Using GIS Correlations Between Mortality, Morbidity, Environmental, Demographic, and Census Databases in Siting Environmental Pollution Permits

USING GIS CORRELATIONS BETWEEN MORTALITY, MORBIDITY, ENVIRONMENTAL, DEMOGRAPHIC, AND CENSUS DATABASES IN SITING ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION PERMITS

Allan C. Harris – Vice President, National Technical Association – Cincinnati, Ohio (NTA-Cincinnati)

ABSTRACT

This discussion will present a case study using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to show correlations between mortality, morbidity, environmental, demographic, and census databases. The study focuses on siting environmental pollution permits in the Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo, Akron, and Dayton, Ohio communities.

Three principal applications of the study are to help local communities identify, evaluate, and document potential geographic areas of environmental justice concerns that would demonstrate patterns of environmental inequities. Identifiable inequities can be used to make recommendations to the appropriate authorities, including the governor and the director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to ensure environmental protection for all.

This paper will show five examples in which these applications were demonstrated using GIS technology: (1) White vs. Black Mortality Rates in six major cities in Ohio; (2) U.S. Census Tract Mortality and Morbidity Information; (3) EPA Regulated Air, Water, and Land (Pollution) Permits; (4) An environmental concern showing Demographic & Environmental Justice in Cincinnati, Ohio; and (5) An interpretation of Multi-GIS studies using a Neural & Expert System technique that creates LogicTree Diagrams.

INTRODUCTION

Through its Coalition of Black Envoys, the Cincinnati, Ohio chapter of the National Technical Association (NTA-Cincinnati) is utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS), using Esri's BusinessMap Pro software, technology to empower, through education, minority and low-income communities to identify unfair siting of pollution-generated facilities. GIS has been found to provide a suitable tool for COBE to demonstrate how residents can manipulate and analyze the complex relational and spatial, multi-media (air, water, and land) environmental data shown below in Figure 1.

As the oldest African American technical organization in the United States, NTA provides a forum for minority scientific and engineering professionals to exchange information and network. Its collegiate program challenges students to pursue academic excellence and encourages mentoring partnerships with professionals. Among the many achievements of its Cincinnati chapter has been the successful implementation of its Ohio Environmental Awareness and Outreach program in African American communities statewide.

The project is the result of a subcontract due to a partnership between the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA), Office of Environmental Education Fund (OEEF) and the Ohio Alliance for the Environment (OAE) to provide adult environmental education to all Ohioans as recommended during the OEEF’s Comparative Risk Project. This multi-year, three-phase project involved grassroots participation in evaluating environmental conditions in Ohio and making recommendations to address concerns. At the conclusion of each phase, OEEF issued a report: “OHIO: State of the Environment Report,” 1995, “Recommendations to Reduce Environmental Risk in Ohio,” 1997, and “Environmental Literacy Project Report,” 1998.

NTA-Cincinnati is the only African American organization in Ohio to have been funded by OEEF. And it has won funding twice: during the initial OEEF Comparative Risk Project in 1994-95 and currently under the implementation of some of the 28 recommendations issued in the project’s phase two report.

NTA-Cincinnati created the Coalition of Black Envoys (COBE) to implement the subcontract. COBE’s members include concerned citizens, environmental professionals, among others, who give presentations and workshops to grassroots organizations, businesses, churches, etc. COBE also uses other mediums to convey environmental information, among them brochures, a website (http://harris-brown.com/cobe), and surveys. More discussion on COBE’s statewide environmental awareness survey will occur later in this paper.

THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCE RECOMMENDATIONS

The issue of environmental justice is not new to this country and yet only recently has the National Academy of Science (NAS) ruled of its viability. In its “Better Information Needed to Guide Efforts in Addressing Environmental Justice” report released through the Institute of Medicine, Committee on Environmental Justice, NAS states that professionals in four key areas need to be aware of problems. They are Public Health, Research, Education, and Health Policy.

Public Health officials should rigorously apply the principles of risk assessment to identify the sources of potential problems; design and implement interventions to prevent them; and evaluate the effectiveness of those interventions in improving health. Federal, state, and local public health agencies need to work together more closely to collect and coordinate information on environmental health concerns and link it to affected populations and communities in the decision-making process.

Researchers should acknowledge that environmental justice is a legitimate field of study and devote appropriate resources to it. They need to focus on four principles: (a) improving the science base, (b) trying to collect data that is relevant to policy-makers, (c) involving the concerned communities in their work, and (d) communicating their findings to all stakeholders.

COBE has found that for most citizens their main concern is that they be included in ALL decisions about their community. More, citizens are demanding that study results be shared with them as soon as possible. This complaint is universal. The difference is the perception that underserved communities lack the resources to combat unfair siting and compliance enforcement.

Educators should work to improve understanding of environmental justice issues among community residents and health professionals, including medical, nursing, and public health practitioners. They also should make efforts to increase the number of health professionals specializing in environmental and occupational medicine.

COBE has found residents would prefer environmental professionals have some connection to their community. Too often environmental justice issues that residents convey to health practitioners are dismissed not so much out of indifference as misunderstanding or cultural differences.

Policy-makers should take environmental justice concerns seriously, even if the field lacks a rigorous science base. They should be attentive to potential hazards and meticulous about involving the affected communities in the decision-making process.

Provisions for environmental inequity concerns are being incorporated in government contracts by federal, state, and local agencies. This change is the result of President Clinton issuing Executive Order 12898 in 1994. Underserved communities are using Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to combat Environmental Justice concerns. Title VI requires that any program or activity receiving federal funding be implemented in a nondiscriminatory manner.

By using the NAS’ four concepts as a guide, COBE has been able to devise a method of empowering citizens in demonstrating pollution-generated activities to policy-makers. It does this by incorporating computer skills with GIS technology. In other words, citizens are taught how to use the Internet to gather information, analyze it, and then document data on a map.

COBE has held environmental awareness presentations and workshops at churches, universities, civic halls, homes, etc. It has also given computer demonstrations of GIS technology, in a format that is both efficient and user-friendly. Providing visual GIS Environmental Justice Maps that detail a community’s concerns or issues enhances those presentations. Two principal applications of the GIS- Environmental Justice Maps are to help local communities evaluate environmental risks and identify areas of concern related to inequity. Though first suggested in the OEEF report “Recommendations to Reduce Environmental Risk In Ohio,” COBE has taken GIS mapping to its next step by statistically analyzing all three phases of the OEEF study, using LogicTree Diagrams. In this manner, COBE can convey the environmental awareness of Black Ohioans. More information on LogicTree Diagrams will be discussed later in this paper.

The information that COBE displays on its GIS maps, using Esri's BusinessMap Pro software, and tables combine several databases with geographic features and statistics on demographics and economics from the 1990 Census. The databases COBE used consist of, but are not limited to the following:

COBE has found examples from ongoing special studies upon which to base GIS maps: (a) White versus Black Mortality Rates; (b) U-S Census Track Mortality – Morbidity Information; (c) EPA Regulated Air, Water, and Land Permits; (d) An Environmental Concern showing Demographic & Environmental Justice in Cincinnati, Ohio; and (e) Neural & Expert System Analyses Interpretation.

White vs. Black Mortality Rates - To ascertain data from Black Ohioans, COBE distributed surveys in six vital urban areas. They are Cleveland, Toledo, Columbus, Akron, Dayton, and Cincinnati. These areas were chosen because they hold 70 percent of Blacks in Ohio. To guarantee smaller communities are represented, COBE will be distributing surveys during Summer 2000 in such areas as Sandusky, East Liverpool, Loraine, and others. As the second graphic below in Figure 2 shows, only Columbus has a higher death rate of Blacks to Whites. The reason for this anomaly COBE will undertake for further study later.

U-S Census Tract Mortality – Morbidity Information – The Figure 3 diagrams below show, Mortality and Morbidity information shown on U.S. Census Tract Shapefiles. Used in the 1987 Environmental Justice study conducted by The United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice (“Toxic Waste and Race in the United States”) was the U.S. Census Block Group for measurements, which represents approximately 400 to 800 families. The Census Tract is a larger measurement representing approximately two to eight thousand residents within an area. COBE creates maps at various levels: state to state, county to county, city to city, zip code to zip code, census tract to census tract and census block group to census block group, etc. This method allows a more diverse review of health issues and their possible cause.

EPA Regulated Air, Water, and Land (Pollution) Permits – The maps diagramed in Figures 3 & 4 show pollution-generated activates that affect air, land, and water. Data taken from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), details the location of pollution affecting communities. These GIS Maps allow residents to document and monitor possible health risks in affected areas. An added convenience is that residents can work with industry and government to improve their environmental conditions. These so called partnerships are the next chapter in the Environmental Justice crusade.

An Environmental Concern showing Demographic & Environmental Justice in Cincinnati, Ohio – Recently the city of Cincinnati was awarded a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant totaling over $700,000 to study health hazards of soil and dust contamination by lead-based paint in low-income housing (www.hud.gov/pressrel/pr99-200.html). To facilitate the grant, the city created a partnership with the University of Cincinnati. COBE, along with other grassroots organizations, had input on the project. COBE wrote the community awareness and outreach component.

According to The Cincinnati Enquirer’s January 21, 1999 article, “Lead Levels Remain High: Six Neighborhoods Above U.S. Average,” there are six low-income neighborhoods that contain blood lead levels three times higher than the national average (www.enquirer.com/editions/1999/01/21). The article quoted statistics from the Cincinnati Health Department, which the city used, that sited Over-the-Rhine, located in the western section of the city, for study on lead-based paint contamination. Over-the-Rhine was listed at 36 percent, with the percentages of tested children found to have blood-levels above 10 micrograms per deciliter. Only its neighbor, the West End, was higher at 39 percent. The map in Figure 5 shows a breakdown of the six neighborhoods, including their zip codes and closest major highway. Other maps can be created to show nearby industries, waste sites, and documented health problems.

An Interpretation of Multi-GIS Studies using a Neural & Expert System Technique that Creates LogicTree Diagrams – Figure 6, below, shows an interpretation of Multi-GIS Maps using a Neural and Expert System Network that interprets the GIS Map(s) and then creates a LogicTree Diagram. The top row shows four (4) GIS Maps, (1) Percent Minority, (2) Mortality Rate, (3) Acute & Chronic Respiratory Rate, and (4) Malignant Cancer Rate, with a LogicTree Diagrams showing the primary branches. The second row shows Mortality Per 100 Persons – Cincinnati, Ohio, with a LogicTree Diagram having a “Root Node” showing Mortality Rates a Branch showing percent Minority. The LogicTree Diagrams classify patterns from the GIS input "Target" variable(s), based on the logarithm of the number of possible equivalent patterns between the "Target" variable and "Predictive" variable(s). The LogicTree Diagram shows the census tracts as the Target pattern, this allows for an immediate creation of GIS maps that could show unique environmental patterns within a study area(s).

Geographic Information System	LogicTree Diagram – Interpretation of GIS

Two years after the release of the OEEF’s “Environmental Literacy Project Report” on all Ohioans, COBE has begun analyzing its questionnaire of Black Ohioans. Though COBE used similar questions in its ongoing study in African American communities to those in the OEEF report, it expanded on environmental educational questions focusing on Environmental Justice issues. Thus far, COBE has distributed over 1,200 questionnaires to adults in mostly urban areas. Over 400 have been returned. COBE distributed surveys at workshops, health fairs, church events, its website, etc. From the information gathered, COBE was able to create LogicTree Diagrams or patterns that show the evolution of environmental awareness within African American communities.

By analyzing OEEF’s literacy report undertaken by Dr. Karen Mancel and others, COBE compared the former to its ongoing study in African American communities statewide, Figure 8, left panel. Originally the survey was distributed to adults in mostly urban areas. Recently, COBE has begun scheduling dates to give presentations and distribute surveys in small towns and rural areas.

Where OEEF used random telephone samplings, COBE distributed surveys at workshops, health fairs, church events, its website, etc. In its study, OEEF oversampled minority and low-income adults, by collecting an additional 100 samples from each group. This guaranteed OEEF had enough respondents from both groups that were statistically representative of the Ohio population. In all, OEEF had over 700 respondents; their report used slightly over 500. COBE’s analysis uses the entire 706 respondents from the 1998 study.

OEEF’s study was part of the multi-year, three-phase Comparative Risk Project. COBE is extending that affiliation by statistically analyzing the three phases of the OEEF statewide surveys.

COBE’s LogicTree Diagrams convey African American’s environmental awareness. Figure 8, shown below, shows the “Root Node” from the OEEF Literacy Survey and COBE's Ohio Statewide Survey, demonstrating the similarity between the two studies. COBE is making available LogicTree Diagrams that expand the “Root Node” to correlate responses on such questions as “Which source do you trust the most to give you accurate and unbiased information on environmental issues?” Similarly, as shown above in Figure 6, bottom row, information gathered from the Cincinnati Health Department on mortality was made into a LogicTree Diagram.

To combat the problem of Environmental Justice or environmental inequity, underserved communities use Geographic Information Systems technology to research, analyze, and document pollution-generated activities in their neighborhood. That locale can be anywhere from Census Block group, Census Tract, zip code, city, county, state region, etc. Through its Coalition of Black Envoys (COBE), the Cincinnati Chapter of the National Technical Association has utilized GIS technology to show residents in urban areas and small towns in Ohio a means of demonstrating problems within their community. These maps have been used when residents demonstrate before policy-makers like the recent meeting of the U.S. EPA’s National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) to prove unfair siting.

As a result, residents are able to document and monitor the health risks in affected areas. An added convenience to resident participation for industry and government is that residents can work with both entities to improve their environmental conditions. These so called partnerships are the next chapter in the Environmental Justice crusade.

As with any project, there are several people who have given a lot of help. Those who have given the most:

BIOGRAPHY

Empowering underserved communities against unfair environmental siting and compliance enforcement was one of the reasons Deborah D. Harris agreed to administer the Coalition of Black Envoys for the Cincinnati chapter of the National Technical Association. Her duties include networking with government agencies, grassroots environmental organizations, concerned citizens, the media, and others.

Ms. Harris has a Bachelor in Journalism degree from the University of Missouri. As a reporter, she has written for newspapers, magazines, radio and television, among other mediums. She has worked as a media consult for nonprofit organizations and politicians.

Currently, the national board of NTA is looking to expand the COBE concept into its Houston chapter.

Allan C. Harris is a Certified Environmental Engineer with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fernald Environmental Management Project (DOE-FEMP), Office of Safety and Assessment, Project Assessment Team. He has oversight responsibility for a Relational database consisting of over 370 Soil Sample Databases, and is part of a Team that has oversight responsibility for Soil Characterization and Disposal Facility Project and Above- and Below-Ground Excavations. He has successfully completed the U.S. Department of Energy's Technical Qualification Program (TQP) for their Environmental Engineers.

Mr. Harris had participated with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's (OEPA’s) Office of Environmental Education Fund’s (OEEF's) Comparative Risk Project from the development of the Mission Statement through its Phase I, publication of the "1995 Ohio State of the Environment Report" and its Chapter 15 on African American's environmental issues and concerns, Phase II, “Recommendations to Reduce Environmental Risk in Ohio,” where his research on Environmental Justice issues and twenty-eight (28) Environmental Justice recommendations were incorporated into the final document, and the OEEF - Comparative Risk Education Strategy Team (i.e., Phase III), which conducted the Ohio Statewide Environmental Literacy Survey.

Besides serving as Vice President of the Cincinnati chapter of the National Technical Association, Mr. Harris currently Chairs the City of Cincinnati, Ohio's "Environmental Advisory Council (EAC). The purpose of the Cincinnati Environmental Advisory Council is to advise the City Manager, City Council, and City Departments on matters related to the environmental quality of the City of Cincinnati, either as a response to requests from an agent of the City of Cincinnati or as a result of a need observed by the Environmental Advisory Council.

Mr. Harris has a Bachelor in Geophysics and a Masters in Geological Engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla. He also has a Masters in Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas-Houston. He successfully spent over 11 years in the oil and gas industry, analyzing data to locate oil deposits in offshore land leases.

Mr. Harris created an innovative environmental expert & neural network Artificial Intelligence System by combining NASA’s well-known CLIPS and NETS software. He coordinated the first Artificial Intelligence Conference for Geotech, 1991, a major oil & gas annual conference in Houston Texas. He coordinated the Houston Area League of PC Users’ Artificial Intelligence Special Interest Group. He has several Internet publications on statistical, neural network, and expert system analysis.

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