Toxic Chemical Pollution, Children and Schools in the U.S.

http://www.mapcruzin.com/toxicrisk/index.htm

ToxicRisk.com is a Google Maps based mashup project that uses the latest EPA Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) data, released March 19,2009, and schools in the U.S. Links are provided to RTK Net for detailed chemical pollution release data and Scorecard for chemical information.

As you zoom in you will see a change in the icons of the facilities near the center of the map – these are the ones that you can click on and find the facility name, number of schools within 1 mile and number of schools within 5 miles of the facility plus a link to a database about the toxic history of the facility. You can also click on a chemical to learn more about associated risks. The schools will appear as you zoom in. As you zoom in further, you will see the school icon change – at that point you can click on the school to view its name. Click here for a graphical mini-tutorial. If you have any questions, suggestions or comments, please email me. I’d love to hear from you.

Michael Meuser and Aran Deltac, co-developers of ToxicRisk.com, have been doing interactive pollution mapping since the early 1990s. Their Santa Cruz Toxic Release Inventory was the first U.S. based interactive toxic chemical facility mapping project on the internet. It was son followed with their work on the mapping interface for the launch of Environmental Defense Fund’s Scorecard Project.

Michael works fulltime developing content for http://www.MapCruzin.com and doing Community GIS projects. Aran is programming team leader for a major internet development company.