A new study adds to the debate over whether race plays a role in the placement of hazardous waste facilities. The GLRC’s Tracy Samilton reports:
Transcript
A new study adds to the debate over whether race plays a role in the placement of
hazardous waste facilities. The GLRC’s Tracy Samilton reports:
Previous studies have shown that about 25 percent of the people living near
toxic waste treatment and disposal facilities are minorities, but University of Michigan
Professor Paul Mohai says that’s because researchers looked at the neighborhood in
which the facility was located. Since most of them are located close to the edge of a neighborhood, many people living just a street or two away weren’t included:
“Statistically they’d be considered no closer to the facility than someone living a thousand
miles away from it.”
Mohai says the minority percentage is closer to 43 percent when all neighborhoods in a
circle around the site are included. Researchers still have to find out if the facilities are being placed in existing minority communities, or if minorities move into them afterwards. Some environmentalists say there should be stricter regulations on toxic
waste facilities to protect all people’s health.
For the GLRC, I’m Tracy Samilton.