The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has alleged that there is “environmental racism” associated with the location of such undesirable facilities as landfills, incinerators, and hazardous waste sites. They charge that such facilities “are disproportionately located near minority communities” (White, 1994, p. 1).
(a) What data would you want to collect to test whether or not this charge is valid?
(b) What social and economic forces are likely to have caused undesirable facilities to be located near minority communities, if, in fact, the charges are valid?
(c) Assuming the NAACP is correct in its charge of environmental racism, what factors inherent in traditional location models are likely to have resulted in this outcome?
(d) Again, assuming the charges can be supported by data, how can you modify a traditional location model, such as the capacitated fixed charge facility location model, to incorporate factors that will result in a more equitable siting plan?