1. Examination of the Risk of Superfund Sites In the United States
Introduction
Results
Percentage of NPL Sites Across the United States
There are 1323 active NPL sites in the United States
New Jersey is the state with the highest number of Superfund sites in the country with a total of 114 active sites on the EPA’s national priority list
NJ has two landfills in the top 10 NPL sites with the highest health risk scores in the country
Lipari Landfill ranks #4 (75.6) and Helen Kramer Landfill ranks #7 (72.6), both of which are located in Gloucester County, NJ
The top 3 NPL sites with the highest HRS are all in Missouri
On the east coast, NPL sites tend to be more concentrated in the tri-state area of NJ (114, 8.6%), PA (95, 7.2%), and NY (85, 6.4%).
22.2% of the total Superfund sites are in NJ, NY, and PA
On the west coast, California shows to have the highest amount of NPL sites with 95 active sites (7.3%)
Improper disposal of hazardous wastes has led to the contamination of many sites around the country. When this contamination occurs it can serve as a serious health risk and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) targets those areas as Superfund Sites. The EPA gives health risk scores (HRS) to these contaminated sites based on how likely the site is to release hazardous waste into the environment, the wastes toxicity/quantity, and how the hazardous waste can be exposed to people through water, air, or soil sources. If sites receive a score of 25 or higher, they are deemed a Superfund site. In this project, I will be exploring Superfund data across the United States while specifically focusing on the health risk scores in New Jersey.
Data
Conclusions
Figure 1: Shows the percentage of total Superfund sites per state. Data: NLM TOXMAP
I am using data from TOXMAP which was developed by the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM). It incorporates data from the EPA regarding Superfund sites on their national priority list (NPL sites). I chose to originally use data of all the Superfund Sites in the United States then specifically focused on the exploring the health risk scores in New Jersey. I used NJ county population data from a 2012 Census Bureau estimate to serve as a base map of NJ.
The United States has a lot of hazardous waste to clean up as it has 1323 active Superfund sites across the country. These sites range from landfills to old factories to illegal dumping sites with each one posing a different risk to the environment and the surrounding population. NJ alone has the most amount of superfund sites in the country while also being one of the most densely populated states. Even though NJ has only one site with a HRS above 75, they have 51 sites with a health risk score between These sites still have a high health risk score and each pose a serious risk to the surrounding area. Through viewing the presented data in Figures 1 and 2 you can see how this work ties together the economy, population density, and the health risks that can be a result from hazardous waste. Not all superfund sites are a result of illegal dumping, but studies believe that increases in dumping are due to a shortage of waste treatment facilities. This shortage causes the cost of disposal to increase therefore causing people to look for other cheaper alternatives (Ichinose & Yamamoto 2010). These choices can harm the public as studies have reported that there have been increases in health effects such as low birth rate, birth defects, and cancer where people are situated in close proximity to dump sites (Vrijheid 2000). Overall, changes need to be put in place to prevent the further contamination of the environment as it continues to degrade the land we live on and poses a serious threat to the population.
Methods
A spatial statistical analysis of Superfund data of the US from TOXMAP was done using google sheets. I calculated the percentage of total superfund sites in each state then plotted it using a geo-chart and selected for the United States as the region (Figure 1). I then used various equations in google sheets to calculate the maximum, minimum, average, and median percentages of the data set to develop the summary statistics (Table 1). Prior to working with the Superfund data, I removed all of the proposed and inactive sites from the list but included the NPL sites in Puerto Rico and District of Columbia. From the NPL data, I then focused on all of the NPL sites in NJ which were plotted on top a thematic map of county populations which was created in ArcMap with a Jenks Natural Breaks classification. I then specifically plotted each NPL site in NJ based on the EPA health risk scores to show how much of a hazard each site poses to humans and the environment. When mapping the data, I displayed all of the NPL site locations based on their longitude and latitude coordinates. One limitation of mapping the way I did in Figure 1 and Figure 2a is that you can only see where the NPL site locations are or generally the percentage of NPL sites in each state, but you do not receive any information regarding the extent of each sites contamination. By plotting the data, the way I did in Figure 2b, you can see the extent of each sites contamination and how each site poses a different risk to people and the environment due to having different health risk scores.
Table 1: Shows the summary statistics of Superfund sites across the country.
Map of New Jerseys 2012 Population and Active Superfund Sites on the National Priority List
Bibliography
1. Ichinose, Daisuke, and Masashi Yamamoto “On the Relationship between the Provision of Waste Management Service and Illegal Dumping.” Resource and Energy Economics, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 79–93., doi: /j.reseneeco
2. US Library of Medicine. TOXMAP Environmental Health Maps.
3. US Census Bureau. New Jersey Population Estimates.
4. Vrijheid, Martine “Health Effects of Residence near Hazardous Waste Landfill Sites: A Review of Epidemiologic Literature.” Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 108, p doi: /34546.
Created by: Domenico DiSalvo
Figure 2: Shows New Jersey’s estimated population from a 2012 census estimate with (a) all of NJ’s active superfund sites and (b) active superfund sites plotted in regards to their health risk score (HRS). Data: NLM TOXMAP, 2012 Census estimate.