Who lives near coke plants and oil refineries? An exploration of the environmental inequity hypothesis

Facility-specific information on pollution was obtained for 36 coke plants and 46 oil refineries in the United States and matched with information on populations surrounding these 82 facilities. These data were analyzed to de termine whether environmental inequities were present, whether they were mo re economic or racial in nature, and whether the racial composition of near by communities has changed significantly since plants began operations. The Census tracts near coke plants have a disproportionate share of poor an d nonwhite residents. Multivariate analyses suggest that existing inequitie s are primarily economic in nature. The findings for oil refineries are not strongly supportive of the environmental inequity hypothesis. Rank orderin g of facilities by race, poverty, and pollution produces limited (although not consistent) evidence that the more risky facilities tend to be operatin g in communities with above-median proportions of nonwhite residents (near coke plants) and Hispanic residents (near oil refineries). Over time, the r acial makeup of many communities near facilities has changed significantly, particularly in the case of coke plants sited in the early 1900s. Further risk-oriented studies of multiple manufacturing facilities in various indus trial sectors of the economy are recommended.