Superfund: Evaluating the Impact of Executive Order 12898
December 19, 2007 by Brian Butler , John Morelli | Filed under: Literature Review,The EM Role in Environmental Justice
O’Neil, Sandra George. “Superfund: Evaluating the Impact of Executive Order 12898″. Massachusetts, USA: Curry College, 115 (2007). 1087-1092. September 30, 2007President Clinton established Executive Order 12898 in response to the environmental injustices being recognized across the nation. The author examines the effects of this order and attempts to evaluate this order and its relationship to specific programs such as the Superfund. The article begins by examining key questions related to environmental justice. Are there similar demographics associated to areas sited on the Superfund list? Has the executive order impacted the probability of poor/minority communities being listed on the Superfund? To answer these questions, the author investigates an inverse relationship between low-income and minority communities and the sites that are being listed for cleanup; there appears to be a trend. As these burdened neighborhoods increase in population, the number of sites listed in the National Priority List decreases. The method used to determine this negative association considers two variables. The first variable is demographics; which is collected from the U.S. Census Bureau, The second variable is site-specific which is taken from the EPA’s CERCLIS database. After considering the groupings and scenarios of these variables, the author created a table based on the general population and the percent of chance a superfund will be listed. The table is then compared to another table prepared which determines the chance of listing prior to the signing of Executive Order 12898. The results suggest that after the Executive Order was established, minority populations were less likely to benefit from cleanup programs such as Superfund and even less of a chance in low-income communities. The article mathematically represents the disadvantage of low income and minority communities and accurately depicts a direct relationship between Superfund listing and Executive Order 12898. The author concludes that agencies need to take a closer look at the figures, concentrate on implementation, and increase efforts for financial support. She expresses concern that although the Executive Order has been successful on a regional scale, it still lacks promise on a national level.