Temporal trends in sociodemographic composition and land development within US fenceline communities surrounding hazardous industrial facilities: 2001-2019

Unintended releases from industrial facilities can expose fenceline communities to hazardous substances, and distance between facilities and nearby residential development can play a role in preventing exposures. Here, we assess trends in fenceline community sociodemographic characteristics, land development, and the association between the two using sociodemographic data for census tracts (n = 34 068) surrounding 2457 petroleum refining and chemical manufacturing facilities between 2001 and 2019. We find a higher median growth in percentage of Latinx populations among fenceline communities compared to neighboring communities with no industrial facilities. The increase in the median percentage of Latinx populations within fenceline communities was six times higher than for White populations overall (+6 and +1 percentage points, respectively). Though the percentage of the Black populations did not change within fenceline communities over this period, we find a minor sustained higher percentage of Black residents within fenceline communities relative to neighboring communities (20% versus 19%, respectively). Employing a spatial autoregressive model with autoregressive disturbances, we find that an increase in community percentage Latinx population is associated with a decrease in the rate of land development. Comparing fenceline and neighboring communities, we conclude that Black and Latinx populations are disproportionately located near industrial facilities, potentially contributing to inequitable exposure to unintended chemical releases. Our work lends support to the value of considering of sociodemographic composition of fenceline communities when evaluating industrial facility hazards.

Automated summary

This study analyzes sociodemographic data from 34,068 census tracts surrounding 2,457 industrial facilities between 2001 and 2019. The findings reveal that fenceline communities have experienced a higher growth in the percentage of Latinx populations compared to neighboring communities. While the percentage of Black populations remained stable in fenceline communities, there was a slightly higher percentage of Black residents in these communities compared to neighboring ones. Additionally, the study finds that an increase in the percentage of Latinx populations within a community is associated with a decrease in land development rate.