This data, from 2016, was analyzed to determine what are the most commonly released toxins, in which states and cities are the most chemicals emitted, and which industries contribute the most to this pollution.

Summary of findings:

• As a state, Alaska produces the most toxins (834 million pounds)
• Zinc and lead compounds (common products of the mining industry) are the most common toxins
• Metal mining accounts for 1.5 billion pounds of toxins, while chemicals (515 million) ranks second
• On a county level, the Northwest Arctic of Alaska leads the list, but multiple Nevada counties round out the top 5
• Kotzebue, AK, produces the most toxins as a city (756 million pounds), and Indianapolis (10.9 million) produces the most out of the 100 most populous cities

This includes data reported from more than 18,000 facilities across the U.S., spanning major industries like manufacturing, mining, chemicals, and utilities. It includes total releases (in pounds) of roughly 650 different toxins which are determined to have a significant adverse effect of humans and/or the environment. In this report, “release” means that a chemical was “emitted to the air or water, or placed in some type of land disposal.”

After tallying the total toxin release by state, which includes all toxins across all industries, a map could then be generated. In the map below, darker colors indicate a higher total volume of toxins (in pounds).

On the mainland, we can see that Nevada and Utah facilities are especially detrimental to the environment -- but a strip of states in the Rust Belt (Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio), along with Texas and Louisiana, are also major players. Alaska, though, handily outranks every other state by nearly 3x.

A closer look, at a county level, reveals that 91% of Alaska’s toxin releases come from one county: Northwest Arctic, AK:

In fact, taking this one step further, we see that nearly all of these toxins originate from one city: Kotzebue, AK -- a tiny town that is home to 7,500 people.

Why? Just 90 miles from Kotzebue is Red Dog Mine, the largest source of zinc in the world, and a significant source of America’s lead. In operation since 1987, the mine is estimated to contain 77.5 million tons of zinc, lead, and silver - and each year, its activities release 756 million pounds of toxins into the environment.

Three of the top 5 cities -- Humboldt, Lander, and Eureka -- are in Nevada. All are known to contain multiple, active gold mines that collectively release hundreds of millions of pounds of toxins.

It’s likely you haven’t heard of a lot of the cities on these lists -- and that’s because most of the major industrial facilities in the U.S. are set up outside the limits of most major cities, far from large populations.

So, let’s take a look just at the 100 most populous cities in the U.S. (according the Census data). The list below is sorted by population size.

Interestingly, you’ll see that two of the largest cities in the U.S. -- New York and San Francisco - have no data listed. Only certain “qualifying” facilities are required to submit data (those that release over a certain threshold of particular toxins), so it is hypothesized that this is either because:

1. These cities don't have qualifying facilities within city limits, since real estate is so valuable there, or
   
2. The facilities that exist there just don't meet the minimum emissions required to report data.
   

In any case, of the 50 most populous cities, Indianapolis, IN leads the pack with 10.9 million pounds. The city has long been cited for its poor air quality, a result of steel mills, auto plants, and numerous coal-powered power plants that spew out arsenic, lead and mercury at alarming rates.

Forbes.com. (2018). The Most (And Least) Toxic Places In America. [online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/priceonomics/2017/11/07/the-most-and-least-toxic-places-in-america/#532237f14ac1 [Accessed 9 Feb. 2018].

Ode to Clean. (2018). The United States of Toxins. [online] Available at: https://blog.odetoclean.com/the-united-states-of-toxins-1e219e5a701f [Accessed 9 Feb. 2018].

The presence of former military and intelligence officials in newsrooms was once thought controversial. In 2008, the New York Times wrote an investigative analysis outlining the George W. Bush administration’s use of military analysts to shape terrorism coverage.

Internal Pentagon documents referred to them as “message force multipliers” or “surrogates” who could be counted on to deliver administration “themes and messages” to millions of Americans “in the form of their own opinions.”

The largest contingent of analysts were affiliated with Fox News, followed by NBC and CNN, the investigation found.

On January 14, 2018, an Iranian oil tanker, dubbed 'Sanchi', carrying 136,000 tons of oil - the equivalent of nearly 1 million barrels of ultra-light crude, plus its own fuel - collided with a freighter in the East China Sea, killing all 32 crew onboard.

The ship burned, spewing its cargo, for more than a week before sinking in the waters between China, Japan and South Korea.

Authorities have had trouble pinning down how big the spill is, as it changes by the day amid strong ocean currents. But concerns are growing about the potential impact to key fishing grounds and sensitive marine ecosystems off Japan and South Korea, which lie in the projected path of the oil, according to Britain’s National Oceanography Centre. 

"An updated emergency ocean model simulation shows that waters polluted by the sinking Sanchi oil tanker could reach Japan within a month," the center said a report posted on Jan. 16. "The revised simulations suggest that pollution from the spill may be distributed much further and faster than previously thought, and that larger areas of the coast may be impacted."