Coalinga, California

As you approach the City of Coalinga from Interstate 33, the patches of snow-like asbestos on the peaks of the Diablo Mountain Range are a stark reminder that this region has one of the richest asbestos deposits on the planet. From 1957 to 1977, milling operators mined the Coalinga and Atlas asbestos mines and shipped asbestos ore to the City of Coalinga for storage.

EPA discovered that the mines were contaminated, and that decades of asbestos storage in Coalinga had polluted several buildings and soil throughout the city. The asbestos also threatened to contaminate the California Aqueduct, Southern California’s main water supply. In 1984, EPA placed the mines and the City of Coalinga on its list of hazardous waste sites needing cleanup.