A new report says toxic waste facilities are more likely to be built near the homes of racial minorities. Rebecca Williams reports the study follows up on a landmark report from twenty years ago:
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A new report says toxic waste facilities are more likely to be built near the homes of racial minorities. Rebecca Williams reports the study follows up on a landmark report from twenty years ago:
Both studies examined how close people live to toxic waste sites. The new report finds minorities who live in poorer neighborhoods are the most likely to live near toxic sites. The report says little has changed in 20 years and problems have been made worse by weak environmental laws.
Paul Mohai is a professor at the University of Michigan and a co-author of the study. He says racial minorities in poorer neighborhoods are often unfairly treated.
“They’re quite a bit more at risk than white Americans because they do tend to live in communities that not only have more pollution burdens but they also lack resources frankly that more affluent white communities have.”
Mohai says minorities living in poor neighborhoods tend to have less access to elected officials. He says that can make it harder to fight against the siting of a new waste facility.
For the Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.
