Population density and the distribution of waste sites in Mississippi: An empirical test of the environmental justice hypothesis

This research examines the relationship between population density and the siting of waste facilities in Mississippi. The investigation of the uneven distribution of waste sites in sparsely populated communities is subsumed under the concept of environmental justice. The environmental justice hypothesis contends that waste facilities and other “locally unwanted land uses,” or LULUs, are more likely to be located near communities that have relatively low political power, particularly minority and impoverished communities. Therefore the main focus of attention of the environmental justice research on problems of LULUs has been based on race and class categories. By ignoring the role of population density the proponents of the environmental justice theory primarily overemphasizes the role of class and race factors in investigating the location of waste sites. Using data collected by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) in 1998, this study employs Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques to identify patterns in the location of waste sites in relation to the entire population of Mississippi block groups. Three hypotheses were developed based on the environmental justice perspective. It was hypothesized that race, class and population density will affect the distribution of waste sites in Mississippi. According to the results employing multivariate logistic regression analyses of the distribution of waste sites, the environmental justice hypotheses are partly supported. Class and density variables are significant in explaining the existence of waste sites in block groups with the effects of the latter variables stronger than the former. Race is significant by itself in the distribution of waste sites but is not significant after class variables are introduced in the model. Such lack of support for race may be explained due to the fact that a significant percent of minorities are lower class, thus class factors became more important than racial variables. The results of the logistic and multinomial regression analysis indicate that the appropriate statistical techniques were used. The public policy implication of the finding is presented and future research identified.