Air Pollution

Community: Alameda County

Zip Code: 94587




Who and what are the top polluters in your zip code?
The top polluters include:

Rank	Facility	City	Pounds
1	NEW UNITED MOTOR MFG. INC.	FREMONT	499,459
2	ARCH MIRROR WEST	NEWARK	44,985
3	PACIFIC GALVANIZING INC.	OAKLAND	23,445
4	ACME FIBERGLASS INC.	HAYWARD	14,147
5	U.S. PIPE & FNDY. CO. INC.	UNION CITY	13,995
6	HEXCEL CORP.	LIVERMORE	13,107
7	OWENS-BROCKWAY GLASS CONTAINER INC. PLANT #20	OAKLAND	12,179
8	ISOLA LAMINATE SYS. CORP.	FREMONT	10,099
9	BORDEN CHEMICAL INC.	FREMONT	8,107
10	OATEY CO.	NEWARK	7,200
11	AXT INC.	FREMONT	7,097
12	ENGINEERED POLYMER SOLUTIONS INC. (DBA VALSPAR COATINGS)	HAYWARD	4,409
13	CLEVELAND STEEL CONTAINER CORP.	OAKLAND	3,900
14	U.S. DOE LLNL EXPERIMENTAL TEST SITE (SITE 300)	TRACY	3,899
15	WYMAN GORDON CO.	SAN LEANDRO	3,333
16	TRIANGLE COATINGS INC.	SAN LEANDRO	3,288
17	W. R. GRACE & CO. CONN. DAREX CONTAINER PRODS.	SAN LEANDRO	2,327
18	ROHM & HAAS CO.	HAYWARD	2,012
19	GILLIG CORP.	HAYWARD	1,854
20	B & P MARBLE INC.

The top polluter is New United Motor Mfg Inc, which upon closer inspection, is ironically Tesla. The polluters in Alameda county are from companies that work with or produce fiber glass, metal products, rubber, plastics, textile mill products, stone products, glass, electronics, and chemicals.

What percent of the homes in your zip code have lead-based paint?
3% of houses in Alameda County have a high risk of lead hazards.

Are there Superfund sites in your zip?  
There are 2 reported Superfund sites in my zip code, both under Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. US Dept of Health and Human Services defines a Super fund as any land in the United States that has been contaminated by hazardous waste and identified by the EPA as a candidate for cleanup because it poses a risk to human health and/or the environment.

What can you tell us about the Superfund sites that are near where you live?
According to the scorecard website, Lawerence Livermore Laborotory is owned by USDOE and operated by University of California. It was used in the 80's to test high explosives and housed several solid waste landfills, with waste from the LLNL main site, Site 300, and Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.

What did you learn about the air quality in your zip code?
The air quality in my zip code ranges from good to moderate. However, in 2003, the reported maximum PSI level was high, but it may not be the case currently. The main air pollutants in my county were reported to be ozone pollutants.

How about the water quality?
The water quality in my area isn't that great, since many bodies of water are contaminated with various pollutants. My area is 100% contaminated by mercury in lakes, estuaries, bays, coasts, reservoirs and ponds. It was shocking to see that California is ranked #2 in the US for states with the highest amount of animal waste.

How did your zip code fair on a social justice / environmental justice basis?
Alameda county is fair on a social justice/environmental justice basis. There were not too many significant differences overall, but a few that stood out were in regards to income and race. For example, lower income families, lower income children and non-whites were reported to be disproportionately affected by facilities emitting air pollutants