Abstract
The Houston–Galveston–Brazoria (HGB) region faces numerous environmental and public health challenges from both natural disasters and industrial activity, but the historically disadvantaged communities most often impacted by such risks have limited ability to access and utilize big data for advocacy efforts. We developed HGBEnviroScreen to identify and prioritize regions of heightened vulnerability, in part to assist communities in understanding risk factors and developing environmental justice action plans. While similar in objectives to existing environmental justice tools, HGBEnviroScreen is unique in its ability to integrate and visualize national and local data to address regional concerns. For the 1090 census tracts in the HGB region, we accrued data into five domains: (i) social vulnerability, (ii) baseline health, (iii) environmental exposures and risks, (iv) environmental sources, and (v) flooding. We then integrated and visualized these data using the Toxicological Prioritization Index (ToxPi). We found that the highest vulnerability census tracts have multifactorial risk factors, with common drivers being flooding, social vulnerability, and proximity to environmental sources. Thus, HGBEnviroScreen is not only helping identify communities of greatest overall vulnerability but is also providing insights into which domains would most benefit from improved planning, policy, and action in order to reduce future vulnerability.
Highlights
While a strong economy that creates jobs and wealth is fundamental to society, the social and financial costs and benefits produced by economic growth are not shared
The module implements Toxicological Prioritization Index (ToxPi) slice was calculated by dividing the value for that census tract by the maximum across all tracts, as an ArcGIS frame within the HGBEnviroScreen dashboard
Census tracts with longer slices to most screening tools, HGBEnviroScreen adds each model to the map as separate graphics layers indicate greater vulnerability for that data element than tracts with shorter slices
Summary
While a strong economy that creates jobs and wealth is fundamental to society, the social and financial costs and benefits produced by economic growth are not shared . Communities of color and low wealth have historically borne a disproportionate burden of the environmental costs of economic growth. Geospatial information about environmental burdens was a key factor in the birth of the environmental justice (EJ) movement, and the tenet that “all people and communities are entitled to equal protection of environmental and public health laws and regulations [2]”. The Houston area provides an exemplary illustration of the challenges of EJ. In addition to being among the most populous metropolitan areas in the United States, Houston is home to the
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