Thursday Thirteen

1. I found this intriguing page about air quality index that shows current air qualities. The nearest place of measurement near me is in Lynchburg. It shows a moderately bad air quality index rated at 69 (not sure what all that means, but I feel vindicated in noticing more pollution around here, since it isn't in the green and great range).

2. This website shows a list of polluters by area. It also shows other types of neighborhood information, like crime, schools, sex offenders, etc. The information appears to be a bit out of date as the list it has of polluters in my county is not correct. Some of the companies they list aren't located here; others have shut down and are no longer in business.

3. These are major causes of pollution in my county: Webster Brick Co Inc., Shaw Connex Inc., Roanoke Cement Co., Gala Industries Inc., Altec Industries Inc.

4. I live right in between Roanoke Cement Co. and Altec Industries. I didn't know Altec was a major polluter. I'm also not that far from the county landfill.

5. Information on pollution is rather scarce on the internet at the moment. For a while you could find more current information on pollution, but some of it dates back to 2012 and the most recent dates I could find doing a quick search stopped at 2017.

6. Don't we have a right to know who's tossing crap into the air and water?

7. I don't much trust the information on any .gov sight right now, but the EPA.gov sight says we have at least three superfund clean-up sites in my county (that was as of 2013). They aren't scheduled for any action, however.

8. I run two air purifiers in my house 24/7. The exterior carbon filter turns gray with stuff within a month of use.

9. Opening the windows is supposed to be the best way to help get clean air in your house. But if the air outside smells worse than the air inside, can that really be the case?

10. I am going to plant more trees this spring. I doubt it helps much, but it sure won't hurt anything.

11. I wonder if one day the Blue Ridge Mountains will be called the Hazy Mountains?

12. Air pollution can come from places other than nearby. We've had smoke from fires in California drift this way before.

13. When the astronauts first went into space, the earth looked like a big blue marble. In 200 years, will it look gray instead?


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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 636th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.