M3.4 Air Pollution

• Who and what are the top polluters in your zip code?

The top 3 polluters of the San Francisco County are 1) Dry Doc Inc. (shipbuilding and repairing company), 2) Chevron, and 3) Pacific Electric & Electric 

The top 3 pollutants are 1) xylene, 2) N-butyl alcohol, and 3) H-hexane

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

7% of houses (about 22,000 housing units) in SF County have a high risk of lead hazard.

• Are there Superfund sites in your zip?  (In your BLOG, make sure to tell us what a Superfund Site is)

A Superfund site is a land that has been contaminated by hazardous waste and identified by the EPA to be cleaned up because it poses health risks to the population and environment. In 2004, SF County was ranked among the cleanest/best 10% of all counties in the U.S. The only Superfund site identified is the Treasure Island naval station - Hunters Point Annex.

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

The Hunter Point Annex  is currently undergoing construction. Operations of the facility over several decades produced many solid and liquid wastes, including paints, solvents, fuels, acids, bases, metals, PCBS, and asbestos. Fortunately, no drinking water wells are potentially threatened.

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

SF County ranked the dirtiest/worst 10% of all counties in the U.S. The top 3 facilities that contributes to smog and particulates emissions are 1) United Airlines Maintenance, 2) Golden Gate Bridge highway, and 3) Astoria Metal Corporation. The main sources of hazardous air that poses cancer and other health risks come from diesel buses and trucks, dry cleaners, and gas stations. 

• How about the water quality?

This was the most surprising to me. I always thought SF has good clean water but according to the Clean Water Act ranking, SF County ranked 80-90% dirtiest/worst counties in the U.S. for surface waters with impaired or threatened uses. The 1998 Clean Water Act status recorded 30% of surface water have reported problems. A lot of the data for SF County are dated so I'm interested to see what the level of pollution is now. 

• How did your zipcode fair on a social justice / environmental justice basis?

All across the distribution of environmental burdens, people of color, low income, non-high school graduates, working-class people, and renters (compared to homeowners) had a higher burden compared to Whites.