The Impact of Changes in Municipal Solid Waste Disposal Laws on Proximity to Environmental Hazards: A Case Study of Connecticut

Abstract

Environmental policies affect proximity to environmental hazards. In the late 1980s, the State of Connecticut implemented mandatory recycling laws to improve management of municipal solid waste. At that time, more than 80% of the State’s 169 towns disposed of trash within their own borders. The regulatory change redirected flows of waste to transfer stations and trash-to-energy plants. To assess changes in the proximity to hazards associated with this shift, the origins and destinations of solid waste shipment flows are modeled using data for 2008. Ton-weighted distances to disposal are estimated for 2008 and compared to the distances if solid waste had continued to be disposed of within towns. Changes in municipal solid waste management in Connecticut have differentially impacted local communities. Residents of the Town of Hartford, particularly low-income minority residents in the North End, have been affected by the operation of municipal solid waste management facilities in Hartford, which receive waste from almost half the towns in the state. The implementation of environmental policies intended to improve municipal solid waste disposal at the state level adversely affected proximity to environmental hazards in selected communities and the abilities of local communities to improve environmental quality in their own jurisdictions.