HEAT MAP: Hazard,Environmental and Toxicity Mapping of American Prisons,a Tool Visualizing and Analyzing Carceral Facilities’ Exposure to Superfund Sites and Extreme Heat

Abstract

There is a growing need for accessible tools providing information on environmental hazards in community spaces. While tools like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s EJScreen and EnviroAtlas provide publicly accessible information, they do not always provide clear metrics for understanding the impacts of hazards they display, and their long-term availability is uncertain. We have developed a novel tool for community members, advocates, and policymakers to understand the unique risks that federally recognized Superfund sites and the increasing likelihood of extreme heat events over time pose to people living and working in carceral facilities. HEAT MAP (Hazard, Environmental, and Toxicity Mapping of American Prisons) features interactive maps, relevant context, and representative case studies. Maps displaying carceral facilities, with radii of concern around Superfund sites and a visualization of heat predictions at the county level, enable users to visualize threats facing incarcerated people in these facilities. We focus attention on carceral facilities due to the inability of incarcerated people and their family members to alter their living environment. When carceral facilities are housed on or near Superfund sites or are subject to extreme heat, lack of agency in one’s housing and mobility can be understood as an issue of environmental injustice.