Are Any of the EPA's Biggest Greenhouse Gas Emitters in Brick?

A new interactive map from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will pinpoint sites that the EPA says are the biggest culprits in contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.

Thought to be a factor in global warming, greenhouse gas is the focus of the EPA's map. The tool allows users to search by type of facility (power plant, garbage dump) as well as by state.

In Ocean County, five sites caught the EPA's attention, but none are from Brick.

The most recent data, from 2010, shows the following Ocean County sites on the map:

• Ocean County Landfill, Route 70 in Manchester, emitted 178,731 MT of methane and 113 MT of carbon dioxide.
• Lakewood Cogeneration, off Airport Road in Lakewood, emitted 141,749 MT of carbon dioxide.
• Ocean Peaking Power, also off Airport Road in Lakewood, emitted 115,726 MT of carbon dioxide.
• Oyster Creek Power Plant, Route 9 in Forked River, emitted 10,028 MT parts of carbon dioxide.
• Cedar Power Station, Route 9 in Cedar Run, emitted 4,988 MT of carbon dioxide

According to NJSpotlight: "In New Jersey, the list of top stationary sources of greenhouse emissions includes 41 power plants in the state, four refineries, a number of garbage incinerators, a brewery in Newark, 18 landfills, including a superfund toxic waste site, and most of the big universities, including Rutgers University, and hundreds of chemical plants."

The interactive map collates data about six pollutants: carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, PFC-14, PFC-116, HFC-23 and methane.

To access the interactive map, check out the EPA website.