More blacks than whites still live near toxic sites: newly released report reveals

Jet, Sept 12, 1994

Blacks and other minorities are still more likely than Whites to live in communities near commercial hazardous waste facilities, which expose them to unhealthy industrial pollution, a new report has found.

The report was issued by three organizations--the Center for Policy Alternatives, the NAACP and the Commission for Racial Justice, an arm of the United Church of Christ.

The new report found that Blacks and other minorities were 47 percent more likely than Whites to live near a hazardous waste facility.

In 1980, 25 percent of the people living in a neighborhood that contained one or more hazardous waste sites were Black, Hispanic, Asian or Native American and by 1993 that proportion had risen to 31 percent.

The report recommended that the government concentrate its spending on environmental education and training, closing dangerous toxic sites and reducing toxic waste.

Earlier this year, President Clinton signed an executive order giving federal agencies one year to come up with plans to shield minorities from a disproportionately large exposure to pollution.

"All Americans have a right to be protected from pollution, not just those who can afford to live in the cleanest, safest communities," Clinton said.