level of wildfire activity, which contributed to heightened air pollution levels.â€
Last year, we were cleanest.
Officials with the city and Visit Jacksonville were no more pleased.
“I think the city’s overall environmental quality is better than what that table says, because we have some concerns about the numbers there,†said Ebenezer Gujjarlapudi, director of Jacksonville’s environmental and compliance department.
Gujjarlapudi joined several others in highlighting the list’s initial contention that the city had 70 sites targeted for cleanup under the federal Superfund program â€" nearly the total for the entire state. By Friday afternoon, the magazine’s Web site had corrected the problem and relabeled that classification as “reports (to the EPA) of a potentially hazardous environmental incident or site in each metro area’s principal city.â€
In any case, Gujjarlapudi noted that the city is moving to clean up some of its Superfund sites.
“I’m guessing once it is done ... we will fall pretty quickly,†he said.
A year ago, Forbes said Jacksonville and Florida were comparatively clean. Its pitch was unambiguous: “Want to live where the air is sweet, the water is pure and the streets are clean?†the magazine asked then. “Try the country. But what if you don’t like the sticks? Then try Florida. Led by Miami, the Sunshine State dominates our 2008 list of America’s Cleanest Cities with four metro areas in the top 10 â€" Jacksonville (No. 3), Orlando (No. 4) and Tampa-St. Petersburg (No. 8) all make appearances.â€
That struck Lyndsay Rossman, a spokeswoman for Visit Jacksonville, as odd.
“We were really confused by the [new] Forbes ranking,†Rossman said. “We still feel that we are one of the cleanest cities in America.â€
FORBES’ TOXIC CITIES
The ranking of the 40 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, from most toxic to least toxic, by Forbes Magazine. The list takes into account EPA responses, facilities releasing toxic chemicals, pounds of toxins released and air quality ranking:
1. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta
2. Detroit-Warren-Livonia
3. Chicago-Naperville-Joliet (tie)
3. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown (tie)
5. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington
6. Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor
7. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana
8. Jacksonville
9. Baltimore-Towson
10. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, Ore.
11. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
12. Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis
13. Orlando-Kissimmee
14. Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, N.C.
15. Kansas City, Mo.-Kan.
16. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach (tie)
16. St. Louis (tie)
16. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater (tie)
19. Cincinnati-Middletown
20. Pittsburgh
21. Indianapolis-Carmel
22. San Antonio
23. Washington D.C.-Arlington-Alexandria
24. Columbus, Ohio (tie)
24. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington (tie)
24. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont (tie)
27. Denver-Aurora
28. Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tenn.
29. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy
30. Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, R.I.-Mass.
31. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island (tie)
31. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale (tie)
33. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.
34. Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.
35. San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, Calif.
36. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue37. Austin-Round Rock, Texas
38. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.
39. Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, Calif.
40. Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev.
Source: Forbes
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-11-08/story/jacksonville_ranking_on_forbes_toxic_list_rankles_city_hall
Awesome, we made top 10 in something at least!