Forbes lists Bridgeport as fourth-dirtiest city in U.S.

A payloader starts to romove trash from a blighted property at 121 George Street, in Bridgeport, Conn. Oct. 15th, 2012. The property is the first targeted for cleanup as part of the city's "Help Fight Blight" campaign. less A payloader starts to romove trash from a blighted property at 121 George Street, in Bridgeport, Conn. Oct. 15th, 2012. The property is the first targeted for cleanup as part of the city's "Help Fight Blight" ... more Photo: Ned Gerard Photo: Ned Gerard Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close Forbes lists Bridgeport as fourth-dirtiest city in U.S. 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

Citing blighted buildings, polluted property and poor air quality, Forbes Magazine named Bridgeport as the fourth "dirtiest city" in America.

But look at the bright side Bridgeport residents: Your city is cleaner than Fresno, Calif.; Bakersfield, Calif.; and Philadelphia.

"Green" Mayor Bill Finch, who has frequently touted the BGreen2020 sustainability initiative to improve the quality of life in Bridgeport, was among many from the city to take offense to the ranking.

"Making Bridgeport the cleanest city in the region has been one of my highest priorities since I took office in 2007," Finch said. "We lead the way in brownfield remediation, receiving more grant funding -- $7 million -- from the EPA than any other municipality in New England since the agency began awarding such funds."

The image of Bridgeport put forth by Forbes was similar to its portrayal on FOX's animated comedy show "Family Guy" two years ago, casting the Park City as "among the world leaders in abandoned buildings, shattered glass, boarded-up windows... ."

The report does have its flaws -- including a claim that Raymark Industries dumped toxic waste in the city for several years, while in fact that occurred in neighboring Stratford.

It's based mainly on EPA data from Bert Sperling's Bestplaces.net rankings that list air quality in Bridgeport as 7.8 out of 100 and water quality as 32 out of 100.

While Bridgeport takes the beating as a dirty city, Forbes examined a much wider "metro" region that includes more than 500,000 residents, drawing from nearby towns and cities, the reason Raymark was mentioned.

Forbes did praise the city for taking the former Jenkins Valve Co. site and turning it into the Harbor Yard sports complex.

Finch said the city has increased recycling rates nearly 70 percent, saving the city nearly $150,000 in its first full year of single stream recycling and "reinvigorated" its anti-blight activities by cleaning up properties left abandoned by absentee owners.

"The publication fails to mention any of these efforts, all of which have helped make a city with a great industrial heritage into a cleaner, greener Bridgeport," Finch said.

Last year, Forbes used different criteria and lumped Bridgeport in with New York City and Newark, N.J., naming it the 14th "dirtiest city" in America.

The Bridgeport region wasn't the only Connecticut area to be named in the 2012 list.

New Haven was ranked seventh, with the article stating its residents' "lungs pay the price" for its location at the junction of Interstate 95 and Interstate 91.

tcleary@ctpost.com; 203-540-9827; http://twitter.com/tomwcleary