Jacksonville among most toxic cities

Forbes magazine has ranked Jacksonville among the nation’s “most toxic” cities.

Jacksonville ranked 33rd out of the country’s 40 biggest cities. Atlanta was the most toxic and Las Vegas was the least toxic.

Forbes said it looked at the country’s 40 largest metropolitan statistical areas based on data provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It then counted the number of facilities that reported releasing toxins into the environment, the total pounds of certain toxic chemicals released into the air, water and earth, the days per year that air pollution was above healthy levels, and the total number of Superfund sites (contaminated areas that the federal government has designated for cleanup efforts) in each city.