Name: Marilyn M. Williams and Jayajit Chakraborty
Affiliation: University of South Florida
Email: mwilliam1@cas.usf.edu
Title: The Intersection of Race and Place: Modeling Exposure to Industrial Pollution in Tampa
Bay, Florida
Abstract Body:
Empirical studies on environmental justice and health disparities have examined inequities in the
distribution of pollution sources based on their location or, more recently, in terms of the quantity
and toxicity of substances released. The extent of human exposure to pollutants released from
industrial facilities or the health outcomes of potential exposure have rarely been investigated.
This paper addresses these limitations by using a new and more accurate indicator of air pollution
exposure from industrial toxic emissions reported in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(USEPA)’s Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) database. The specific objective is to examine
racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in the distribution of potential exposure to industrial air
pollution in Hillsborough County, Florida, located in the Tampa Bay metropolitan area. Industrial
pollution sources considered in this study are facilities reporting air emissions to the TRI database
in 2000. The pollution data is derived from the USEPA’s Risk-Screening Environmental Indicator
(RSEI) model, which provides information on potential human health outcomes from air pollutants
by including detailed data on the toxicity and dispersion of chemical releases from TRI facilities.
Square grids (1 km by 1 km) from the RSEI model are spatially overlaid and statistically related to
relevant variables from the US Census 2000 to determine disparities associated with toxic
pollution exposure. The results indicate that although non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic
populations reside in different parts of the metropolitan area, both groups are disproportionately
burdened in terms of the density of TRI facilities and level of risk from toxic exposure.