Environmental equity in Superfund. Demographics of the discovery and prioritization of abandoned toxic sites

Does the environmental inequality matter? A literature review

The environmental inequality theory reveals that the risk of environmental pollution exposure varies among regions and groups and that particular groups face a higher threat of environmental pollution. In recent years, studies on the environmental inequality issue in developed countries have been increasing, while related literature on developing countries is very scarce. It has been found that some factors, such as race and economic status, have a close relationship with the risk of environmental pollution exposure faced by individuals. For the first time, this paper provides an extensive review of existing theoretical and empirical studies on environmental inequality. We review, in detail, the evolution of the environmental inequality theory, including the definition and measurement of environmental inequality. Further, we provide a systematic refresher on the main performance of environmental inequality, including health, education, labor productivity, and real estate prices. We also identify several causes of environmental inequality, such as ethnic differences, economic status, human capital, and household registration systems. Finally, we discuss prospects for the future research on this issue.

Ports and Environmental Justice in the United States: An Exploratory Statistical Analysis

A screening environmental justice analysis was conducted of 50 United States ports that manage more than 10 million tons of products. Using the U.S. EPA's EJSCREEN tool, the author examined seven demographic and 11 environmental metrics at distances of 2, 5, and 10 miles from the port centroids. The 2-mile zones were found to have higher values for 13 of the 18 environmental inequity indicators, including all three measures of air toxics, fine particles, proximity to hazardous waste sites, and facilities with risk management plans, as well as indicators of low socioeconomic status and minority populations. With ports expanding, the author discusses the need for maintaining and upgrading EPA's screening tool and considers that alternative futures for port neighborhoods depend upon the strength of their civic groups and elected officials, the role of their government port authorities, and civic values of their commercial users.

Economic deprivation and racial segregation: comparing Superfund sites in Portland, Oregon and Detroit, Michigan

The research presented here weighs the ability of two major explanations of social inequality-Massey and Denton's racial segregation explanation and Wilson's emphasis on economic deprivation (concentrated poverty)-to predict environmental inequality. Two sets of logistic regression analyses are used to predict the location of Superfund sites in Portland, Oregon and Detroit, Michigan providing a conditional understanding of environmental inequality within a larger sociological context. The analysis includes a general examination of the two theories in all census tracts in both cities and a set of analyses focusing upon Black neighborhoods in Detroit. The findings indicate that there is support for explanations of environmental inequality that include both racial segregation and economic deprivation, but that the more powerful of the two is economic deprivation. The results suggest that even though African-American neighborhoods disproportionately house Superfund sites, these facilities are more likely to be located in Black neighborhoods that are economically deprived.

Superfund: evaluating the impact of executive order 12898

BACKGROUND

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) addresses uncontrolled and abandoned hazardous waste sites throughout the country. Sites that are perceived to be a significant threat to both surrounding populations and the environment can be placed on the U.S. EPA Superfund list and qualify for federal cleanup funds. The equitability of the Superfund program has been questioned; the representation of minority and low-income populations in this cleanup program is lower than would be expected. Thus, minorities and low-income populations may not be benefiting proportionately from this environmental cleanup program. In 1994 President Clinton signed Executive Order 12898 requiring that the U.S. EPA and other federal agencies implement environmental justice policies. These policies were to specifically address the disproportionate environmental effects of federal programs and policies on minority and low-income populations.

OBJECTIVE AND METHODS

I use event history analysis to evaluate the impact of Executive Order 12898 on the equitability of the Superfund program.

DISCUSSION

Findings suggest that despite environmental justice legislation, Superfund site listings in minority and poor areas are even less likely for sites discovered since the 1994 Executive Order.

CONCLUSION

The results of this study indicate that Executive Order 12898 for environmental justice has not increased the equitability of the Superfund program.

Reassessing racial and socioeconomic disparities in environmental justice research

The number of studies examining racial and socioeconomic disparities in the geographic distribution of environmental hazards and locally unwanted land uses has grown considerably over the past decade. Most studies have found statistically significant racial and socioeconomic disparities associated with hazardous sites. However there is considerable variation in the magnitude of racial and socioeconomic disparities found; indeed, some studies have found none. Uncertainties also exist about the underlying causes of the disparities. Many of these uncertainties can be attributed to the failure of the most widely used method for assessing environmental disparities to adequately account for proximity between the hazard under investigation and nearby residential populations. In this article, we identify the reasons for and consequences of this failure and demonstrate ways of overcoming these shortcomings by using alternate, distance-based methods. Through the application of such methods, we show how assessments about the magnitude and causes of racial and socioeconomic disparities in the distribution of hazardous sites are changed. In addition to research on environmental inequality, we discuss how distance-based methods can be usefully applied to other areas of demographic research that explore the effects of neighborhood context on a range of social outcomes.

Environmental health disparities: a framework integrating psychosocial and environmental concepts

Although it is often acknowledged that social and environmental factors interact to produce racial and ethnic environmental health disparities, it is still unclear how this occurs. Despite continued controversy, the environmental justice movement has provided some insight by suggesting that disadvantaged communities face greater likelihood of exposure to ambient hazards. The exposure-disease paradigm has long suggested that differential "vulnerability" may modify the effects of toxicants on biological systems. However, relatively little work has been done to specify whether racial and ethnic minorities may have greater vulnerability than do majority populations and, further, what these vulnerabilities may be. We suggest that psychosocial stress may be the vulnerability factor that links social conditions with environmental hazards. Psychosocial stress can lead to acute and chronic changes in the functioning of body systems (e.g., immune) and also lead directly to illness. In this article we present a multidisciplinary framework integrating these ideas. We also argue that residential segregation leads to differential experiences of community stress, exposure to pollutants, and access to community resources. When not counterbalanced by resources, stressors may lead to heightened vulnerability to environmental hazards.

The (mis)estimation of neighborhood effects: causal inference for a practicable social epidemiology

The resurgence of interest in the effect of neighborhood contexts on health outcomes, motivated by advances in social epidemiology, multilevel theories and sophisticated statistical models, too often fails to confront the enormous methodological problems associated with causal inference. This paper employs the counterfactual causal framework to illuminate fundamental obstacles in the identification, explanation, and usefulness of multilevel neighborhood effect studies. We show that identifying useful independent neighborhood effect parameters, as currently conceptualized with observational data, to be impossible. Along with the development of a dependency-based methodology and theories of social interaction, randomized community trials are advocated as a superior research strategy, one that may help social epidemiology answer the causal questions necessary for remediating disparities and otherwise improving the public's health.

A new look at neighborhoods near National Priorities List sites

A geodemographic database can assess characteristics of communities by providing (1) annual demographic estimates for these small areas, and (2) statistically based models that integrated consumer behavior and lifestyle data. When applied to neighborhoods proximate to National Priorities List (NPL) sites, information from a geodemographic database can inform environmental health risk assessments and aid in targeting health education activities. This study utilized such a database with 1999 census block group population estimates and neighborhood descriptors in the USA. We examined patterns of neighborhood type based on NPL site classification by activity and waste type (e.g., manufacturing, mining). Overall, block groups described as "Military Quarters" are at highest risk of being located near an NPL site. Other, distinct, neighborhood differences are described.

Environmental equity and health: understanding complexity and moving forward

The authors invoke a population health perspective to assess the distribution of environmental hazards according to race/ethnicity, social class, age, gender, and sexuality and the implications of these hazards for health. The unequal burden of environmental hazards borne by African American, Native American, Latino, and Asian American/Pacific Islander communities and their relationship to well-documented racial/ethnic disparities in health have not been critically examined across all population groups, regions of the United States, and ages. The determinants of existing environmental inequities also require critical research attention. To ensure inclusiveness and fill important gaps, scientific evidence is needed on the health effects of the built environment as well as the natural environment, cities and suburbs as well as rural areas, and indoor as well as outdoor pollutants.

Demographics of dumping. II: A national environmental equity survey and the distribution of hazardous materials handlers

Using a national survey of facilities governed by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), we examine the sociospatial distribution of a much larger group of hazardous materials handlers than did previous environmental equity studies. Overall we find that RCRA-governed facilities are more likely to be sited in working-class neighborhoods with lower percentages of minority residents. We do not find evidence of stark environmental inequities. RCRA facilities, however, are close to neighborhoods with a higher percentage of minority residents. And in nonmetropolitan areas, they are slightly more likely to be located in neighborhoods with a higher percentage of black residents.