Environmental Justice Analysis Incorporating EPA TRI Data with New York State Demographics

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Environmental Justice Analysis Incorporating EPA
TRI Data with New York State Demographics

• Gregory Thorhaug
• CSS620 Spatial Analysis
• May 1, 2001

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Overview

• Environmental Justice (EJ)
• Incompatible Findings
• Data Sources
• GIS Processes
• Maps Produced within GIS
• Chi-Squared Stats
• Buffer Summary
• Question of Causation

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EJ Background

• Purpose Quantify and Evaluate the extent to
  which minorities and poor are disproportionately
  exposed to hazardous facilities and toxic
  releases.
• (Presidential Order 12998)
• 1990s Many Cities Analyze EJ
• Bill Clinton and the EPAs Environmental Justice
  Division

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Incompatible Findings

• Geographic Scale
• (Statewide vs. County)
• What Constitutes a Hazard
• Estimations of the Risks
• Whats Important Hard to Quantify, but Clearly
  Exists

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Data Used

• EPA Toxic Release Inventory
• www.epa.gov/tri
• New York 1990 Demographics
• www.epa.gov/region02/gis/
• atlas/online.htm

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Processes

• Overlay demographics and TRI
• Graduate TRI to 1998 releases
• Create one kilometer buffer
• Clip to counties and repeat

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Chi-Squared Analysis

• Expected sites normalized by area
• Observed sites selected by GIS
• Chi-Squared (E-O)2/E
• Critical Value

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Table 1 Poverty and Minority
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Table 2 - NY State Chi-Squared
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Table 3 - Monroe Chi-Squared
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Table 4 - Kings Chi-Squared
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Table 5 - Erie Chi-Squared
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Buffer Analysis

• 1.6 km area of influence
• Demographics within 1.6 km
• Demographics outside 1.6 km
• Compare within to outside
• Note 1.6 km 1 mile

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Table 6 - Buffer Summary
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Question of Causation

• Minorities or Sites First?
• Minorities First
• Cancer Alley (Louisiana)
• Love Canal (New York)
• Ironbound District (New Jersey)
• Hanford (Washington State)
• Sites First
• Only Available Jobs
• White Flight Cheap Housing