Living in the Pensacola area for school has put me at risk for many chemicals to get into my system and I didn’t know until now. One of the top polluters in Escambia County just happens to be the university’s nearby next door neighbor, Gulf Power Co., which by itself generates over 10 million pounds of environmental releases.
These are the top 10 polluters in Escambia County which together generates over 38 million pounds of environmental releases. Solutia Inc. of Cantonment, Gulf Power Co. Plant Crist of Pensacola, International Paper of Cantonment, Huntsman Petrochemical Corp. of Cantonment, Reichhold Inc. of Pensacola, Pall Membrane Tech. Center of Pensacola, Blazer Boats Inc. of Pensacola, Arizona Chemical Co. of Pensacola, Wayne Dalton Corp. Pensacola Div. of Pensacola and U.S. Navy Pensacola Naval Air Station of Pensacola.
These are the top 10 major chemical pollutants of Escambia County which together there are over 36 million pounds of in the county’s environment; nitrate compounds, hydrochloric acid, farmic acid, methanol, cyclohexanol, N-butyl alcohol, ammonia, sulfuric acid, manganese compounds and acetaldehyde.
Nitrate compounds, which is reported as having over 17 million pounds in the environment is a suspected cardiovascular or blood toxicant which may cause many cardiovascular diseases and may lead to death.
Comparing Pensacola to where I’m from, it is more polluted. I live in a little city in South Florida called Margate. The second biggest polluter in Broward County happens to be Sun Graphic Inc. which is located in Pompano Beach, a 15-minute commute from my house but I did happen to drive past it every day when I was in high school. There is a road in my county called Powerline Rd and it is where all the big industrial companies are located, for example marble and tile companies, waste management, and water treatment centers are all located on this road. My friends and I used to always say, “You know you’re in Pompano because you can smell it.”
Compared to Escambia County, Broward County only releases 787,332 pounds of chemical releases from their top 10 polluters and only 802,577 pounds of chemical releases from their top 10 chemical pollutants.
After reading Hulen’s story “Toxic Town,” I know that we are living in toxic town as well in Pensacola. Something has to be done. First, Pensacola’s water is rated the worst in the U.S., what will happen next? Just think about what we’re breathing in from the power plant right off campus.
The two photos were taken from the dock on the UWF campus. The smoke plumes from the Gulf Power Co. destroy the serene view of trees and clouds from the dock.
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