The Top 10 Polluted Counties in Iowa (and the Companies That Make Them That Way)by Linda Thieman
Woodbury County holds the unpleasant distinction of being the single most polluted county in all of Iowa – with four and a half million pounds of toxins dumped into the environment in the year 2002 alone
Last week on Blog for Iowa, Caroline posted a link to a pollution information site called Scorecard. This site was created by Environmental Defense from public reports made by companies that pollute.
So, since I was thinking about moving to Woodbury County, I decided to look it up on the Scorecard site. I was shocked to discover that Woodbury County holds the unpleasant distinction of being the single most polluted county in all of Iowa – with four and a half million pounds of toxins dumped into the environment in the year 2002 alone.
So, I decided to do a little research on the site to find the top 10 polluted counties in Iowa and the companies that make them that way. These figures for the year 2002, are total environmental releases, which is the sum of chemicals covered by TRI (Toxics Release Inventory) that industrial facilities release to the environment (air, surface water, underground injection and land).
Total Environmental Pollution Releases for 2002 (in pounds)
1. WOODBURY 4,520,600 lbs.
2. CLINTON 3,293,066 lbs.
3. MUSCATINE 2,974,536 lbs.
4. POTTAWATTAMIE 2,615,454 lbs.
5. LEE 2,564,791 lbs.
6. LOUISA 1,483,615 lbs.
7. LINN 1,403,774 lbs.
8. POLK 1,148,329 lbs.
9. WAPELLO 1,003,886 lbs.
10. JASPER 666,001 lbs.
The Top 5 Polluting Facilities by County for the Year 2002
1) Woodbury
1. MIDAMERICAN ENERGY CO. GEORGE NEAL NORTH, 1151 260TH ST., SERGEANT BLUFF --2,076,733 lbs.
2. MIDAMERICAN ENERGY GEORGE NEAL SOUTH, 2761 PORT NEAL CIR., SALIX --1,147,601 lbs.
3. TERRA NITROGEN, 1182 260TH ST., SERGEANT BLUFF --751,705 lbs.
4. AG PROCESSING INC., 2753 PORT NEAL CIRCLE, SERGEANT BLUFF --398,100 lbs.
5. SIOUX CITY BRICK & TILE CO., 504 F ST., SERGEANT BLUFF --50,005 lbs.
2) Clinton
1. EQUISTAR CHEMICALS L.P. CLINTON PLANT, 3400 ANAMOSA RD. HWY. 30 W., CLINTON --1,978,777 lbs.
2. ADM CORN PROCESSING, 1251 BEAVER CHANNEL PKY., CLINTON --1,130,462 lbs.
3. ALLIANT ENERGY M.L. KAPP GENERATING STATION, 2001 BEAVER CHANNEL PKY., CLINTON --141,421 lbs.
4. GUARDIAN INDS. CORP., 300 S. 5TH AVE. E., DE WITT --32,706 lbs.
5. ROCK TENN CO., 2301 S. 21ST ST., CLINTON --4,019 lbs.
3) Muscatine
1. MIDAMERICAN ENERGY COMPANY-LOUISA GENERATING STATION, 8602 172ND ST., MUSCATINE --1,432,140 lbs.
2. GRAIN PROCESSING CORP., 1600 OREGON ST., MUSCATINE --621,141 lbs.
3. MONSANTO CO., 2500 WIGGINS RD., MUSCATINE --283,764 lbs.
4. FAIR STATION, 3800 HWY. 22, MUSCATINE --220,493 lbs.
5. MUSCATINE POWER & WATER GENERATION, 1700 INDUSTRIAL CONNECTOR RD., MUSCATINE --172,685 lbs.
4) Pottawattamie
1. MIDAMERICAN ENERGY CO. COUNCIL BLUFFS ENERGY CENTER, 2115 NAVAJO, COUNCIL BLUFFS --1,843,134 lbs.
2. BUNGE N.A. INC., 1956 BUNGE AVE., COUNCIL BLUFFS --748,324 lbs.
3. CONAGRA FROZEN FOODS COUNCIL BLUFFS, 1023 S. 4TH ST., COUNCIL BLUFFS --9,125 lbs.
4. BARTON SOLVENTS INC. COUNCIL, 2135 9TH AVE., COUNCIL BLUFFS --5,164 lbs.
5. PAXTON & VIERLING STEEL CO., 5TH & AVE. H, CARTER LAKE --3,155 lbs.
5) Lee
1. CLIMAX MOLYBDENUM CO., 2598 HWY. 61, FORT MADISON --2,049,900 lbs.
2. ROQUETTE AMERICA INC. KEOKUKPLANT, 1003 S. 5TH ST., KEOKUK --435,253 lbs.
3. GRIFFIN WHEEL CO. KEOKUK PLANT, 416 CARBIDE LN., KEOKUK --21,780 lbs.
4. METZELER AUTOMOTIVE PROFILE SYS., 3200 MAIN ST., KEOKUK --21,614 lbs.
5. DU PONT FORT MADISON PLANT, 801 35TH ST., FORT MADISON --14,672 lbs.
6) Louisa
1. IBP INC., HWY. 70 N., COLUMBUS JUNCTION --1,483,615 lbs.
7) Linn
1. ADM CORN PROCESSING, 1350 WACONIA AVE. S.W., CEDAR RAPIDS --402,350 lbs.
2. ADM CORN PROCESSING, 5450 LOCUST ST. S.W., CEDAR RAPIDS --339,307 lbs.
3. CARGILL INC. CORN MILLING, 1710 16TH ST. S.E., CEDAR RAPIDS --231,210 lbs.
4. PRAIRIE CREEK GENERATING STATION, 3300 C ST. S.W., CEDAR RAPIDS --167,370 lbs.
5. MAAX MIDWEST - CEDAR MFG., 4601 8TH AVE., MARION --117,850 lbs.
8) Polk
1. ADM SOYBEAN PROCESSING, 1935 E. EUCLID AVE., DES MOINES --435,153 lbs.
2. CARGILL INC., 3030 S.E. GRANGER, DES MOINES --309,760 lbs.
3. EMCO ENTERPRISES INC., 2121 E. WALNUT ST., DES MOINES --95,280 lbs.
4. CHICAGO BRIDGE & IRON, 9600 HICKMAN RD., CLIVE --72,949 lbs.
5. R. R. DONNELLEY PRINTING CO. L.P., 5701 S. W. PARK AVE., DES MOINES --60,264 lbs.
9) Wapello
1. OTTUMWA GENERATING STATION, 20775 POWER PLANT RD., OTTUMWA --583,158 lbs.
2. UNIVERSAL-RUNDLE, 2908 NORTH CT., OTTUMWA --248,938 lbs.
3. EXCEL CORP., 600 S. IOWA AVE., OTTUMWA --87,185 lbs.
4. JOHN DEERE OTTUMWA WORKS, 928 VINE ST., OTTUMWA --53,321 lbs.
5. WACKER BIOCHEM CORP., 1 WACKER DR., EDDYVILLE --31,284 lbs.
10) Jasper
1. MAYTAG NEWTON LAUNDRY PRODS. PL2, 927 N. 19TH AVE. E., NEWTON --665,695 lbs.
2. MAYTAG NEWTON LAUNDRY PRODS. PL1, 403 W. 4TH ST. N., NEWTON --306 lbs.
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