Capital Region companies included on EPA’s pollution ‘watch list’

Analysis of Environmental Protection Agency air pollution data by National Public Radio and the Center for Public Integrity shows pollution violations at 1,600 plants nationwide were serious enough to require urgent action. Of those identified, 464 have been placed on an EPA “watch list,” which until now has been kept a secret. Twenty-nine of the plants on the list are in Louisiana, including a handful in the Capital Region. NPR is beginning a series of reports today on air pollution in the United States called “Poisoned Places: Toxic Air, Neglected Communities.” You can find the first story in the series here, and an interactive map of plants on the watch list here. Companies may have been placed on the list for violating any of a number of rules, and the EPA notes every company on the list may not be a serious or chronic offender. Published by NPR, the list is based on analysis of July and September reports, which were obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request. It notes that about half of the plants on the list are in six states: Ohio, Texas, Illinois, Louisiana, Wisconsin and Indiana.