Politics & Government
How Bad is Pollution in Elk Grove? See What New State Figures Say (Map)
State officials have released figures on every zip code in the state showing which communities are most at risk from pollution. See how each Patch town ranks using the interactive map below.
How at risk are Elk Grove residents from pollution compared to other cities in the state? According to the state officials, the answer is below average for Elk Grove residents.
Based on new state figures released this week, Elk Grove's 95758 zip code is in the 36 to 40 percentile of California zip codes in terms of being at potential for health risks from pollution of all sorts. The 95757 zip code area is in the 31 to 35 percentile; the 95624 zip code is in the 26 to 30 percentile.
See a map of the data for every town in the state here
Find out what's happening in Elk Grovefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The figures come from a new state report issued by the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) that compiles health risks based on 11 types of pollution and factors in seven categories of population and demographic factors, including poverty and education levels.
The purpose of the report is to identify communities that are eligible for grants from the state's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, according to Sam Delson, an OEHHA spokesman. The law governing that fund mandates certain percentages be spent on disadvantaged communities, making it necessary to include economic factors in the state report.
Find out what's happening in Elk Grovefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Unfortunately for Elk Grove, only cities that rank in the bottom 10 percent will qualify.
The state has a map of those communities that are eligible on the report website.
The map above shows scores from each of those categories as well as overall rankings for every zip code in California with a Patch publication. Simply click on any town to see the full report card for each zip code.
You can see a similar map showing every zip code in the state here, and see more details of the report on the state's website.
Some areas of Elk Grove fare poorly on the metrics having to do with hazardous and solid wastes and traffic, while some areas rank decently with groundwater metrics.
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