An Application of EJSCREEN for the Examination of Environmental Justice in Metropolitan Areas of Ohio, USA

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Over the past few decades, the notion of Environmental Justice (EJ) in the United States has grown. Many empirical studies prove how low-income and minority neighborhoods are excessively exposed to environmental burdens. This chapter aims to present an approach to identifying EJ concerns facing minority and low-income populations in the metropolitan areas in Ohio by analyzing their distribution using EJSCREEN, a screening and mapping tool developed by the USEPA. Twelve metropolitan areas were considered to examine environmental and demographical information. The metropolitan areas are integrated geographic regions comprised of at least one city or urban area and adjacent communities. In assessing the demographic inequalities and environmental risk in the regions of the metropolitan areas, the EJSCREEN tool was used to generate EJ standard reports for all the zip codes in the metropolitan areas. Two-sample t-test results indicate that diesel PM, hazardous waste, RMP sites, lead paint, traffic proximity, respiratory hazard risk, and air toxic cancer risk are significantly higher in areas where a higher proportion of low-income and minority populations live than the areas with a lower proportion with low-income and minority populations. These environmental indicators are directly associated with air pollution.