San Diego region ranked 6th worst toxic area in the country by Forbes Magazine

http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/02/toxic-cities-pollution-lifestyle-real-estat
e-toxic-cities_chart.html

America's Most Toxic Cities

Francesca Levy, 11.02.09, 06:00 PM EST

Poor air quality, lack of clean water and a high rate of superfund sites make these metros most contaminated.

Metro Area	Number of Superfund sites in principal city	Number of facilities releasing toxic chemicals	Pounds of toxic chemicals released in area	Air Quality Ranking, 2007	Overall Toxic Cities ranking (best to worst)
Las Vegas-Paradise, NV Metro Area	5	50	2,075,237	11	1
Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville, CA Metro Area	13	55	659,865	14	2
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA Metro Area	11	160	2,082,462	3	3
Austin-Round Rock, TX Metro Area	4	44	660,611	39	4
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro Area	12	135	4,225,497	16	5
San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA Metro Area	16	77	2,425,896	27	6
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC Metro Area	6	63	10,157,973	32	7
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA Metro Area	17	81	417,505	33	8
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA Metro Area	2	452	9,897,930	5	9
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ Metro Area	33	203	3,067,616	1	9
Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA Metro Area	4	179	2,898,776	30	11
Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH Metro Area	7	278	3,106,166	20	12
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN Metro Area	10	99	8,530,127	31	13
Denver-Aurora, CO Metro Area	26	105	4,880,332	18	14
Columbus, OH Metro Area	12	123	5,295,408	34	15
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area	12	259	15,543,283	6	15
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA Metro Area	10	127	6,145,119	34	15
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area	33	98	17,927,627	7	18
San Antonio, TX Metro Area	17	75	5,449,175	36	19
Indianapolis-Carmel, IN Metro Area	16	127	21,990,812	17	20
Pittsburgh, PA Metro Area	7	247	81,634,235	9	21
Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN Metro Area	15	235	22,901,153	13	22
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL Metro Area	42	81	2,368,807	40	23
St. Louis, MO-IL Metro Area	19	211	33,051,384	4	23
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL Metro Area	53	135	4,214,706	23	23
Kansas City, MO-KS Metro Area	24	139	10,427,215	21	26
Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC Metro Area	18	132	15,267,370	25	27
Orlando-Kissimmee, FL Metro Area	19	63	15,773,627	38	28
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI Metro Area	15	243	11,442,042	29	29
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro Area	34	332	6,605,651	15	30
Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA Metro Area	28	177	12,437,004	26	31
Baltimore-Towson, MD Metro Area	37	99	29,793,565	24	32
Jacksonville, FL Metro Area	70	73	15,164,615	37	33
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA Metro Area	99	480	10,391,461	7	34
Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH Metro Area	25	299	24,475,620	18	35
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area	86	341	24,693,320	11	36
Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI Metro Area	104	773	77,632,218	2	37
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX Metro Area	50	432	88,754,384	10	37
Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI Metro Area	68	281	42,051,308	22	39
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA Metro Area	58	277	41,502,855	28	40