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Dow and DuPont rank among the top 'Toxic 100' polluters

Which companies deserve the most blame for air and water pollution? Some of the worst offenders are also making progress in sustainability. Read More

(Updated on July 24, 2024)

Among the most polluting organizations in the U.S. in terms of air, water and greenhouse gases, there is some overlap. Dow Chemical, American Electric Power, Southern Company and the U.S. government are each in top-10 lists for two categories.

That’s based on research published in August by the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at University of Massachusetts-Amherst, which identified the top 100 polluters for air, water and greenhouse gases.

Researchers compiled the list based on pounds of pollutants are released, as well as the toxicity of those chemicals. In the case of air pollution, the number of people exposed was taken into account as well, due to the distance pollution travels and the height of smokestacks.

A number of companies on the lists also have strong sustainability efforts — such as Dow’s solar shingles, BASF’s double platinum LEED certification and GE’s leadership on wind. (Full company reports are available here.)

PERI and UMass Amherst developed each of The Toxic 100 lists by analyzing tens of thousands of industrial plants in the U.S. Their research includes data such as chemicals emitted and where factories are located.

“In making this information available, we are building on the achievements of the right-to-know movement,” said professor Michael Ash, co-director of the Corporate Toxics Information Project. “Our goal is to engender public participation in environmental decision-making, and to help residents translate the right to know into the right to clean air.”

Although minorities make up less than 40 percent of the U.S. population, they bear 74 percent of the air toxics risk from facilities owned by ExxonMobil, said researchers.

The top three greenhouse-gas emitters — American Electric Power, Duke Energy and Southern Company — account for 5 percent of U.S. greenhouse gases, each emitting over 100 million tons of carbon a year, or equivalent to the average emissions of 73 million automobiles.

Here are the top 10 companies from each of the pollution rankings.

Top 10 air polluters

1. Precision Castparts
2. DuPont
3. Biomet
4. The Bayer Group
5. Dow Chemical
6. ExxonMobil
7. BASF
8. LyondellBasell Industries
9. Renco Group
10. General Electric

Top 10 water polluters

1. Ohio Valley Electric
2. Ferro
3. American Electric Power
4. U.S. Department of Defense
5. Southern Company
6. U.S. Tennessee Valley Authority
7. PPL Corp.
8. Dominion Resources
9. Dow Chemical
10. Evonik Industries AG

Top 10 greenhouse gas emitters

1. American Electric Power
2. Duke Energy
3. Southern Company
4. U.S. government
5. Berkshire Hathaway
6. Ameren Corporation
7. Luminant Generation Company
8. FirstEnergy Generation Corporation
9. AES Corporation
10. Xcel Energy

The original version of article appeared at Sustainable Business News.

Smokestack image by Gwoeii via Shutterstock
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