Doing Well by Doing Good: How a Venture Capital Environmental Database Firm Cleans up Toxic Sites All Over Ithaca and New York State

Walter Hang is the President of Toxics Targeting, an environmental database firm that he started from scratch more than 25 years ago with funding from one of the wealthiest families in American history.  

Toxics Targeting maps and profiles more than 700,000 known and potential toxic sites in New York State with government data obtained through Freedom of Information laws.  The firm generates sophisticated reports used by engineers, environmental consultants, lawyers, municipalities, homebuyers and drinking water districts.

Mr. Hang will discuss how he uses his Geographic Information System business to clean up toxic dumps, leaking tanks and a wide variety of environmental hazards in Ithaca and across the state.  

For example, Toxics Targeting played a key role in winning a $104.7 million award against one of the biggest corporations in America for polluting the drinking water for more than 500,000 residents in Southeastern Queens, NY.  

Mr. Hang also was instrumental in preventing shale fracking in New York.