[vineyardmike]

Eh, not really.

Boston area has no big chemical/hard industrial industry, and nothing on that map. Neither does seattle (but the map shows some small process in areaa). Id wager a lot of modern "intellectual" cities (where knowledge worker industries dominate) can be devoid of such processes. Tourism cities too - eg, Vegas and Miami don't have such a history and their maps are clean.

Obviously SFBay is a notable exception to the knowledge-worker idea, but SV was founded on horribly toxic silicon refining which, while mostly gone, has a terrible history of poisoning the ground.

[scottyah]

All that stuff is still being made and polluting, "mordor" is just further away.

[vineyardmike]

Then its not really "nearby" is it? Its another city, another nation, and not really related to that city at all?

[Arrath]

Then you're simply being pedantic, and illustrating the inherent danger of free-for-all negative externalities. If the polluting was done far enough away, it doesn't matter?

[mazamats]

Isn't that the whole point? To keep it away from urban populations?