'Worst Polluted Places' list unveiled

[Judi Lynn]

Source: MSNBC

'Worst Polluted Places' list unveiled
China, India, Russia each have two sites among Top 10 for 2007

MSNBC
Updated: 31 minutes ago
Conservation groups on Wednesday issued their second annual "Worst Polluted Places" list, adding four sites — two in India and one each in Azerbaijan and China — to the top 10.

Overall, the 10 sites lie in seven countries and affect more than 12 million people, according to the Blacksmith Institute and Green Cross Switzerland.
(snip)

The partners did not try to rank sites, but instead listed them alphabetically. Sites added since the 2006 list are marked with an asterisk:

• Sumgayit, Azerbaijan*;
  
• Linfen, China;
  
• Tianying, China*;
  
• Sukinda, India*;
  
• Vapi, India*;
  
• La Oroya, Peru;
  
• Dzerzhinsk, Russia;
  
• Norilsk, Russia;
  
• Chernobyl, Ukraine;
  
• Kabwe, Zambia.
  
  
  
  Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20745214/
  
  

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  They forgot HOUSTON.

[gateley]

1. In 1976 -- 1976!! I was flying out of Mexico City and took some photos

through the window. The entire horizon was under a thick, very brown layer of pollution. I wasn't even sure what it was at the time. We're literally suffocating the earth -- and ourselves!

As for your smoggy day in Houston, in Seattle we just call that cloudy! :)

[Tempest]

4. Mexico City has seen a big improvement in air quality

I flew in and out of Mexico City last year two weeks apart and on both days it was clear as a bell.

Seattle has gotten bad. When I moved from the area in 1998 it was bad, but I went back a couple of years ago and it was a lot worse.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

9. Portland is getting bad too

And we're supposed to be the green standard :cry:

[Warpy]

2. Aint offshoring great?

At least our vanished paychecks are buying us marginally cleaner air until weather fronts roll into the west coast.

Yes, Chinese pollution has worsened air quality in Los Angeles.

[maddezmom]

3. so where do you think Houston should be ranked in the World?

:shrug: I know as far as US cities it's #4 or 5 depending on the report?

[Judi Lynn]

11. Welp, I found an article which says it has competed with Los Angeles for #1 since 1999.

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/everydaylife/archives/HP_ILP_Feature_03.html

I read once how far away the Houston air pollution reaches, which I have forgotten, but when I saw it, it was STAGGERING.
It reaches a long, long distance away from that town. Very destructive.

[midlife_mo_Jo]

23. About Houston's pollution

I'll tell you what - I'll be happy to send some of those oil refineries so we can share the pollution equally. If people in your city drive, you should have your own darn refinery! And they come with jobs.

Oh, and they come with explosions every now and then, as well. Don't worry, though. Most people survive. :crazy:

[pschoeb]

5. picture of Vapi's effluent

follow link for picture
http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/image_full/international/photosvideos/photos/effluent-pipe-of-common-efflue-2

Also picture of workers in one Vapi's chemical dye plants getting ready to clean themselves, what a wonderfull job. No Indians aren't really red colored.

[valerief]

6. What the hell is that crap? nt

[pschoeb]

7. A complex mix of chemicals created by over 800 chemical companies

plus hundreds of other companies, then periodically dumped into the Damanganga River, when the drying on land technique is overwhelmed by volume. Not that huge amounts of the stuff, that isn't dumped directly in the river, doesn't end up there when the monsoons hit.

for more

http://www.infochangeindia.org/toxictours05.jsp

[stillcool]

8. To bad they don't name..

the corporations responsible for the pollution in the affected areas.

[Thothmes]

12. Responsible

Chances are the sites in Azerbaijan, Russia, and the Ukraine were the responsibility of the USSR. Those in China by the State. The remaining sites can be laid at the feet of corporations.

[Xithras]

19. According to the full report, it's rare for a US or EU corp to be connected to these sites.

If you go to the website of the group that produced the list and hit their FAQ page, you'll see the reference. "Rare" doesn't mean "None", but as they explain, most of these sites are run by governments or governments in partnership with local private companies. Many of these sites predate the explosion of offshoring anyway.

I'm not minimizing the damage that offshoring does, but in the case of these ten sites it doesn't appear to have been a factor.

[stillcool]

22. I find that hard to believe...

the corporation...for sure...pre-dates the pollution. The Oil Industry, The Chemical Industry, the Mining Industry, have been global enterprises for..forever. As parent companies in their home countries, many multi-nationals are models for environmental protection, but their subsidiaries are a different story.

[JBoy]

10. As bad as it can be in the West

I can only imagine the horrors in some of the industrial cesspools in China or Russia. Those Walmart product are cheap for a reason...

[Javaman]

13. face it, the earth is one giant superfund site now. nt

[Gloria]

14. I have a GREAT, full-page cartoon from the New Yorker from about

20 years ago, which I have on my bulletin board and have carried with me wherever I go..

It depicts Earth with a festering garbage dump covering most of the top half of the globe, surrounded with caricatures of the astrological zodiac and Gods circling around, holding their noses and making all sorts of gestures indicating that the planet STINKS!

One of the great cartoons of all times....

[olddad56]

15. I thought Bush's minds would make the list.

[Gabi Hayes]

16. Aral Sea, anyone? know how much of it's gone?

pretty much

[AnneD]

17. Hey....

I don't trust air I can't see!!!!!:rofl:

[NotGivingUp]

18. I'm sure there's at least one place in the United States that should be on the list. n/t

[Xithras]

20. The White House

;)

[NotGivingUp]

21. Hahaha! Good one! n/t

[girl gone mad]

24. LA is much worse than Houston.

And Chinese pollution is the cause of much of LA's dirty air, too.