FEJ Almanac Project

Introduction

Welcome to the Florida Environmental Justice (FEJ) Almanac Project. This project aims to map various environmental hazards and spatially join them to demographic data to highlight disparities in exposure to environmental pollutants across different communities in Florida.

The first segment of this project includes geocoding Superfund sites and spatially joining them with demographic data in the state of Florida. The goal is to analyze the data to determine if the public health risks associated with proximity to Superfund sites affects disadvantaged individuals and groups disproportionately.

What is Environmental Justice?

In this project, environmental justice focuses on measurable differences in environmental burdens (for example, hazardous sites or pollution sources) and environmental benefits across places, and how those differences correlate with socioeconomic characteristics such as income and educational attainment. The emphasis is on quantifying disparities in exposure and proximity, rather than making normative judgments.

Environmental justice: quantifying who bears environmental burdens and who benefits — then relating those patterns to socioeconomic characteristics.

We rely on public data sources — including U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) statistics and facility inventories — to compare communities using consistent methods. The goal is to provide transparent, reproducible evidence about patterns of impacts and proximity.

Researchers

• Moulay Anwar Sounny-Slitine, PhD
• Simone Gionfriddo
• Annalise Schnur
• Memrie King
• Olivia Zhang

Partners

• Data Science for Sustainable Development Gainesville

Datasets

• superfund_sites.csv — CSV with site latitude/longitude only.
• hazardous_sites_small.csv — CSV with site latitude/longitude only.

Tools

• Environmental Justice Dashboard
  Interactive map and analysis tool to compare socioeconomic indicators (ACS tracts or block groups) near environmental hazard sites using configurable buffer rings, ACS year selection, and downloadable chart/CSV outputs.

Findings

• Mapping Environmental Injustices in Florida: An Initial Analysis of Superfund Sites & Demographic Data Presented at Florida Society of Geographers Annual Meeting - Dr. M. Anwar Sounny-Slitine & Simone Gionfriddo

Learn More

• EPA: Environmental Justice
• Council on Environmental Quality: Environmental Justice
• U.S. Department of Health & Human Services: Environmental Justice
• CDC/ATSDR: Environmental Justice Index
• NOAA: Environmental Justice

Bibliography

Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. (n.d.). History. https://avoice.cbcfinc.org/exhibits/environmental-justice/history/#:~:text=The%20Environmental%20Justice%20Movement%20emerged,negatively%20affected%20communities%20of%20color. Accessed June 8, 2024.

Grattet, R., Mascarenhas, M., & Mege, K. (2021). Toxic waste and race in twenty-first century America: Neighborhood poverty and racial composition in the siting of hazardous waste facilities. Environment and Society, 12(1), 108-126. https://doi.org/10.3167/ares.2021.120107

Maantay, J. (2002, April). Mapping environmental injustices: Pitfalls and potential of geographic information systems in assessing environmental health and equity. Environmental Health Perspectives, 110(2), 161-171. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.02110161.

Mohai, P & Saha, R. (2006). Reassessing Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities in Environmental Justice Research. Demography, 43(2), 383-399. https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.2006.0017

United Church of Christ. (n.d.). Toxic Wastes and Race and Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty. https://www.ucc.org/what-we-do/justice-local-church-ministries/efam/environmental-justice/environmental-ministries_toxic-waste-20/. Accessed June 8, 2024.

United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2020, September). Population surrounding 1857 Superfund remedial sites. https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-09/documents/webpopulationrsuperfundsites9.28.15.pdf.

United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2024, May 9). Environmental Justice. https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice