Polluting our prisons? An examination of Oklahoma prison locations and toxic releases, 2011–2017

Abstract

Recent research has highlighted numerous environmental concerns with US prisons, including that prisons are often located on undesirable land that is in close proximity to environmental hazards. We utilize an environmental justice and green criminology perspective to test this in Oklahoma using data on prison sites and toxic releases provided by the US Environmental Protection Agency for a period of seven years (2011–2017). We focus on Oklahoma because it recently became the state with the highest overall incarceration rate and has a history of elevated levels of pollution. Our results find that prison zip codes have greater TRI emissions compared to non-prison zip codes. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of the study and directions for future research.

Something in the air: Toxic pollution in and around U.S. prisons

“…Accordingly, the goal of this study is to examine patterns of toxic releases in areas with and without prison facilities. Towards this goal, this study will provide a direct response to Bradshaw’s (2018) call for the bridging of prison-based scholarship and green criminology and expand upon the work of Leon-Corwin and colleagues (2020) by examining zip-code level emissions across the U.S. to determine the role (if any) of prison locations. Two research questions will be explored: Research Question 1: Across the U.S., is the location of a prison in a zip code associated with higher toxic releases? Research Question 2: Does any identified pattern hold across all regions of the U.S.? …”

“…Yet, prisons are in some cases disproportionately located in areas fraught with environmental hazards and toxic waste (Abolitionist Law Center and Human Rights Coalition, 2014; Bradshaw, 2018; Leon-Corwin et al, 2020; Norton and Schept, 2019; Schept, 2022). A comprehensive study of facilities emitting toxic waste in Oklahoma, for example, identified proximity to a prison as a salient predictor of elevated toxic emission levels (Leon-Corwin et al, 2020).…”

“…Yet, prisons are in some cases disproportionately located in areas fraught with environmental hazards and toxic waste (Abolitionist Law Center and Human Rights Coalition, 2014; Bradshaw, 2018; Leon-Corwin et al, 2020; Norton and Schept, 2019; Schept, 2022). A comprehensive study of facilities emitting toxic waste in Oklahoma, for example, identified proximity to a prison as a salient predictor of elevated toxic emission levels (Leon-Corwin et al, 2020). Expansion of prison siting in the Appalachian region, according to Schept (2022; see also, Norton, 2015 for a similar discussion of prison development in rural New York), was partially driven by the coal industry's decline.…”

The Creation of a Multidomain Neighborhood Environmental Vulnerability Index Across an Urban Center

“…These areas are composed of institutions like prisons, in which people may have increased vulnerability to environmental pollution, which would limit the potential applicability of the NEVI in those areas. 54,55 Additionally, we have currently only used the NEVI in one large, diverse, and densely populated urban center, potentially limiting the generalizability of patterns in domains of potential vulnerability to other urban areas. However, the adaptable process of creating the NEVI would facilitate the creation and comparison of the index in other urban areas to ascertain their distinct patterns of potential vulnerability.…”

Selecting Data Analytic and Modeling Methods to Support Air Pollution and Environmental Justice Investigations: A Critical Review and Guidance Framework

“…This method was employed by the first major US EJ study on air pollution . Since then, it continues to be used as a simple and widely recognized means of capturing the detrimental effects of living close to environmental hazards. ,− UHC is typically used in studies concerned with hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) from industrial sources or other point source pollution. Toxic release locations are often the input data of proxy methods because of the detrimental health effects of living close to industry and infrastructure.…”