Updated: September 2020 Population Surrounding 1,857 Superfund Remedial Sites Superfund Remedial sites exist in thousands of communities across the U.S. ranging from remote to large urban settings. Many of these sites are in economically distressed communities. To help describe who benefits from EPA's Superfund Program, the Agency used 2015-2018 American Community Survey populations data and FY 2019 Superfund to summarize the population living within 3 and 1 miles of sites. These sites include Superfund and Federal Facilities final, deleted, and proposed National Priorities List (NPL) sites, non-NPL Superfund Alternative Agreement sites. Population within 1 Mileof Sites: Approximately 21 million people live within 1 mile of a Superfund including approximately: • 7% of all children in the U.S. under the age of 5 • 6% of all children in the U.S. under 18 • 6% of all blacks in the U.S. • 9% of all Hispanics in the U.S. • 8% of all minorities in the U.S. • 7% of all households in the U.S. below the poverty level • 8% of all people with less than a high school education in the U.S. • 10% of the linguistically isolated people in the U.S. Population within 3 Miles of Sites: Approximately 73 million people live within 3 miles of a Superfund site (roughly 22% of the U.S. population) including approximately: • 23% of all children in the U.S. under the age of 5 • 22% of all children in the U.S. under 18 • 26% of all blacks in the U.S. • 29% of all Hispanics in the U.S. • 28% of all minorities in the U.S. • 24% of all households in the U.S. below the poverty level • 25% of all people with less than a high school education in the U.S. • 32% of the linguistically isolated people in the U.S. Demographics of Near-Site Populations: While there is no single way to characterize communities located near our sites, this population is more minority, low income, linguistically isolatedand less likely to have a high school education than the U.S. population as a whole. 1 TABLE 1: Proportions of Key Demographics in the Total Near Site Population and the Total 1 U.S. Population Population within Population within U.S. Population 1 mile of All Sites 3 miles of All Sites Minority 49.8% 49.4% 39.6% Below poverty level 15.4% 15.1% 13.7% Linguistically isolated 7.8% 7.3% 5.1% Less than a High School Education 14.9% 14.1% 12.5% site (roughly 6% of the U.S. population) OLEM/Office of Communications, Partnerships, and Analysis ------- TABLE 2: Detailed Data on the Population within 1 and 3 miles of Superfund sites Below are data on the demographic characteristics of the population surrounding Superfund 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 65.2% 13,465,608 65.0% 47,390,464 72.7% 237,188,538 Black 12.6% 2,610,976 14.8% 10,806,046 12.7% 41,281,123 Asian 8.5% 1,759,682 7.7% 5,646,019 5.4% 17,581,234 Native American 0.7% 146,605 0.6% 449,849 0.8% 2,707,577 Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 0.4% 72,953 0.3% 192,261 0.2% 583,021 Other 12.6% 2,596,713 11.5% 8,384,355 8.3% 26,948,478 Ethnicity Hispanic (any race) 25.6% 5,291,125 24.2% 17,605,908 18.7% 60,867,275 Non-Hispanic (any race) 74.4% 15,361,412 75.8% 55,263,086 81.3% 265,422,696 Minority Minority 49.8% 10,285,751 49.4% 35,986,864 39.6% 129,080,779 Income Households below the poverty level 15.4% 1,170,285 15.1% 4,037,341 13.7% 16,567,346 Households with a ratio of income to poverty level of two and over 64.6% 12,973,217 65.6% 46,572,969 67.7% 215,350,011 Education Less than a high school education 14.9% 2,078,629 14.1% 6,907,708 12.5% 27,526,286 Linguistically isolated Linguistically isolated households 7.8% 596,375 7.3% 1,950,794 5.1% 6,149,144 Age Under 5 years of age 6.4% 1,330,018 6.3% 4,607,310 6.1% 19,994,488 Under 18 years of age 22.2% 4,588,465 22.4% 16,304,103 22.8% 74,241,185 Over 64 years of age 13.3% 2,744,745 13.8% 10,066,711 15.3% 49,879,204 Total 20,652,537 72,868,994 326,289,971 1 1 1 1 1 1 page 2 ------- Methodology: For sites with boundary data, a 3- or 1- mile buffer ring was place around each site boundary. For those sites without boundary data, a circular site boundary, equal to the site acreage, was modeled around the latitude/longitude for each site and then a 3- or 1- mile buffer ring was placed around the site boundary. American Community Survey (ACS) 2015-2018 census data was then identified for each block group with a centroid that fell within the 3- or 1- mile area. Data used includes: (1) Superfund site information from SEMS as of the end of FY2019 and site boundary data from FY 2014 FOIA Request; and (2) ACS 2015-2018 census 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 a single latitude/longitude location to model site boundaries based on acreage, not the actual site boundaries. ~~~ Used centroid points of the census block groups which under-estimates the population in some cases, and over-estimates in others. Footnote to Use When Citing Data: U.S. EPA, Office of Land and Emergency Management 2020. Data collected includes: (1) Superfund site information from SEMS as of the end of FY2019 and site boundary data from FY 2014 FOIA Request; and (2) population data from the 2015-2018 American Community Survey. page 3 ------- |