M3.4 Pollution

My Community's Pollution Scores

1. Who or what are the top polluters in your zip code?

   
As of 2002, the top five polluters were: 

• Owens Corning Corporation
• Hanson Permanente Cement
• Strongwell Corporation 
• Chevron 
• Headway Techs Inc. 

2. What percent of the homes in your zipcode have lead-based paint?

1% or 3,600 homes have a high risk of lead hazards. Notably, 12% of children under the age of 5 are living below the poverty line. 

3. Are there Superfund sites in your zip?

A Superfund site is a portion of land that has been contaminated with hazardous waste, which could pose risk to the health of the environment and the population living there. The EPA has identified it as a possible clean-up site due to these risk factors. 

    The top 5 nearby Superfund sites include: 

• Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 
• Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (BLDG 915)
• Applied Materials
• CTS Printex, Inc.
• Fairchild Semiconductor Corp. 

4. What can you tell us about the Superfund sites that are near where you live?

I have never heard of any of these companies before, which makes me think this is an outdated list. Companies in the Silicon Valley are mostly tech start-ups or are related to computer technology/computer parts manufacturing.

• Advanced Micro Devices, Inc: Develops computer processors and other computer parts
• Applied Materials: Makes semiconductor chips, flat panel computers, smartphones, televisions, and solar products
• CTS Printex, Inc: Manufactured circuit boards until 1985. The EPA has completed soil cleanup of this area and groundwater cleanup is still ongoing. 
• Fairchild Semiconductor Corp: Develops power analog, power discrete, and non-power semiconductors.  

5. What did you learn about the air quality in your zipcode?

I learned that my county has ranked among the dirtiest/worst 10% counties in terms of person-days in exceedance of national air quality standards for the ozone and in terms of an average individual's added cancer risk from air pollutants. Previously, I felt my community was relatively healthy. After review, I realize that many of the companies in the area cause significant pollution. In fact, only 75% of days have good air quality. During the early 2000s, I do recall several spare the air days where we were not allowed to run outside during recess. 

  

    The top five companies responsible for air pollutants include: 

• Kaiser Cement Corp. 
• Owens Corning
• Raisch Products
• Cardinal Cogen A Joint Venture
• Stevens Creek Quarry Inc. 

6. How about the water quality?

As of 1998, 16% of the county's surface waters had a reported problem. Additionally, 29 waterbodies reported problems to the state. The most significant water pollutants are metal and pesticides.

The county ranked 37 out 57 counties in terms of animal waste. Animal waste spillage is known to cause water contamination. 

7. How did your zipcode fair on a social justice/environmental justice basis?
    Persons of Color are:

• 52% more likely than Whites to be exposed to toxic chemicals.
• 13% more likely than Whites to be at risk for cancer due to hazardous air pollutants.
• 12% more likely than Whites to be exposed to air pollutants emitted from facilities. 

    Low income families are: 

• 20% more likely than high income families to be exposed to toxic chemicals. 
• 10% more like than high income families to be at risk for cancer due to hazardous air pollutants.
• 28% more likely than high income families to be exposed to air pollutants emitted from facilities.

  Other pertinent statistics include: 

• Non-high school graduates are 70% more likely than high school graduates to be exposed to toxic chemicals. 
• Working class people are 36% more likely than non-working class people to be exposed to toxic chemicals. 
• Children living below poverty are 22% more likely than children above poverty to be exposed to air pollutants from facilities. 

My county of residence still has work to do to eliminate environmental racism. Based on the graph above, one can see the disparities between minority populations and income differences. The differences are particularly startling when comparing low-income minorities to low-income whites. The only group with less burden of disease for this income category is Native Americans, which is the smallest demographic group in the area.