California has the nation's highest concentration of minorities living near hazardous waste facilities, according to a newly released study. Greater Los Angeles tops the nation with 1.2 million people living less than two miles from 17 such facilities, and 91% of them, or 1.1 million, are minorities. Statewide the figure was 81%.
The study, conducted by researchers at four universities for the United Church of Christ, examined census data for neighborhoods adjacent to 413 facilities nationwide that process or store hazardous chemical waste produced by refineries, metal plating shops, drycleaners and battery recyclers, among others.
Though about one-third of U.S. residents are nonwhite, more than half of the people living near such facilities were Latino, African American or Asian American, according to the report.
The cause is simple, said Robert Bullard, a sociologist at Clark Atlanta University in Georgia and lead author of the study, which updates a landmark report from two decades ago. "The most potent predictor of where these facilities are sited is not how much income you have; it's race.... You don't have many of these facilities in West Los Angeles, and you don't have many minorities in West Los Angeles either.... You've got both in Vernon and surrounding neighborhoods."
L.A. ranked first among major urban areas with the most people living near hazardous waste facilities. Oakland and Orange County placed fifth and sixth, respectively, with hazardous sites in Santa Ana and other minority neighborhoods.
The study also found that hazardous waste facilities were often clustered with other potentially dangerous industries, and that the rate of minority residents in areas with multiple hazards was even higher.
"There's a piling on effect.... You get the landfill because you've already got the incinerator, the paint manufacturer, the chemical plant," Bullard said. "These neighborhoods become basically sacrifice zones."
Sue Briggum, vice president of federal public affairs for Waste Management, which operates several of the facilities examined in the study, including a landfill in Kettleman City, Calif., said the hazardous waste industry is heavily regulated for safety and provides an important recycling service.
