ABSTRACT
The United Church of Christ's report on the distribution of hazardous waste sites in this country has been very influential in raising public awareness about the disproportionate burden of pollution on minorities. This chapter demonstrates that race is the single best predictor of where commercial hazardous waste facilities are located, even when other socioeconomic characteristics of communities, such as average household income and average value of homes, are taken into account. The striking findings and the scope of the United Church of Christ study suggest that environmental racism is not confined to hazardous waste alone. The multivariate analysis is also used to weigh the relative strength of the relationship of race and income with the distribution of sites. In assessing the distribution of environmental hazards by race, the minority percentage of the community has been typically employed.
