Population Surrounding 1,836 Superfund Remedial Sites (Population data is from the Census Bureau's 20011-2015 ACS 5 year estimates; sites are as of FY16.) UPDATE: October 2017 Superfund Remedial sites exist in thousands of communities across the U.S. ranging from remote to large urban settings. Many of these sites are located in economically distressed communities. To help describe who benefits from EPA's Superfund Remedial Program's cleanup work, EPA collected data on the population living within 3 and 1 mile(s) of sites. These sites include Superfund final, deleted, and proposed National Priorities List (NPL) sites, as well as non-NPL Superfund Alternative Agreement sites. Population within 3 Miles of Sites: The 3-mile area surrounding sites was used because it is a good representation of the geographic area where people in a community live most of their lives - where they shop, work, go to school, go to restaurants, and participate in outdoor activities. As of the end of FY16, approximately 53 million people live within 3 miles of a Superfund site (roughly 16% of the U.S. population) including approximately: • 17% of all children in the U.S. under the age of 5 • 16% of all children in the U.S. under 18 • 19% of all black people in the U.S. • 23% of all Hispanics in the U.S. • 21% of all minorities in the U.S. • 19% of all households in the U.S. below the poverty level • 19% of all people with less than a high school education • 25% of the linguistically isolated households in the U.S. Population within 1 Mile of Sites: As of the end of FY16, approximately 15 million people live within 1 mile of Superfund sites (roughly 5% of the U.S. population) including approximately: • 5% of all children in the U.S. under the age of 5 • 5% of all children in the U.S. under 18 • 5% of all black people in the U.S. • 7% of all Hispanics in the U.S. • 6% of all minorities in the U.S. • 5% of all households in the U.S. below the poverty level • 6% of all people with less than a high school education in the U.S. • 8% of the linguistically isolated households in the U.S. Demographics of Near-Site Population: While there is no single way to characterize communities located near these sites, this population is more minority, low income, IinguisticaIly isolated, and less likely to have a high school education than the U.S. population as a whole (see Table 1). As a result, these communities may have fewer resources with which to address concerns about their health and environment. TABLE 1 Proportions of Key Demographics in the Total Near Site Population and the Total U.S. Population Population within 1 mile of All Sites Population within 3 miles of All Sites U.S. Population Minority 49.3% 49.7% 38.4% Below poverty level 16.7% 16.7% 14.7% Linguistically isolated 8.4% 8.1% 5.2% Less than a High School Education 16.3% 15.8% 13.5% OLEM/Office of Communications, Partnerships, and Analysis ------- TABLE 2: Detailed Data on the Population within 1 and 3 miles of Superfund Sites (Sites include Superfund final, deleted, and proposed National Priorities List (NPL) sites, as well as non-NPL Superfund Alternative Agreement sites) Below are data on the demographic characteristics of the population surrounding Superfund Remedial sites. The table indicates whether certain population demographics near sites are above (in bold) or below (in italics) the U.S. average. Demographics Population Within 1 Mile of Sites (Approximate) Population Within 3 Miles of Sites (Approximate) US Population (Approximate) Race Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number White 66.4% 10,046,874 65.5% 34,470,332 73.6% 235,439,052 Black 12.1% 1,825,303 14.7% 7,742,082 12.6% 40,209,614 Asian 8.3% 1,253,681 7.6% 4,013,732 5.1% 16,245,464 Native American 0.7% 110,209 0.6% 325,960 0.8% 2,580,945 Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 0.4% 57,868 0.3% 146,067 0.2% 546,384 Other 12.2% 1,846,892 11.3% 5,960,305 7.8% 25,076,635 Ethnicity Hispanic (any race) 26.1% 3,944,432 24.9% 13,113,380 18.1% 57,779,493 Non-Hispanic (any race) 73.9% 11,196,395 75.1% 39,545,098 81.9% 262,318,601 Minority Minority (Includes all race & ethnicity categories except "non-Hispanic white") 49.3% 7,465,644 49.7% 26,165,579 38.4% 122,814,916 Income Households below the poverty level 16.7% 919,950 16.7% 3,219,925 14.7% 17,375,862 Households with a ratio of income to poverty level of two and over 61.4% 9,033,664 62.1% 31,871,549 65.3% 203,830,131 Education Less than a high school education 16.3% 1,637,451 15.8% 5,507,184 13.5% 28,879,991 Linguistically isolated Linguistically isolated households 8.4% 463,482 8.1% 1,549,407 5.2% 6,151,790 Age Under 5 years of age 6.7% 1,015,679 6.6% 3,462,879 6.3% 20,107,354 1 Under 18 years of age 22.9% 3,460,652 22.9% 12,074,107 23.3% 74,487,716 1 Over 64 years of age 12.3% 1,865,966 12.7% 6,711,160 14.1% 45,211,757 Total Population 15,140,827 52,658,478 320,098,094 Superfund Remedial- Ppg^2 ------- Methodology: • For 1,536 Superfund sites, actual GIS site boundaries were used to designate the geographic area representing the sites, and then a 3 or 1 mile buffer ring was placed around these boundaries. • For the 300 sites without GIS site boundary data, the buffer rings were placed around a circular site boundary, modeled around the site's latitude/longitude and equal in size to the site's acreage. • American Community Survey (ACS) 20011-2015 census data was then identified for each block group with a centroid that fell within the site boundary and the 3 or 1 mile buffer ring. • Data collected includes: (1) Superfund site information as of the end of FY2016; and (2) ACS 20011-2015 census data. Site data from FY2016 included 1,836 Superfund final, deleted, and proposed National Priorities List (NPL) sites, as well as non-NPL Superfund Alternative Agreement sites in the 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico with accurate locational data. IMPORTANT Caveats: • Data collected represent a national look at the characteristics of the population in communities surrounding our sites. While some of the data point to possible Environmental Justice (EJ) characteristics of the population, this is not an EJ analysis. • Proximity to a site does not necessarily represent risk of adverse health effects. The risk of exposure to contamination varies significantly across all sites. • Data are a snapshot in time only, the site 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 centroid points of census block groups to determine the population near the sites, which under-estimates the population in some cases, and over-estimates it in others. ~~~ Used modeled site boundaries for 300 sites based on a single latitude/longitude location and estimated acreage. Footnote to Use When Citing Data (Includes Methodology): 1U.S. EPA, Office of Land and Emergency Management Estimate. 2017. Data collected includes: (1) Superfund site information as of the end of FY2016; and (2) 20011-2015 American Community Survey (ACS) census data. Sites used in this analysis included 1,836 Superfund final, deleted, and proposed National Priorities List (NPL) sites, as well as non-NPL Superfund Alternative Agreement sites in the 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico with accurate location data. Superfund Remedial- Page 3 ------- |