Brownfields and Environmental Justice: Income, Education, and Race

Abstract

Brownfields are parcels of chemically contaminated land that are not redeveloped due to the expense of cleanup. Correcting any environmental injustice associated with brownfields can involve redevelopment efforts that account for economic disparities. Here we show that economic conditions in communities with brownfields that have received funding from the United States government are significantly worse than in the nation as a whole. These results suggest that there is an opportunity to right this environmental injustice by choosing to remediate brownfields in economically depressed areas in ways that address both environmental risk and the economic health of communities with brownfields.