Linking ‘toxic outliers’ to environmental justice communities
Several key studies have found that a small minority of producers, polluting at levels far exceeding group averages, generate the majority of overall exposure to industrial toxics. Frequently, such patterns go unnoticed and are understudied outside of the academic community. To our knowledge, no res...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2016-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/1/015004 |
| _version_ | 1797748652660228096 |
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| author | Mary B Collins Ian Munoz Joseph JaJa |
| author_facet | Mary B Collins Ian Munoz Joseph JaJa |
| author_sort | Mary B Collins |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Several key studies have found that a small minority of producers, polluting at levels far exceeding group averages, generate the majority of overall exposure to industrial toxics. Frequently, such patterns go unnoticed and are understudied outside of the academic community. To our knowledge, no research to date has systematically described the scope and extent of extreme variations in industrially based exposure estimates and sought to link inequities in harm produced to inequities in exposure. In an analysis of all permitted industrial facilities across the United States, we show that there exists a class of hyper-polluters—the worst-of-the-worst—that disproportionately expose communities of color and low income populations to chemical releases. This study hopes to move beyond a traditional environmental justice research frame, bringing new computational methods and perspectives aimed at the empirical study of societal power dynamics. Our findings suggest the possibility that substantial environmental gains may be made through selective environmental enforcement, rather than sweeping initiatives. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:07:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b79c07a409094914b0c906a92c1c5c21 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:07:50Z |
| publishDate | 2016-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-b79c07a409094914b0c906a92c1c5c212023-08-09T14:15:58ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262016-01-0111101500410.1088/1748-9326/11/1/015004Linking ‘toxic outliers’ to environmental justice communitiesMary B Collins0Ian Munoz1Joseph JaJa2Department of Environmental Studies, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry , 1 Forestry Drive, 106 Marshall Hall, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA; National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center, University of Maryland , 1 Park Place, Suite 300 Annapolis, MD 21401, USANational Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center, University of Maryland , 1 Park Place, Suite 300 Annapolis, MD 21401, USAInstitute for Advanced Computer Studies, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Maryland , College Park, MD 20742, USASeveral key studies have found that a small minority of producers, polluting at levels far exceeding group averages, generate the majority of overall exposure to industrial toxics. Frequently, such patterns go unnoticed and are understudied outside of the academic community. To our knowledge, no research to date has systematically described the scope and extent of extreme variations in industrially based exposure estimates and sought to link inequities in harm produced to inequities in exposure. In an analysis of all permitted industrial facilities across the United States, we show that there exists a class of hyper-polluters—the worst-of-the-worst—that disproportionately expose communities of color and low income populations to chemical releases. This study hopes to move beyond a traditional environmental justice research frame, bringing new computational methods and perspectives aimed at the empirical study of societal power dynamics. Our findings suggest the possibility that substantial environmental gains may be made through selective environmental enforcement, rather than sweeping initiatives.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/1/015004environmental justicedisproportionalityquantitative methods |
| spellingShingle | Mary B Collins Ian Munoz Joseph JaJa Linking ‘toxic outliers’ to environmental justice communities Environmental Research Letters environmental justice disproportionality quantitative methods |
| title | Linking ‘toxic outliers’ to environmental justice communities |
| title_full | Linking ‘toxic outliers’ to environmental justice communities |
| title_fullStr | Linking ‘toxic outliers’ to environmental justice communities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Linking ‘toxic outliers’ to environmental justice communities |
| title_short | Linking ‘toxic outliers’ to environmental justice communities |
| title_sort | linking toxic outliers to environmental justice communities |
| topic | environmental justice disproportionality quantitative methods |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/11/1/015004 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT marybcollins linkingtoxicoutlierstoenvironmentaljusticecommunities AT ianmunoz linkingtoxicoutlierstoenvironmentaljusticecommunities AT josephjaja linkingtoxicoutlierstoenvironmentaljusticecommunities |