Abstract
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.
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The authors thank the anonymous reviewers and editors for helpful comments and insights, Dee Weber for research assistance, and Karen Mason for editorial assistance. Portions of this paper were presented at the 1998 annual meetings of the Population Association of America, held in Chicago, and at the 1998 meetings of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, held in New York. Research was supported by Grant EPA R-823185-01-0 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This article has not been subjected to EPA’s peer and administrative review, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the agency or have its official endorsement. Portions of the database were provided by the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR).
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Davidson, P., Anderton, D.L. Demographics of dumping ii: a national environmental equity survey and the distribution of hazardous materials handlers. Demography 37, 461–466 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.2000.0002
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.2000.0002