Politics & Government
How Bad is Los Gatos Pollution? 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 Los Gatos residents from pollution compared to other towns in the state? According to the state officials, the answer is good for local residents.
Based on new state figures released this week, those living in the 95030 zip code received a state ranking of between 86 and 90 percent. The lower percent is worse. The pollution burden, with a possible score of between 0 and 8.8 percent was 2.6 for this area.
The other Los Gatos rankings are as follows:
Find out what's happening in Los Gatoswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
- Ozone Percentile (0 - 100, higher worse): 17.9
- Diesel Percentile (higher worse): 52.85
- Pesticides Percentile (higher worse): 9.03
- Traffic Percentile (higher worse): 55.58
- Cleanup Sites Percentile (higher worse): 6.91
- Groundwater Threats Percentile (higher worse): 31.69
- Haz. Waste Percentile (higher worse): 37
- Imp. Water Bodies Percentile (higher worse): 28
- Solid Waste Percentile (higher worse): 0
- Asthma Percentile (higher worse): 4.37
- Low Birth Weight Percentile (higher worse): 20.67
- Education Percentile (higher worse): 2.92
- Poverty Percentile (higher worse): 2.47
See a map of the data for every town in the state here
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.
Find out what's happening in Los Gatoswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The report's purpose is to identify communities 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.
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.
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