Creating Maps to Expose Social Inequities

Ann Moss Joyner

Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities, Inc.

Mebane, NC 27302
(919)563-5899

ann@mcmoss.org

©Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities, Inc.

Cedar Grove Maps made in collaboration
with
Dr. David Marsh of Bucknell University
and
Dr. Allan Parnell of
Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable
Communities, Inc.
“Creating Maps to Expose Social Inequities,”
 Use Maps: Stickiness Factor
Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point:
Effort to get college students to get tetanus shots.

High-fear vs. Low-fear message equally useless.

Added map % obtaining shots soared.
Social inequities with health effects are best
understood on the local level:
Man-Made Problems
Toxic spills
Failing septic systems
Ineffective water system treatment
Withholding of public services
Natural Disasters
Minorities most likely to live in
flood plains….
 Think Big. Look hard.
If you limit your thinking about social inequities
and health disparities to stories where someone
already knows there is a problem,
you are MISSING most of the stories.
 Data Sources
Federal, state,
regional, county, local.
Much available on the
web;
Some data already
mapped.
Sometimes you have
to make your own.
Partner with college
students learning GIS
Mapping Health disparities arising from
social inequities is not new:

John Snow
and the
Cholera
Epidemic of
1854
 London 1831-32:
The Ultimate Toxic Neighborhood

Cholera transmitted by “vapors”

Snow med student:
Postulated water or
Food contamination
No one listened.
 Next Cholera Epidemic London - 1854

Snow – now an
M.D. - plotted
the location of
Cholera deaths
in the city.
 Poor neighborhood sharing one pump;
approx. 500 Cholera deaths within 10
days in that neighborhood.
 Snow: Remove the handle of the
neighborhood’s water pump.
The epidemic was contained…
The best reporters
Think like an epidemiologist;
Challenge themselves;
Dig deeper;
Don’t take anyone’s word for it.
Local/Neighborhood Data
May have to conduct survey yourself.

Zanesville, Ohio 1956 - 2008

Making Water a Matter of Race
Time Magazine July 14, 2008
NY Times several articles
“To this day, Jerry Kennedy only does laundry when it
rains. For the first 54 years of his life, he lived without
running water, and rainstorms were the only way he
could collect enough water to wash his clothes. But
Kennedy isn't from some far-off rural outpost. He was
born and raised in the Coal Run neighborhood of
Zanesville, Ohio … just a few hundred feet from a
municipal water line. Kennedy, now 58, is black. His
neighbors, who did not have running water for more
than 50 years, are also black.”
Local Reactions to Newspaper Article:

“Bull!”

“I've raised my children living in the county on well

and cistern water for thirty years. Yes the well went
dry, pumps went bad kids had to go a day or two
without bathing. This is a way of life for those who
chose to live outside city limits! Get over it! It was
only discrimination based on cost of running water
lines and recovering the cost!”
Lesson: You Get One Chance

Be Thorough
Set the Wider Context
Illustrations
Show your stories to Doubters –
You’ll find the holes.
Coal
Run
Water Undrinkable
Public Water extended for miles.
Because of earlier
mining, the
groundwater is
unfit for drinking,
bathing, washing
clothes.
 54 Years: What Health Effects?
 Reduced Income for Health Care (Must purchase and transport water)
 Dermatitis if use water from wells
 Less water to bathe and clean diapers
 Water contamination (Cisterns)
 Mosquito-borne diseases (e.g. West Nile)
 Acid Precipitation, Corrosion, and Metals Contamination
 Coliform bacteria (68% N. Kentucky study)
 Organic matter from trees, airborne contaminants from burning
wood or coal, droppings from birds; vermin, worms, snakes, insect
and parasite infestation.
 Muscular-Skeletal stress from hauling water.
 Psychological stress from injustice and threats.
July 10, 2008: The U.S. District Court of Ohio awarded plaintiffs
almost $10.9 million, ruling that they had been denied access to
public water because of their race.

“Like a lot of people in the neighborhood, Doretta Hale, 74,

wept on the day the
clean water first
gushed through the
pipes. ‘I could wash
clothes whenever I
wanted,” she said,
…. “I could go out
and water the
flowers.’ ”
II. Health Risks/Disparities in the Tulare
County, CA: Nitrates

Data sources:
 Federal
 State,
 Regional
 County
 Local
 Community.
 Nitrates
Nitrate penetrates through soil and remains in
groundwater for decades.
Nitrate concentrations in groundwater in
San Joaquin-Tulare Basin frequently exceed drinking
water standards.
As many as 40% of wells tested in almond-growing
areas (e.g. Tulare County) contaminated.
Wider Context
 Context:
Geographic and Chronological
USGS: Eastern San Joaquin Valley

Nitrate concentrations may pose a greater threat to

the groundwater resource here than pesticides.
Nitrate concentrations were significantly higher in
the 1995 groundwater samples than in the 1986–87
samples collected from the same wells.
 National Context
National Academy of Sciences Study:
27,000 infants in U.S.
drink water contaminated
with nitrate
in excess of the federal 10 ppm standard.
 Map context or comparison community: Concentration
of Dairy in San Joaquin Valley vs. Nation
 Nitrates, nitrites and
ammonia
contaminate
water, soil and air..

A Major Source:
Livestock

San Joaquin Valley

air pollution
“non-attainment”
area
 Map sources of
contaminants.
Tulare County, CA
produces more animal
waste than any county in
the nation.

Tulare County Wells

with nitrate detections
above the MCL
Dairy businesses in
Tulare County in
2006:

Dark green and dark-

green-hatched =
dairy businesses,

Yellow and olive

green =
bovine feedlots

Source: Tulare
County Resource
Management
Agency, 2006.
Nitrate Contamination and Exposure by Ethnicity
in Tulare County, CA
3) Map rates of associated health effects:

Respiratory Illnesses
Mental depression, headache and
weakness
Gastro-intestinal illness
Cancers
Reproductive problems, Birth defects
Potentially fatal for infants, elderly,
people with weakened immune systems.
Potentially fatal for infants, elderly, people with weakened
immune systems.

Fetal mortality
rate,
Tulare County
2003-2005
 Can tie to catastrophic Events

Flooding from Hurricane Floyd, NC

Hog Lagoons: Breach, overflow, or become
inundated by Flood Waters
 Hurricane Floyd in NC
More than 3 million chickens and turkeys, and between
10,000 and 500,000 hogs died in flooded areas.
Flood waters eventually move into groundwater,
residential well water, the ocean;
This leads to contamination
by
fecal
coliform
bacteria,
and
protozoal
and viral
pathogens.
 Decomposition and Algae Blooms
Uses available oxygen Massive fish kills
Post-Hurricane Gastro-Intestinal Illness
Significant increases in emergency room visits
were found for nonspecific intestinal infections
in both severely and moderately affected
counties following the hurricane, relative to
unaffected counties.
Reportingonhealth.org
Member Story

Nitrate contamination
spreading in California
communities

May 13, 2010 | Julia Scott

http://www.californiawatch
.org/nitrate-contamination-
spreading-california-
communities
2007 San Diego County Fires
LSNC legal aid used GIS to
pinpoint low-income
communities effected.
 Fires
Water filters through tree canopy, forest floor and grasslands.
National forests and grasslands largest single source of freshwater
in the country.
Fires Erosion Flash floods
And release of soluble chemicals
(e.g. Nitrates)
Gastrointestinal illnesses,
Blue baby syndrome
Various cancers
Diabetes
Thyroid disruption, etc.
 Stories in Your Own Back Yard
Stories That Don’t Appear to Be About Water
Excluded
Minority
Community
History: Failing Septic Systems and
Failed Attempts at Annexation
Catch-22’s:
If you report your failed septic system,
you risk condemnation.
If you request annexation, the town doesn’t
have to provide services.
Called in Local Public Health Grad Student

• Surface water samples

exceeded EPA and NC Div. of Water Quality
• Maximum Contaminant Limits
Fecal coliforms, E. coli, and enterococci
• Contaminants are human in origin,
not due to animal waste.

Contaminated surface water can contaminate wells.

Exclusion of Latinos in Modesto, California
Withholding of City Services:
 No City Police
Sheriff’s deputies must drive through town.
 No Sewer
 No Stormwater Management
 No Trash Pick-up
All have connections to health disparities.
Without City Trash Pickup, neighborhoods become a dumping
ground.

Without adequate police surveillance,

dumpers know they’re not likely to get caught.
 No Municipal Trash Pick-Up
Stanislaus County code enforcement officer:
“… one elderly lady spent $300 to clean up her alley
only to find it filled with a refrigerator and microwave.”
According to the California Dept. of Toxic Substances
Control, refrigerators, televisions, and computers, etc.
are hazardous waste:
Refrigerators contain CFSs .

Electrical and electronic equipment contains lead,

cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium,
polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) and
polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs).
© Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities, Inc.
“Inside” v. “Outside” - Sewer Lines with Tax Parcels

Trunk Line

© Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities,

 No Sewer

Trunk Line

© Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities, Inc.

Using Aerial

Photography
Illustrates
Density
Visually

Note Sewage
Treatment
Plant
proximity to
excluded
neighborhood
s on same
side of the
river.

© Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities, Inc.

© Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities, Inc.
Plaintiff
Neighborhoods

© Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities, Inc.

“Inside” v. “Outside”— Streetlights and Tax Parcels

© Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities,

Inc.
 Scope of the Problem?

Over 20,000 people live in these unincorporated

islands.

Who is Affected?

Unincorporated island residents are almost 10 times

more likely to be Latino than non-Latino
“Island” residents are much more likely to be Latino than
are residents of the City or the County.
Percent Latino

80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Unincorporated County Modesto
Islands
 Land Use and Densities
City Limit City block

In the City Out of the City

No Man’s Land, Modesto, CA

71% Latino
 Excluded Hispanic Neighborhoods: City Densities

Bret
Harte
N

1,254
Trunk
Lines Housing
Units
 Street Level
Roberson Road – A neighborhood of 1,459 people,
built on a flood plain, with lots averaging 1/5 acre.
Until a recent law suit was filed, ALL of these
neighborhoods relied on septic systems.
In 1997, the Pineapple Express rained 7” in 2 days.
The Tuolumne River flooded Modesto, cresting at
70.9’
- 16 ft’ over 500-yr. flood stage.

How Bad is the Problem?

82% of the lots are smaller than public health

requirements for septic use.
 Context
• Septic systems, displaced by rising ground water pressure or
flooding, may become hydraulically
connected to wells.
•This is the most frequently-reported cause of contamination
in groundwater disease outbreaks associated with the
consumption of untreated groundwater in the U.S.
• The entire town of Modesto obtains its water from city wells.

• Systems using ground water sources are not required to

disinfect.
• In Stanislaus County, there are 17,630 wells.
• Across the U.S., the number of urban households on wells have
increased dramatically.
• There have been no published studies of well safety in the U.S.
since the 1960’s.
No sidewalks or stormwater management means arriving at school with soaked
shoes, socks and pantlegs -- or walking in the street ….

Forcing the choice between the stress of social isolation or risking lives.
 What’s At Stake?
Tie Health Effects to Other Implications

Failing Septic Systems:

 E. coli contamination
 Cryptosporidium
Diminished Home Values
Slower Police Response Times
Pedestrian Safety
Voting Rights
 Data Sources
 Local and state public health departments
 Robert Wood Johnson: mapping your community (by county)
 EPA Enviromapper
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/hfacts.html
 EPA Window to My Environment
http://www.epa.gov/enviro/wme/
 HUD Homelessness Resource Exchange
http://www.hudhre.info
 EPA List of Drinking Water Contaminants
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/contaminants/index.html
 Overview of Drinking Water and Health
http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwh/index.html
 Underground Storage Tank Releases
http://www.epa.gov/swerust1/cat/index.htm