An unusual definition of "hottie"
COLUMBIA, Mo 2/22/14 (Beat Byte) -- Want to know if you're hot or not?
Search for your name on
"Hot People in Columbia, Mo" -- and hope the answer is "no." The unusual website tracks the proximity of your workplace, residence, and mailing address to "
toxic, polluting, EPA-listed or hazardous sites, identified from official Federal and State government records."
Part of a nationwide
"Hot People" network, the website belongs to Arbor Ventures of Cheyenne, Wyoming, which also maintains RadiationThreats.org and
VoterFactory.com, a database of voter registration records.
"Hot-People informs the public about the murky dangers of toxic waste sites and other environmental hazards,"
the website explains. "Most people are not aware of how close they may live to current or former toxic waste dumps."
Columbia has 833 "hot sites," the website claims, including
industrial firms such as 3M; area retailers such as
Westlake Ace Hardware; schools (
Hickman High); and even individuals (
e.g. Jennifer Lincoln, Jeff Radel).
So how "hot" are you, i.e. how close do you live or work to an environmental polluter? Just
search on your name, then "click on the numbers next to your name to see the closest EPA sites that threaten you."
"Bob McDavid" appears twice -- once with a hotness rating of 6.4 and once at 5.3. Around his home, Columbia's Mayor needs to be concerned about Tru-Green Chemlawn, Lowes Home Center, and the Gates Rubber Company. At City Hall, Eugene Field Elementary School and the Katy Station Restaurant (now Shiloh) heat things up.
Fortunately, the Mayor's score isn't
near 10 or "dangerously hot." Filled with ads and hard to follow in places, the Hot People website suffers from schlocky design. And its accuracy is probably questionable. But it does raise awareness of environmental pollution.