TAPRON SPRING, Fla. (AP) — An Associated Press analysis of flood zone, census and EPA data shows there’s an increasing risk of contamination being spread beyond the borders of hundreds of the nation’s most polluted places by more frequent storms and rising seas.
It also reveals almost 2 million people live within a mile of more than 300 at-risk toxic sites, mostly in low-income, heavily minority neighborhoods. Florida, New Jersey and California have the most, and the most people living near them.
Many of the 327 sites have had at least some work done to help mitigate the threat to public health, including fencing them off and covering them in plastic sheeting to help keep out rain water.