Layers of injustice: A distributional assessment of toxic chemical facilities, releases, and cleanups.
J Environ Manage
; 370: 122415, 2024 Sep 08.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39250853
ABSTRACT
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) is a cornerstone of environmental policy in the United States. The law regulates the generation, transportation, storage, and disposal of hazardous chemicals. Although regulated, hazardous releases can still occur at RCRA sites due to flawed equipment, human error, and dated historical practices. Releases are investigated and remediated through what is known as a Corrective Action (CA). Using Census data and a novel dataset of RCRA facilities across the contiguous U.S., we examine the possibility of systematic inequities with regards to the (i) siting of RCRA facilities, (ii) occurrence of releases and CAs, (iii) duration of CAs, and (iv) permanence of remediation methods. We find evidence of disproportionate impacts across racial, ethnic, and income dimensions. The results vary, however, depending on the different aspects of the siting and cleanup process, thus highlighting the need for multi-layered analyses to identify and fully understand potential inequities associated with environmental programs.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Environ Manage
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos
Pais de publicación:
Reino Unido