Free EPA Pollution Data API

A free, CORS-enabled JSON API for querying EPA Superfund, Toxic Release Inventory, and ECHO enforcement data. No API key required. Built for researchers, data journalists, mapping projects, and anyone who needs programmatic access to federal pollution data.

Endpoints

Nearby contamination sources

GET /api/nearby?lat=29.76&lng=-95.37&radius=25

Returns Superfund sites and EPA-regulated facilities (violators and releasers) within a radius of a coordinate. Maximum radius 200 miles, maximum 200 results.

Example: /api/nearby?lat=29.76&lng=-95.37&radius=25

Facilities by state

GET /api/facilities?state=TX&kind=tri&violator_only=1&limit=100

ParameterDescriptionExample
stateTwo-letter state code or state slug (required)TX, texas
kindFacility type filtertri, air, water, rcra
violator_onlyReturn only significant violators1
limitMax rows (1–1000, default 100)500

Example: /api/facilities?state=TX&violator_only=1&limit=50

Superfund sites by state

GET /api/superfund?state=NJ&limit=200

Returns all Superfund NPL sites in a state.

Example: /api/superfund?state=NJ

CSV downloads

GET /api/download/{state}/echo.csv
GET /api/download/{state}/superfund.csv

Full CSV exports per state. Use the state slug (e.g. california, new-jersey).

Example: /api/download/california/echo.csv

Response format

All JSON endpoints return UTF-8 with Access-Control-Allow-Origin: * set, so you can call them directly from a browser. Example response for /api/facilities:

{
  "state": "TX",
  "count": 50,
  "facilities": [
    {
      "registry_id": "110000123456",
      "name": "Example Chemical Plant",
      "city": "Houston",
      "county": "Harris",
      "state": "TX",
      "lat": 29.76,
      "lng": -95.37,
      "snc_flag": "Y",
      "programs_with_snc": 2,
      "total_penalties": 245000,
      "tri_on_site_releases": 182340,
      "url": "https://pollutionlookup.com/facility/110000123456"
    }
  ]
}

Attribution & rate limits

This API is free to use. If you use the data in research, journalism, or a public-facing project, please link back to PollutionLookup.com and cite the original federal sources (EPA Superfund, TRI, ECHO).

Please keep traffic reasonable — a few requests per second is fine. For bulk work, use the CSV downloads instead of looping over thousands of API calls.