Several studies undertaken over the past decade suggest that minority and lower-income communities are disproportionately exposed to environmental hazards relative to the rest of the U.S. population, resulting in an issue of “environmental equity.” This research examines the equity issue in relation to the foreign born in the United States, making use of a county-level, nationwide, dataset reflecting sociodemographic characteristics and the presence of several environmental risk factors (toxic releases, hazardous waste generators, and Superfund sites). The results suggest that counties with higher proportions of immigrants and non-English speaking households are characterized by greater numbers of large quantity hazardous waste generators and proposed Superfund sites, two of the three incorporated measures of environmental risk. The later measure demonstrates the strongest relationship with immigrant presence.
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