With a string of petrochemical facilities lining its eponymous turnpike, New Jersey has been the butt of pollution jokes since prehistoric times. Cave paintings depict Neanderthal toastmasters getting laughs by likening the Garden State’s air quality to “mastodon halitosis.” So the state’s residents can be excused if they gloat a bit about a report issued Thursday by the Environmental Integrity Project, a non-profit advocacy organization. The study ranked the top 10 carcinogen-producing oil refineries in the country and not a single offender is in New Jersey. Six are in Texas—including the No. 1 stinker, BP plc’s incendiary Texas City plant—and three are in Louisiana. The only facility even close to New Jersey is in Philadelphia, which also has been the butt of countless jokes and, frankly, deserves it. —Jeffrey Kanige
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