Controversies in White-Collar Crime by Gary W. Potter

Author:Gary W. Potter [Potter, Gary W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Law Enforcement, Political Science, Criminology
ISBN: 9781317523680
Google: YwocBQAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 27290821
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2001-07-01T00:00:00+00:00

Accidental Chemical Releases

Stretesky and Lynch (1999) performed the only EJ study to examine the distribution of accidental chemical releases, employing data from the Accidental Release Information Program to examine the distribution of serious chemical accidents across Hillsborough (Florida) census tracts.49 The researchers found that, on average, chemical accidents are more likely to occur near census tracts that are African-American and low-income than tracts that are white and more affluent. However, the multivariate analysis indicated that income alone was significantly and inversely related to the distance (in miles) any particular tract was located from the nearest accident. Stretesky and Lynch conclude: “accidental chemical spills do not appear to be random events; rather, they seem to be distributed according to the economic characteristics of census tract areas in Hillsborough County.”50

Taken together these studies provide mixed support for environmental justice claims concerning hazardous waste facilities and landfills, toxic releases into the environment, and chemical spills. Unsettled debates (e.g., the use of control variables, the issue of causal order, the meaning of discrimination, the geographic units studies, and the type of hazard examined) have added some confusion to these findings. Further, it should be noted that several of the studies that fail to support race and class effects have been funded by waste production and management industries, adding to the controversies in this field of research. There is clearly much work that criminologists can do in the area of environmental justice.

Above, we reviewed the issues of EJ by presenting a unique analysis of the relationship between race, class, ethnicity, and Superfund site locations in Hillsborough County, Florida, and by summarizing the findings of other empirical studies. While empirical studies of EJ are important, they can omit facts that can only be relayed through case study approaches. Below, we review the information from several select case studies on EJ.

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