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I was doing a little research for an OP that is pregnant and moving to the Capitol Region, Albany, etc. Thought this might be of general interest as well- we all know the Hudson Valley has a history of BIG issues regarding pollution. Much has been done, BUT, would you want to live in any of these places even now (from a health viewpoint) ? Might help someone, somewhere, avoid a big mistake when relocating.
Please add to this list!
____________________________________________ LaFarge Building Materials Inc., Ravena, N.Y., # 15 on the list of
Biggest Cement Kiln Mercury Polluters
[CENTER] Stay away from Ravena, NY (just south of Albany), Coeyman's and any area within at least a 10 mile radius (about 314 square miles). Mercury is something for a pregnant woman to run from...and FAST! Mercury is a neurotoxicant that can build up through the food chain and interfere with the brain and other parts of the nervous system, resulting in birth defects, loss of IQ and developmental problems.
CATSKILL — Cement makers Holcim and Lafarge are among the state’s top polluters, according to a recently released report from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The report, which details the amount of toxic chemicals released to land, air and water in 2009 by industrial facilities across the United States, shows Holcim’s Catskill plant and Lafarge’s plant in Ravena are among those most responsible for pollution in New York.
The Finch Paper plant in Glens Falls topped the agency’s list of state polluters, reporting a total of nearly 3.8 million pounds of on-site releases.
__________________________________________________ ___
Most recently, Jan 2011 (I did a little editing so the link is below):
On January 6, House Republicans announced a Congressional Review Act resolution that seeks to undo U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules to control toxic emissions from cement plants.
EPA scientists have estimated the rules would prevent up to 2,500 premature deaths and save billions of dollars in health costs each year. "Without these important EPA rules, our families will continue to be exposed to mercury and other toxic pollution from the Lafarge plant in Ravena, New York," said Susan Falzon, with Friends of Hudson, a nonprofit group that works to protect public health and the environment in New York's Hudson River Valley. "It sickens me that some of our elected leaders are trying to remove these protections."
"The House resolution places thousands of American families at risk," said Jennifer Peterson, attorney with the Environmental Integrity Project. "Cement kilns are among the top mercury polluters..."
I'd stay away from Schenectady as well: Did Schenectady PCB Exposure Lead to Your Health Problems? (related to GE)
Leave Catskill off your list:
Mercury in eagles
In November 2008, a study found that eagles in the Catskills region of New York contain more toxic mercury than those in other areas of the state. A quarter of eaglets had elevated blood mercury levels from eating contaminated fish, increasing the likelihood of reproductive or developmental problems in the birds. A quarter of adult birds had elevated levels of mercury in their feathers. The study, conducted by the BioDiversity Research Institute and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, found that coal-fired power plants in the upper Ohio River basin were the most likely source of the mercury.[12]
Ravena, New York, citizens meet to hear results of mercury survey
About 100 local citizens of Ravena, New York, attended a meeting on January 6, 2011, at the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk High School to hear Michael Bank of the Harvard School of Public Health discuss the results of a study based on testing of mercury levels in 172 people. According to Bank, nearly one person in 10 of those tested had blood levels high enough to warrant a visit to their doctor. The study found that fish consumption was not the source of the mercury. Local citizens have organized Community Advocates for Safe Emissions to push for tougher controls on mercury pollution from the Lafarge cement plant, which uses coal fly ash from power plants and fires its kilns with coal. The plant is New York state's second-largest emitter of mercury.[6]
Depleted Uranium (DU) Contamination in Colonie, New York
Professor Randall R. Parrish, PhD, is the head of the British Geologic Survey’s
Natural Environment Research Council’s (NERC) Isotope Geoscience Laboratories in
Nottingham, England and Professor of Isotope Geology at the University of Leicester. In
2007 he was the lead author of a peer-reviewed journal article that investigated depleted
uranium (DU) inhalation exposures in Colonie, New York, home to National Lead, Inc.,
which produced depleted uranium for U.S. military munitions from 1958 to 1984, when
the site was closed due to violations of environmental emission standards.36 In 2006, the
federal government completed a $190 million cleanup of the site. In 2007, however, professor Parrish and researchers at the University of
Albany – using a newly developed method – detected DU exposures in 100% of the
former workers at the site they tested and 20% of the residents they tested, in addition to
DU in the soil found miles away from the site.
The Rapp Road Landfill is over capacity and it smells disgusting in the summer (though it is the first whiff of Albany people having getting off Thruway Exit 24, lol), yet there are people who live close to it. I would say living near that mess would be pretty toxic.
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