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Dayton Business Journal...
Ohio leads nation in
toxic air pollution
by Ginger Christ, DBJ Staff Reporter
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Ohioans are subject to the most industrial toxic air pollution,
according to a recent study.
Ohio’s toxic air pollution levels are 36 percent higher than any other
state in the country, according to an analysis of Environmental
Protection Agency’s Toxics Release Inventory by the Natural Resources
Defense Council and the Physicians for Social Responsibility.
Nearly half of all toxic air pollution reported from industrial sources
in the United States comes from coal- and oil-fired power plants. Power
plants are the largest industrial source of toxic air pollution in 28
states and the District of Columbia.
Click here for slideshow of the states with the most toxic air
pollution.
Toxic air pollution can lead to asthma and other respiratory ailments,
developmental disorders, neurological damage, birth defects, cancer and
premature mortality, according to the report.
The EPA’s Toxic Release inventory is a national database of toxic
emissions self-reported by industrial sources.
The Natural Resources Defense Council is an international nonprofit
environmental organization with more than 1.3 million members and
online activists.
Physicians for Social Responsibility has 25 chapters, 40 medical
student groups and 50,000 members and e-activists working to raise
awareness of climate change, nuclear proliferation and toxic
degradation of the environment.
“Power plants are the biggest industrial toxic air polluters in our
country, putting children and families at risk by dumping deadly and
dangerous poisons into the air we breathe,” said Dan Lashof, climate
center director at NRDC.
Among the power companies operating in Ohio include DPL Inc. , which is
being bought by AES Corp. ; Duke Energy , which is buying Progress
Energy ; and American Electric Power . Most of those have power
generating plants in Ohio based on a previous report on CO2 emissions.
Read it with links at Dayton Business Journal
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