The vast majority of air pollution is generated by a very small minority of industrial facilities, reports The Rural Blog. A new study has found that 5% of plants are responsible for about 90% of industry-generated pollution in the U.S. Researchers refer to these facilities as “hyper-polluters.” Almost all of the air pollution created in the United States is pumped out by roughly 800 industrial facilities. These hyper-polluting plants are alsofar more likely to be locatedin proximity to poor and minority neighborhoods.
Polluters near poor communities have come under scrutiny ever since Flint, Michigan, gained national attention last month. Toxic industrial lead-contaminated water had been flowing into the poor, minority community’s drinking water for over a year before anyone cried foul.
The new study examined industrial emissions at 16,000 facilities.