Toxic chemicals dumped into the South Florida environment fell during the last few years, but the EPA’s annual Toxic Release Inventory reveals that there’s still some work to do. The Sun Sentinel has compiled an online database that names and shames environmental offenders still dumping carcinogenic and other potentially dangerous chemicals into the environment.
The sugar industry, notorious for pollutants, has cleaned up its act, but Big Sugar still ranks high on the list of polluters. The largest polluter in Palm Beach County has been shut down. The U.S. Sugar Bryant Mill poured out thick clouds of smoke loaded with cancer-causing benzene, naphthalene, and other chemicals for decades until it closed in 2007. Even without the heavyweight polluter, the sugar industry still emits more than 95,000 pounds of carbon monoxide and 14,000 pounds of volatile organic compounds per year from burning cane fields. Other offenders in the database include power plants, manufacturing, and printing companies.
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