America is a country of great geographic diversity, giving rise to a diverse assortment of industries in each state. While many industries are harmless, others produce massive amounts of toxins. Ethical industries will endeavor to neutralize the toxicity of their by-products before releasing them.
Sadly, too many will release or dump whatever toxins they can get away with. The Love Canal episode in New York State was an early toxic disaster that hit the headlines. In Northern Idaho, the Bunker Hill Mine dumped 75 million tons of toxic sludge containing lead, zinc, arsenic, and cadmium into Lake Coeur d’Alene. Cleanup continued for decades. This kind of toxic activity has not stopped yet.
Every state has specific industries that are the biggest polluters. Check the list below for your state’s most toxic industries.
State-by-State List of Biggest Polluters
- Alabama: Poultry and meat processing, paper and pulp mills and steel mills
- Alaska: Gold and silver ore processing
- Arizona: Metal mining and manufacturing
- Arkansas: Poultry processing, plastics and paper manufacture
- California: Petroleum refineries
- Colorado: Animal slaughtering, cheese manufacture, army base
- Connecticut: Plastics manufacturing and electroplating
- Delaware: Petroleum refining, poultry processing
- Florida: Pulp and paper mills, poultry processing
- Georgia: Petroleum processing, poultry processing, paper and pulp mills
- Hawaii: Military bases
- Idaho: Fruit and vegetable manufacturing, pulp mills
- Illinois: Animal slaughtering, petroleum refining, iron and steel mills
- Indiana: Petroleum refining, medicinal manufacturing, iron and steel mills
- Iowa: Animal slaughtering, corn milling, poultry processing
- Kansas: Animal slaughtering
- Kentucky: Iron and steel mills, poultry processing, paper mills
- Louisiana: Fertilizer manufacturing, petroleum refining, chemical manufacturing
- Maine: Juice and vegetable manufacturing, paper mills,
- Maryland: Chemical manufacturing, naval base
- Massachusetts: Paper and pulp mills, metal processing
- Michigan: Animal slaughtering and processing, paper mills
- Minnesota: Chemical and sugar manufacturing, petroleum refining
- Mississippi: Animal and poultry processing, pesticide and fertilizer manufacturing, paper mills
- Missouri: Animal and poultry processing, pesticide manufacturing
- Montana: Petroleum refining
- Nebraska: Animal slaughtering, meat processing, dairy manufacturing, plastic manufacturing
- Nevada: Gold mining
- New Hampshire: Power generation, metal manufacturing
- New Jersey: Petroleum refining, chemical manufacturing,
- New Mexico: Air Force base, power generation
- New York: Brewing, paper mill, power generation
- North Carolina: Poultry and animal slaughtering and processing, pulp mills
- North Dakota: Corn mining, beet sugar manufacturing
- Ohio: Iron and steel manufacturing, rubber manufacturing, petroleum refining
- Oklahoma: Seed oil processing, poultry processing, fertilizer manufacturing
- Oregon: Semiconductor manufacturing, Paper mills, fertilizing manufacturing
- Pennsylvania: Petroleum and coal products manufacturing, meat processing, iron and steel mills
- Rhode Island: Plastics manufacturing
- South Carolina: Synthetic fiber manufacturing, dye and chemical manufacturing
- South Dakota: Animal slaughtering, cheese manufacturing, gold mining
- Tennessee: Plastics manufacturing, paper mills, poultry processing
- Texas: Poultry processing, petroleum refining, chemical manufacturing
- Utah: Petroleum refining, metal refining, copper and other metal mining
- Vermont: Semiconductor manufacturing
- Virginia: Ammunition plant, nuclear power manufacturing, chemical manufacturing
- Washington: Fruit and vegetable manufacturing, pulp mills, metal manufacturing
- West Virginia: Chemical and gas manufacturing
- Wisconsin: Fruit and vegetable manufacturing, paper mills, dairy manufacturing
- Wyoming: Sugar manufacturing, petroleum refining
How Can You Use This Information on Your State’s Biggest Polluters?
Thomas Jefferson equated knowledge with power, safety, and happiness. By knowing the biggest industries that are polluting your state, you can work out the types of contaminants that might reach your groundwater. If you are a private well owner, being forewarned about this contamination can inspire you to monitor the health of your own well.
Here’s one example of this contamination, just to motivate you on the necessity of monitoring your well. In the small state of Delaware, one petroleum refinery releases as much as six million pounds of toxic chemicals into the water supply each year. The primary chemical released is 1,2-dichloropropane, a flammable solvent used as a degreaser and dry cleaning fluid. The Environmental Protection Agency classifies this chemical as a likely carcinogen.
There are toxic substances being released in every state. Protect your water, protect your family. Test your well water or community water with ETR Labs’ Premium Water Test—know what’s in your water and then you can accurately choose the right filtration to remove it. Click here to purchase this test.