Who and What are the Pollutants in my ZipCode??

M3.4 Air Pollution

I researched the present air quality and pollutants of my address in the Richmond district of San Francisco. 

• Who and what are the top polluters in your zip code?
• The top polluters in our zipcode are (1) San Francisco DryDock INC., (2) Chevron Products (i.e. their gas stations around the city), and (3) the Pacific Gas and Electric Hunter's Point Power Plant. 
• The top pollutants in our community were
• Xylene
• N-Butyl Alcohol
• N-Hexane
• Benzene
• Toluene
• Copper Compounds
• Ethylbenzene
• Napthalene
• Mercury

• What percent of the homes in your zipcode have lead-based paint?
• 7% of housing units in my area are at high risk of lead hazards
• Are there Superfund sites in your zip?  (In your BLOG, make sure to tell us what a Superfund Site is)
• Superfund sites have been contaminated by hazardous waste and have been slotted to be formally cleaned up because of potential toxicity.
• While there is not a superfund site in the Richmond (my zipcode) there is one in 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's Point Naval Shipyard was a shipyard from 1948 - 1974, as well as a Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory.
• The cities soil, dust, sediments, surface water and ground water were all contaminated from petroleum fuels, pesticides, heavy metals, PCBs, VOCs, and radionuclids. 
• It is the Navy's responsibility to clean up the site and they try and provide regular information about the status and health of the cleanup. However, Bay View/Hunter's point has historically been lived in by lower income and minority communities showing the how communities that need the most support are usually the ones that are the most taken advantage of.
• What did you learn about the air quality in your zipcode?
• The present air quality in my zipcode is GOOD with an AQI score of 23 (Ozone AQI Score = 23, Particulate AQI score = 18). 
• According to historical AQI scores, in 2015 the majority of recorded AQI days were GOOD (53.3%), while there were much less days where the air was moderate (33.3%) or unhealthy to sensitive groups (13.3%). 
• However our carbon monoxide emissions, nitrogen oxides emissions, PM-2.5 emissions, PM-10 emissions, volatile organic compound emissions are within the 90th percentile of being the worst in the country.
• How about the water quality?
• The water quality at natural water sources was impaired for most of the bays and beaches around my neighborhood. There was reported bacteria, micro bio pollution, and a variety of other chemicals and toxins in the natural bodies of water. 
• Crissy Field Beach
• San Francisco Bay
• Baker Beach
• Additionally, our surface waters are within the 80th percentile in the nation of being impaired or threatened. 
• There do not appear to be any inconsistencies or alarms with the drinking water to my neighborhood. 
• How did your zipcode fair on a social justice / environmental justice basis
• My neighborhood does not have a social justice or environmental justice activities happening at the moment, but across the bay in Oakland, an Environmental Justice Grant was awarded to Asian Health Services. 
• They established the program called "Achieving Environmental Justice through Technical Assistance for Healthy Nail Salons"
• The program serves the entire bay area and works to prevent the indoor exposure of nail technicians to toxic chemicals.
• Looking at the distribution of environmental burdens in San Francisco, a slight disproportion of release of toxic chemicals, cancer from air pollutants and facilities emitting criteria of air pollutants for communities of color. However a much larger difference can be seen between high income families and low income families and families that live above and below the poverty line.