Unequal Proximity to Environmental Pollution: An Intersectional Analysis of People with Disabilities in Harris County, Texas

This article addresses the growing need to analyze the relationship between disability and environmental pollution, as well as contribute to emerging research that recommends an intersectional approach for studying the complexity of distributive environmental risks imposed on marginalized subpopulations in U.S. urban areas. It focuses on Harris County, which contains the city of Houston and the highest number of people with disabilities in the state of Texas. Three different pollution sources are analyzed: Superfund sites on the National Priorities List (NPL); hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal (TSD) facilities; and motor vehicle traffic. Proximity scores are calculated at the census tract level using a novel spatial enumeration methodology developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and statistical analysis is based on multivariable generalized estimating equations. Results indicate that people with disabilities are significantly more likely to reside in neighborhoods with higher NPL and TSD proximity than those without disabilities, after controlling for clustering and relevant sociodemographic factors. Intracategorical analysis reveals that individuals with disabilities are experiencing a "multiple jeopardy" defined by the convergence of disability with other social disadvantages such as racial/ethnic minority and elderly status and amplified by their proximity to pollution sources.