IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/riskan/v16y1996i4p517-526.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role of Geographic Scale in Monitoring Environmental Justice

Author

Listed:
  • Susan L. Cutter
  • Danika Holm
  • Lloyd Clark

Abstract

Utilizing the concept of environmental justice, this paper examines the differential burdens of toxic and hazardous waste facilities locations in low income minority communities. The association between the presence of facilities and socioeconomic characteristics of places are examined for the state of South Carolina at three different spatial scales: counties, census tracts, and census block groups. Three different types of hazardous waste/toxic facilities are also examined: Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) sites, Treatment, Storage, and Disposal sites (TSD), and inactive hazardous waste sites. At the county level, there was some association between the presence of toxic/hazardous waste facilities and race and income. In South Carolina, this translates to a disproportionate burden on White, more affluent communities in metropolitan areas, rather than low income minority communities. At both the census tract and block group levels, there is no association between race and the location of toxic/hazardous waste facilities. There are slight differences in the income levels between tracts and block groups with facilities and those without. This localized ecology of hazard sources must be expanded to include emission/discharge data in order to adequately address environmental justice issues on who bears the burdens of environmental contamination.

Suggested Citation

  • Susan L. Cutter & Danika Holm & Lloyd Clark, 1996. "The Role of Geographic Scale in Monitoring Environmental Justice," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(4), pages 517-526, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:riskan:v:16:y:1996:i:4:p:517-526
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1539-6924.1996.tb01097.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.1996.tb01097.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1539-6924.1996.tb01097.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Douglas Anderton & Andy Anderson & John Oakes & Michael Fraser, 1994. "Environmental Equity: The Demographics of Dumping," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 31(2), pages 229-248, May.
    2. James T. Hamilton, 1995. "Testing for environmental racism: Prejudice, profits, political power?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(1), pages 107-132.
    3. Rae Zimmerman, 1993. "Social Equity and Environmental Risk," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(6), pages 649-666, December.
    4. John A. Hird, 1993. "Environmental policy and equity: The case of superfund," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(2), pages 323-343.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kirsten Schwarz & Michail Fragkias & Christopher G Boone & Weiqi Zhou & Melissa McHale & J Morgan Grove & Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne & Joseph P McFadden & Geoffrey L Buckley & Dan Childers & Laura Ogden & S, 2015. "Trees Grow on Money: Urban Tree Canopy Cover and Environmental Justice," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(4), pages 1-17, April.
    2. Bob Bolin & Amy Nelson & Edward J Hackett & K David Pijawka & C Scott Smith & Diane Sicotte & Edward K Sadalla & Eric Matranga & Maureen O'Donnell, 2002. "The Ecology of Technological Risk in a Sunbelt City," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 34(2), pages 317-339, February.
    3. William Bowen & Mark Atlas & Sugie Lee, 2009. "Industrial agglomeration and the regional scientific explanation of perceived environmental injustice," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 43(4), pages 1013-1031, December.
    4. D. K. Yoon & Jung Eun Kang & Juhyeon Park, 2017. "Exploring Environmental Inequity in South Korea: An Analysis of the Distribution of Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Facilities and Toxic Releases," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-14, October.
    5. Michael Greenberg & Charles Haas & Anthony Cox & Karen Lowrie & Katherine McComas & Warner North, 2012. "Ten Most Important Accomplishments in Risk Analysis, 1980–2010," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(5), pages 771-781, May.
    6. Joseph Karanja & Lawrence M. Kiage, 2022. "Scale implications and evolution of a social vulnerability index in Atlanta, Georgia, USA," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 113(1), pages 789-812, August.
    7. Amanda T. Charette & Mary B. Collins & Jaime E. Mirowsky, 2021. "Assessing residential socioeconomic factors associated with pollutant releases using EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 11(2), pages 247-257, June.
    8. Yushim Kim & Yongwan Chun, 2019. "Revisiting environmental inequity in Southern California: Does environmental risk increase in ethnically homogeneous or mixed communities?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(9), pages 1748-1767, July.
    9. Andrea L. Moore, 2017. "An examination of the influence of environmental justice policy, Executive Order 12898, on the spatial concentration of manufacturing facilities in EPA Region 6 1988-2009," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 7(3), pages 377-385, September.
    10. Bodwitch, Hekia & Song, Andrew M. & Temby, Owen & Reid, John & Bailey, Megan & Hickey, Gordon M., 2022. "Why New Zealand’s Indigenous reconciliation process has failed to empower Māori fishers: Distributional, procedural, and recognition-based injustices," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    11. Luna, Marcos & Nicholas, Dominic, 2022. "An environmental justice analysis of distribution-level natural gas leaks in Massachusetts, USA," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    12. Valerie November, 2008. "Spatiality of Risk," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 40(7), pages 1523-1527, July.
    13. Jennifer J. Salinas & Manasi Shah & Bassent Abdelbary & Jennifer L. Gay & Ken Sexton, 2012. "Application of a Novel Method for Assessing Cumulative Risk Burden by County," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-16, May.
    14. Ralph Gallo & Consuela Amos, 2013. "Using University-Community Partnerships to Stem Environmental Inequities and Injustice," International Journal of Social Science Research, Macrothink Institute, vol. 1(1), pages 1-18, September.
    15. Lisa Schweitzer & Max Stephenson JR, 2007. "Right Answers, Wrong Questions: Environmental Justice as Urban Research," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(2), pages 319-337, February.
    16. Marc D. Shapiro, 2005. "Equity and information: Information regulation, environmental justice, and risks from toxic chemicals," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(2), pages 373-398.
    17. Susan Harrell Yee, 2020. "Contributions of Ecosystem Services to Human Well-Being in Puerto Rico," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-38, November.
    18. Yelena Ogneva-Himmelberger & Brian Cooperman, 2010. "Spatio-temporal Analysis of Noise Pollution near Boston Logan Airport: Who Carries the Cost?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 47(1), pages 169-182, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cory, Dennis C. & Rahman, Tauhidur, 2009. "Environmental justice and enforcement of the safe drinking water act: The Arizona arsenic experience," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1825-1837, April.
    2. William M. Bowen, 1999. "Comments on “‘Every Breath You Take... ’: The Demographics of Toxic Air Releases in Southern Californiaâ€," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 13(2), pages 124-134, May.
    3. Baden, Brett M. & Coursey, Don L., 2002. "The locality of waste sites within the city of Chicago: a demographic, social, and economic analysis," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1-2), pages 53-93, February.
    4. Schoolman, Ethan D. & Ma, Chunbo, 2012. "Migration, class and environmental inequality: Exposure to pollution in China's Jiangsu Province," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 140-151.
    5. William Bowen & Mark Atlas & Sugie Lee, 2009. "Industrial agglomeration and the regional scientific explanation of perceived environmental injustice," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 43(4), pages 1013-1031, December.
    6. Zahran, Sammy & Iverson, Terrence & McElmurry, Shawn P. & Weiler, Stephan & Levitt, Ryan, 2019. "Hidden Costs of Blight and Arson in Detroit: Evidence From a Natural Experiment in Devil's Night," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 266-277.
    7. Anthony P. Matejczyk, 2001. "Why Not NIMBY? Reputation, Neighbourhood Organisations and Zoning Boards in a US Midwestern City," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 38(3), pages 507-518, March.
    8. Baryshnikova, Nadezhda V., 2010. "Pollution abatement and environmental equity: A dynamic study," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 183-190, September.
    9. Parry, Ian W.H. & Sigman, Hilary & Walls, Margaret & Williams, Roberton C., III, 2005. "The Incidence of Pollution Control Policies," Discussion Papers 10651, Resources for the Future.
    10. Michael Greenberg & Charles Haas & Anthony Cox & Karen Lowrie & Katherine McComas & Warner North, 2012. "Ten Most Important Accomplishments in Risk Analysis, 1980–2010," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(5), pages 771-781, May.
    11. Seema Arora & Timothy N. Cason, 1998. "Do Community Characteristics Influence Environmental Outcomes?: Evidence from the Toxics Release Inventory," Journal of Applied Economics, Universidad del CEMA, vol. 1, pages 413-453, November.
    12. Germani, Anna Rita & Morone, Piergiuseppe & Testa, Giuseppina, 2014. "Environmental justice and air pollution: A case study on Italian provinces," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 69-82.
    13. Garrone, Paola & Groppi, Angelamaria, 2012. "Siting locally-unwanted facilities: What can be learnt from the location of Italian power plants," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 176-186.
    14. Wolverton Ann, 2009. "Effects of Socio-Economic and Input-Related Factors on Polluting Plants' Location Decisions," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 9(1), pages 1-32, March.
    15. Arora, Seema & Cason, Timothy, 1996. "Do Community Characteristics Determine Environmental Outcomes? Evidence from the Toxics Release Inventory," RFF Working Paper Series dp-97-12, Resources for the Future.
    16. David M. Konisky, 2009. "Inequities in enforcement? Environmental justice and government performance," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(1), pages 102-121.
    17. David M. Konisky & Tyler S. Schario, 2010. "Examining Environmental Justice in Facility‐Level Regulatory Enforcement," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 91(3), pages 835-855, September.
    18. Douglas S. Noonan, 2008. "Evidence of Environmental Justice: A Critical Perspective on the Practice of EJ Research and Lessons for Policy Design," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 89(5), pages 1153-1174, December.
    19. Marc D. Shapiro, 2005. "Equity and information: Information regulation, environmental justice, and risks from toxic chemicals," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(2), pages 373-398.
    20. Germani, Anna Rita & Morone, Piergiuseppe & Testa, Giuseppina, 2011. "Enforcement and air pollution: an environmental justice case study," MPRA Paper 38656, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:riskan:v:16:y:1996:i:4:p:517-526. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1539-6924 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.