In an annual review of the top twenty dirtiest cities in America, Forbes takes a no-holds-barred look at what sort of environmental damage and water pollution is contaminating our cities. This year, the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut landed in the number four most filthy city, and the designation has Bridgeport’s Mayor up in arms. According to Forbes’ analysis, Bridgeport remains one of the “ dirtiest cities ” because of the past the city had in the asbestos industry. This, plus other factors, has left Bridgeport with the notorious moniker. Originally named the A. H. Raymond Company and despite having undergone several additional name changes, Raymark Industries, Inc. manufactured several types of car parts that contained asbestos as well as some rubber-based products. According to Forbes , Raymark Industries, Inc. dumped asbestos and toxic materials on neighboring wetlands causing long-term, extensive environmental damage. The Environmental Protection Agency has been working in Bridgeport to decontaminate the area and restore the environmental balance for nearly twenty years. But, by the early 1980s, Raymark Industries, Inc. discontinued the use of asbestos amidst emerging medical research that the material was cancerous. Asbestos exposure is the leading cause of mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer. Lung cancer, asbestosis and other lung-related medical conditions are also linked to extensive and prolonged asbestos exposure. Unlike lung cancer with numerous likely causes, mesothelioma cancer is only caused by asbestos exposure. Asbestos, if left undisturbed, is virtually harmless, and it is only when the material becomes damaged, disrupted or changed does it become toxic. Small asbestos particles are released into the air, making it easier for those unprotected to breathe the toxin in. From there, these small particles may embed in the delicate tissue encasing the lungs or travel to the heart or abdominal cavity. The asbestos particles cause extensive internal damage and after a considerable latency period, sometimes upwards of several decades, cancer can develop. Currently, there is not a cure for pleural mesothelioma (lungs), pericardial mesothelioma (heart) or peritoneal mesothelioma (abdominal cavity). Bill Finch, the Mayor of Bridgeport, is responding to his city’s placement on the “dirtiest cities” listing by citing the numerous environmental strides including multiple parks and an extensive tree-planting initiative. Further, Mayor Finch is “not taking the fourth dirtiest city designation seriously.”
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