On ProPublica’s Industrial Air Pollution Map

Two months ago, ProPublica, the pioneering investigative outlet that has forged a unique position for itself in the journalism landscape, published a stunning piece of work. Call it an incredible feat of data journalism, data visualization, and service journal. The series, entitled “Sacrifice Zones,” uses federally mandated reports from pollutant-spewing factories to create a detailed map of so-called “hot spots,” where the level of excess cancer risk to residents surpasses the EPA’s own threshold. The EPA has long collected the data, but never analyzed it in a way that is digestible to the general public. ProPublica’s analysis reveals, for the first time, exactly who is being put at risk by chemical emissions. The outlet mapped factories all over the US, identifying what level of risk certain residents are at based on their proximity to the facilities. The map is incredibly detailed, signifying significant risk with red and orange hues, and drawing borders that identify larger areas that are at some risk because of cancer-causing emissions. Users can click on individual hotspots for an explanation of exactly who is at risk and why.