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Track: Environmental Management
Denisa Bleakly
Sandia National Laboratories
PO Box 5800
MS 1147
Albuquerque, NM 87185-1147
Telephone: 505-284-2535
Fax: 505-284-2616
E-mail: drbleakly@envc.sandia.gov
The Use of GIS in Performing an Environmental Justice Analysis at Sandia National Laboratories
Defining Issue: Identifying low-income and minority populations through the use of demographic and geographic analysis to determine if a reasonable possibility exists for environmental justice issues and concerns. GIS Solution: ArcInfo and Arc/View Version 2 were used to analyze, display, and map the distribution of low-income and minority populations within a fifty-mile radius of Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico (SNL/NM). Methodology: The way GIS was used for an environmental justice analysis is a two-step process. A demographic profile was developed using 1990 census data. Based on a comparison to the New Mexico State averages for low-income and minority status, each census block group within a fifty-mile radius of Sandia National Lab, New Mexico was mapped for multiple variables- low income, minority populations, Hispanic populations, American Indian populations, Asian and Pacific Islander populations, black population, and "other" population. An "environmental justice index" was then used
to incorporate into one measure race, income, and total population per square mile for each census block group. This analysis and the accompanying maps then were used as part of a more detailed analysis that included human, health, and environmental risk factors to determine if there were any disproportionately adverse impacts to low-income and minority populations. Software: The analysis was performed using a combination of ArcView Version 2 and ArcInfo. The purpose of this paper is to show how GIS was used to perform an environmental justice analysis.
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