Iron and Steel Sites

Professor: Erin Mayfield

PROMPT

In 2021, President Biden passed an executive order formalizing a commitment to ensuring that all federal agencies develop programs, policies, and activities to address the disproportionately high and adverse health, environmental, economic, climate, and other cumulative impacts on communities that are marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution. Mobilizing a whole-of-government approach to environmental justice over the past year, government agencies have been tasked with evaluating their programs and policies to identify persisting environmental injustices.

This project provides systematic review of whether regulated industrial sites in the United States are disproportionately located in environmental justice communities by evaluating disparities in the location of iron & steel sites on the basis of race, income, poverty rates, age, and educational attainment.

Iron + Steel Sites + Emissions

This map represents the locations of 133 operating iron and steel sites in the United States, with each marker indicating the location of a single site. The color of each marker represents whether it is (Red) or is not (Green) located in an environmental justice community on the basis of race, income, and/or age.

The radius represents the amount of emissions, with larger circles indicating higher emissions. The map can be used to identify patterns in the distribution of iron and steel sites, emissions, and environmental justice communities, as well as to identify areas with high concentrations of sites with high emissions. Similarly, this map helps to identify areas where environmental justice communities are disproportionately affected by industrial pollution.

Pop. Density & Site Indicator

The first boxplot shows the distribution of population density for the two groups. The box for the “Within 1-mile” group is shorter, indicating that the majority of census tracts within a 1-mile radius of iron & steel sites have a lower population density compared to tracts outside of the 1-mile radius. Additionally, the median line for the “Within 1-mile” group is also lower than the median line for the “Outside 1-mile” group, which confirms this observation.

Poverty Rates & Site Indicator

The second boxplot shows the distribution of poverty rates for the two groups. The box for the “Within 1-mile” group is taller, indicating that the majority of census tracts within a 1-mile radius of iron & steel sites have a higher poverty rate compared to tracts outside of the 1-mile radius. Additionally, the median line for the “Within 1-mile” group is also higher than the median line for the “Outside 1-mile” group, which confirms this observation.

Education & Site Indicator

The third boxplot shows the distribution of bachelors degree percentage for the two groups. The box for the “Within 1-mile” group is shorter, indicating that the majority of census tracts within a 1-mile radius of iron & steel sites have a lower percentage of population with a bachelors degree compared to tracts outside of the 1-mile radius. Additionally, the median line for the “Within 1-mile” group is also lower than the median line for the “Outside 1-mile” group, which confirms this observation.

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