Population Surrounding 66 247 Open LUST Releases Updated July 2022

Updated: July 2022

Population Surrounding 66,247 Open LUST Releases

Open Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) releases exist in thousands of communities across the U.S.
ranging from remote to large urban settings. Many of these releases are in economically distressed
communities. To help describe who benefits from EPA's UST Program, the Agency used 2016-2020
American Community Survey population data and LUST Releases from states as of 2018-2019 and from
Tribal lands and U.S. territories as of 2020-2021 to summarize the population living within 3, 1, and %
miles of open LUST facilities.

Population within % Mile of Releases:

Approximately 26 million people live within / mile of an open LUST release (roughly 8% of the U.S.
population) including approximately:

• 8% of all children in the U.S. under the age of 5

• 7% of all children in the U.S. under 18

• 12% of all blacks in the U.S.

• 10% of all Hispanics in the U.S.

• 10% of all minorities in the U.S.

• 11% of all households in the U.S. below the poverty level

• 10% of all people with less than a high school education in the U.S.

• 13% of the linguistically isolated people in the U.S.

Population within 1 Mile of Releases:

Approximately 137 million people live within 1 mile of an open LUST release (roughly 42% of the U.S.
population) including approximately:

• 42% of all children in the U.S. under the age of 5

• 40% of all children in the U.S. under 18

• 53% of all blacks in the U.S.

• 48% of all Hispanics in the U.S.

• 49% of all minorities in the U.S.

• 50% of all households in the U.S. below the poverty level

• 47% of all people with less than a high school education in the U.S.

• 55% of the linguistically isolated people in the U.S.

Population within 3 Miles of Releases:

Approximately 246 million people live within 3 miles of an open LUST release (roughly 75% of the U.S.
population) including approximately:

• 75% of all children in the U.S. under the age of 5

• 74% of all children in the U.S. under 18

• 84% of all blacks in the U.S.

• 80% of all Hispanics in the U.S.

• 81% of all minorities in the U.S.

• 78% of all households in the U.S. below the poverty level

• 76% of all people with less than a high school education in the U.S.

• 84% of the linguistically isolated people in the U.S.

OLEM/Office of Communications, Partnerships, and Analysis

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Demographics of Near-Release Populations:

While there is no single way to characterize communities located near our releases, this population is more
minority, low income, linguistically isolated, and less likely to have a high school education than the U.S.
population as a whole.

TABLE 1: Proportions of Key Demographics in the Total Near Release Population and the Total U.S. Population

Population within

of All

U.S. Population

Releases

Minority

53.1%

48.0%

44.2%

40.5%

Below poverty level

17.4%

15.1%

13.3%

12.8%

Linguistically isolated

7.9%

6.3%

5.5%

4.9%

Less than a High
School Education

14.7%

13.1%

11.9%

11.6%

Methodology:

A 3-, 1- or Vmile buffer ring was placed around each release's latitude/longitude location. American
Community Survey 2016-2020 population data was then identified for each block with a centroid that fell
within the 3-, 1- or V*- mile area. Population characteristic data was not available for census blocks but
was available for block groups. To calculate the block population characteristics, the population
percentage of the block within the block group was calculated and then that weight was applied to the
respective block group characteristic of interest to estimate a value for the block.

Data used includes: (1) Open LUST information from states as of 2018-2019 and from Tribal lands and U.S.
territories as of 2020-2021 and (2) American Community Survey 2016-2020 population data. Release data
included 66,247 open LUST releases in the U.S. states, Tribal lands, and Puerto Rico with accurate
locational data. Note that LUST data for KY was not included.

IMPORTANT Caveats:

• Data collected represent a national look at the characteristics of the population in communities
surrounding our releases. While some of the data point to possible environmental justice related
characteristics of the population, this is not a full environmental justice analysis.

• Proximity to a release does not necessarily represent risk of adverse health effects. The risk of
exposure to contamination varies significantly across all releases.

• Data are a snapshot in time only, the release and population information will change over time
(can be updated every year when new census data comes out and compared over time in 5-year
intervals).

• Used best available information, but data collected are estimates only, for the following reasons:

~~~ Used a single latitude/longitude location to model release boundaries based on acreage,

not the actual release boundaries.

~~~ Used centroid points of the census blocks to determine inclusion in the estimates. This
may under-estimate the population in some cases, and over-estimate in others.

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Footnote to Use When Citing Data:

U.S. EPA, Office of Land and Emergency Management 2022. Data collected includes: (1) LUST
information from states as of 2018-2019 and from Tribal lands and Puerto Rico as of 2020-2021
from Office of Research Development & Office of Underground Storage Tanks, UST Finder,
https://gispub.epa.gov/ustmap; and (2) population data from the 2016-2020 American
Community Survey.

TABLE 2: Detailed Data on the Population within 1 and 3 miles of Open LUST Releases

Below are data on the demographic characteristics of the population surrounding open LUST releases. The table indicates
whether certain population demographics near releases are above (in bold) or below (in italics) the U.S. average.

Demographics

Population Within

Hof Releases
(Approximate)

Population Within

R)f Releases
(Approximate)

Population Within

Hof Releases
(Approximate)

US Population
(Approximate)

Race

Percent

Number

Percent

Number

Percent

Number

Percent

Number

White

60.0%

15,584,194

63.9%

87,464,458

67.2%

165,131,661

70.3%

231,911,672

Black

18.5%

4,807,227

16.2%

22,244,488

14.2%

34,937,611

12.6%

41,594,421

Asian

6.7%

1,735,842

6.6%

8,992,421

6.3%

15,525,477

5.6%

18,427,458

Native American

0.7%

178,583

0.7%

949,106

0.7%

1,700,101

0.8%

2,694,287

Hawaiian/Pacific
Islander

0.2%

48,680

0.2%

280,054

0.2%

483,614

0.2%

611,659

Other

13.9%

3,610,372

12.4%

17,030,648

11.4%

28,001,006

10.5%

34,582,476

Ethnicity

















Hispanic (any race)

24.9%

6,458,652

22.0%

30,077,195

20.4%

50,251,908

19.0%

62,572,901

Non-Hispanic (any
race)

75.1%

19,506,244

78.0%

106,883,978

79.6%

195,527,562

81.0%

267,249,072

Minority

















Minority

53.1%

13,776,861

48.0%

65,681,980

44.2%

108,622,269

40.5%

133,540,124

Income

















Households below
the poverty level

17.4%

1,773,954

15.1%

7,931,122

13.3%

12,341,380

12.8%

15,847,868

Households with a
ratio of income to
poverty level of two
and over

61.8%

15,580,653

65.7%

87,537,583

68.9%

165,278,026

69.8%

224,565,653

Education

















Less than a high
school education

14.7%

2,611,402

13.1%

12,240,225

11.9%

19,891,701

11.6%

26,086,480

Linguistically isolated

















Linguistically
isolated households

7.9%

808,305

6.3%

3,315,172

5.5%

5,057,924

4.9%

6,020,469

Age

















Under 5 years of age

6.0%

1,565,954

6.1%

8,307,186

6.0%

14,834,828

6.0%

19,781,156

Under 18 years of
age

21.0%

5,443,637

21.6%

29,640,440

22.1%

54,414,340

22.4%

73,907,865

Over 64 years of age

14.5%

3,756,178

15.4%

21,138,877

15.8%

38,736,922

16.1%

53,029,913

Total



















136,961,174

245,779,470

329,821,973

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