Toxic Sites in different neighborhoods

Objective: Compare your neighborhood’s toxic sites to two others

Part 1: Prepare Environmental Health Reports

1. You will prepare environmental health reports for the following three neighborhoods:

a. Your own

i. For Google Earth, enter your address

ii. For scorecard.org, enter your zip code

b. Crested Butte, Colorado

i. For Google Earth, enter 38.55, -106.92

ii. For scorecard.org, enter 81224 for the zip code

c. Donaldsonville, Louisiana

i. For Google Earth, enter 30.12, -90.9

ii. For scorecard.org, enter 70725 for the zip code

Your environmental health report will be typed in a word document. You should take your notes directly into the word document. Cite which sites are giving you your information.

2. Describe each of the above neighborhoods

a. Use Google Earth to explore the community

b. What is the population density? (hint: Look at how close the homes are)

c. Is it mostly residential, industrial, agricultural, or empty?

3. Go to www.scorecard.org

4. Type in the zip code of the neighborhood to which you are looking. Click “get report.”

5. For toxins:

a. Click on “See how your county stacks up.” Summarize the rankings for major chemical

releases

b. Click the “back” button

c. Click on “top polluters.” What kind of companies are the worst polluters?

d. Click on the “back” button. Then click on “top chemicals.”

e. What is the worst pollutant? How is it harmful?

f. How does the county stack up in terms of lead?

g. How does the county stack up in terms of worst toxic waste sites?

6. What is environmental justice? (You may need to research this a bit online). But leave the scorecard website open for step 7.

7. For Environmental Justice Data: Click on “environmental justice report.”

8. Describe any major unequal environmental burdens.

Part 2 Compare the three neighborhoods

1. Rank the three neighborhoods in terms of environmental health. Explain your ranking by referring to your reports.

2. What are the main factors that caused each neighborhoods ranking?

3. What could residents in each community do to improve the environmental health?