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  • Picher, OK on Random Toxic And Polluted US Towns

    (#4) Picher, OK

    The town of Picher, OK, incorporated in 1918, as zinc and lead deposits drew miners to the area. By the 1970s, the mines shut down due to the waning industry, and the abandoned underground tunnels filled with water. Minerals from the tunnels contaminated millions of tons of water, which seeped into the surrounding area.

    By 1993, a study revealed more than one-third of Picher's children possessed enough lead in their bloodstreams to cause brain damage. Though some residents remained in spite of federal land buyouts, the school system shut down in 2009, and the municipality officially dissolved in 2013. 

  • South Bend on Random Toxic And Polluted US Towns

    (#9) South Bend

    • Indiana, USA

    The Beck's Lake area in South Bend, IN, doubled as a dump for hazardous materials and a landfill for automotive waste. Several different companies used the site for at least 40 years. Though the practice eventually stopped, the site remains adjacent to a public park.

    Locals knew about the area's toxic past, so when residents developed various health issues, they raised concerns about contamination. The EPA conducted a series of tests, eventually discovering asbestos, arsenic, and other dangerous compounds in the area.

    In 2013, Beck's Lake became a Superfund site, adding to Indiana's growing list of toxic areas

  • Camden on Random Toxic And Polluted US Towns

    (#6) Camden

    • New Jersey, USA

    Two Superfund sites and over 100 contaminated areas dot the city of Camden, NJ. The Environmental Protection Agency found more than 350 facilities using various pollutants in the industrial city.

    1542 South Broadway, for example, previously housed an animal tannery and leather glazers, followed by a reconditioning center for industrial drums. By 1998, though, most companies ceased to operate out of the buildings, and the EPA investigated of the site in 1999. They found contaminated wastewater in the sewer and buried containers of hazardous materials in the ground. Soil testing showed dangerous levels of lead, chromium, mercury, arsenic, and more.

  • Hinkley, CA on Random Toxic And Polluted US Towns

    (#5) Hinkley, CA

    If you've seen the movie Erin Brockovich, you remember how residents of Hinkley, CA, sued Pacific Gas and Electric for contaminating their water. The company used chromium 6 to keep their pipelines free of rust and algae, then dumped the carcinogenic chemical into local water supplies. Hundreds of residents fell ill as a result.

    Although the film features a somewhat happy ending, reality didn't wrap up as neatly. Property values in the city dropped; residents relocated. Meanwhile, research proved PG&E didn't handle cleanup properly - Hinkley residents who remained were still at risk of water contamination. The town's school closed in 2013, and the post office followed in 2015.

  • Niagara Falls on Random Toxic And Polluted US Towns

    (#1) Niagara Falls

    • New York, USA

    In the 1890s, entrepreneur William T. Love purchased land in Niagara Falls, NY. He wanted to build a large, modern city powered by hydroelectric technology. Love managed to finish one pit of the envisioned canal before his project collapsed. In 1920, the city purchased the pit to use as a chemical waste dumping ground.

    Twenty years later, a chemical manufacturing company bought the land for their disposal, dropping around 22,000 tons of dangerous materials. The company lined the almost-full pit with clay, covered it with dirt, and declared it safe for construction.

    Developers built houses and an elementary school on the original Love land, but residents soon fell ill; babies died or suffered severe birth defects. Although the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry found more than 400 dangerous substances in the area, the school didn't close until 1978; the residents evacuated then, too. Several areas remain unsafe.

  • Torrance on Random Toxic And Polluted US Towns

    (#8) Torrance

    • California, USA

    Montrose Chemical Corporation once maintained a manufacturing plant in Torrance, CA. From the 1940s to the 1970s, the company dumped millions of pounds of DDT into the Pacific Ocean. The synthetic pesticide originally killed disease-spreading bugs, but analysts learned DDT negatively impacted the environment by the '60s.

    DDT weakened the eggshells of bald eagles and peregrine falcons, killing the birds' young and nearly causing their extinction. The United States banned DDT in 1972, but officials found more than 100 tons of it in Torrance, because of Montrose Chemical Corporation, in 2017. The EPA declared the area a Superfund site in 1990, banning some commercial fishing over the risk of contaminated fish ending up on dinner plates.

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About This Tool

Harmful substances such as smoke, dust, and haze have been threatening human health. Many American towns are not famous for their cuisine, culture, or history, but some are the most toxic towns in the United States. This is a shameful honor. People will find a small town Kotzebue at 50 kilometers away from the north of the Arctic Circle, the lead, cadmium, and mercury emitted by the local mining industry make Kotzebue became the most toxic town.

Here the random tool lists 9 toxic and polluted US towns, the scary thing is that these small towns are not concentrated in a certain state or region, but scattered in every state in the United States. Their existence is always a warning to human beings.

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