When logging on ChicagoTribune.com and going to their "Living Green" section, the featured link was to a United States EPA database. The database shows the RSEI ratings of different companies around the state of Illinois.An RSEI rating is "based on these factors: the amount of chemicals 16,40
5 companies across the country released into the air, as reported in the 2005 Toxic Release Inventory; the toxicity of the chemicals; and the population of the surrounding area."
I thought it would be interesting to look at Champaign County. The biggest air polluter is "Guardian West," an Urbana company that primarily manufactures truck bumpers. The EPA has it ranked 480th nationally, but more disconcerting to UIUC students is that it is ranked 399th (out of 16,405 companies) when it comes to women age 18-44, and it comes in at 346th for men age 18-44.
Near my hometown in Chicago, I was especially scared to learn that I lived a long walking distance from the 18th worst polluter in the U.S., Corn Products International.
Though this isn't an attributed story, it is an effective tool to help the Tribune promote its stories. It has, in the past, run several articles pertaining to air pollution around Chicago, which has been rated the 13th worst city for air quality.
While really just an entry point, this gets readers locally involved and allows them to make their own judgments regarding companies around their town.
Find the article here.
3 comments:
Evan,
Reporters ALWAYS need to be looking for new ways to tell stories. Numbers can be our friends. I guess my eighth grade math teacher wasn't lying after all! Just look at how you reacted to this "story." You examined how pollution affects your life back home and in Champaign. Now, I say you head home and write up a freelance piece about Corn Products International!
Hahaha I should do that!
My reaction was similar. I live near Guardian West. I read the list, but I don't know what it means. Should I be tested for the level of heavy metals in my body? The what is good -- the "so what?" is even better.
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