M3.4 Air Pollution

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

The top polluters in my county were 

• Clean Harbors Buttonwillow L.L.C
• Delano Growers Grape Producers
• Shell Bakersfield Refinery 
• What percent of the homes in your zipcode have lead-based paint?
• 2% of homes in this county have a high risk of lead hazards 
• Are there Superfund sites in your zip?  
• A super fund sites are the nation's worst toxic waste sites 
• There are 2 superfund sites in the Bakersfield area 
• Brown and Bryant Inc 
• Edwards Air Force Base
• What can you tell us about the Superfund sites that are near where you live?
• The Brown and Bryant Inc is under construction for clean-up 
• It produces liquid agricultural chemicals 
• It has 5 detected contaminants (pesticides) that seep into the ground water and can be very harmful if injected by humans  
• What did you learn about the air quality in your zipcode?
• I knew that the air quality was terrible. I was surprised to find out that only 17 days a year does this region have "good" air quality. 
• How about the water quality?
• We have one body of water with affected pollutants in the water. Metals, pesticides, and chlorides in the water contribute to this
• How did your zipcode fair on a social justice / environmental justice basis?
• The environmental justice mapper painted a shocking picture that compared environmental burdens between whites and people of color. Many of the low-income jobs in the area are in agriculture, and most of these jobs are done by people of color. It's eye-opening to see just how much harm farm workers are exposed to on a daily basis. The worst part is that they do not realize it and the companies exposing them to such harmful chemicals and pesticides are not protecting them.