Grantee Research Project Results
A National Evaluation of Equity in Hazardous Waste Sites
EPA Grant Number: R823185Title: A National Evaluation of Equity in Hazardous Waste Sites
Investigators: Anderton, Douglas L.
Institution: University of Massachusetts - Amherst
EPA Project Officer: Chung, Serena
Project Period: July 1, 1995 through July 1, 1997
Project Amount: $263,470
RFA: Socio-Economics (1995) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Environmental Justice
Description:
The purpose of this project is to assess possible inequities or biases in the disproportionate siting of hazardous waste facilities in minority or poor neighborhoods. Earlier work by the investigator found no consistent evidence of such biases in the siting of commercial hazardous waste facilities (commercial TSDFs). This project has already extended these findings to Superfund (NPL) sites. The project has also surveyed all RCRA governed sites for an analysis of equity in the distribution of these facilities. Analyses of site specific biases are based upon census tract characteristics but have added to prior research in the simultaneous use of TIGER file infra-structural features (e.g., highways, ports, etc.), Dun and Bradstreet data on the distribution of related manufacturing industries, detailed RCRA survey data differentiating types of facilities (e.g., on and off-site, public-private, incinerators, landfills, etc.), and TRI data on volume of activities at sites. This research has already provided significant information regarding the extent and nature of environmental equity and has challenged policy preconceptions regarding the issues of environmental inequity. The investigators TSDF analyses have direct policy implications in determining the extent of inequities and providing guidance in the relative priorities of remediation. And, specific policy implications regarding the designation process are suggested by findings to date on NPL inequities. The RCRA analysis will, similarly, provide the first such policy relevant evaluation of possible inequities in the distribution of those facilities.Publications and Presentations:
Publications have been submitted on this project: View all 14 publications for this projectJournal Articles:
Journal Articles have been submitted on this project: View all 5 journal articles for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
RFA, Scientific Discipline, Economic, Social, & Behavioral Science Research Program, Economics & Decision Making, environmental justice, Economics, decision-making, Social Science, Ecology and Ecosystems, bias, equity of distribution, census tract characteristics, community response to waste facility siting, hazardous environmental exposures, hazardous waste siting decisions, environmental values, commercial TSDFs, hazardous waste siting, environmental equity, hazardous waste facilities, community based intervention, RCRA sites, environmental policy, ethnicityProgress and Final Reports:
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.