Environmental Racism in St. Louis

Environmental Racism is defined as the disproportionate effect of environmental hazards on disadvantaged communities and/or people of color. Environmental racism is a real issue in the United States, and even though environmental protection strategies exist, they are not successfully implemented in all settings, contributing to persistent environmental-related disparities between communities across the country.

Several cases of environmental injustice in the U.S. are very well documented and received national attention for several years. Three examples of such large magnitude events took place in North Birmingham (Alabama), Dickinson (Tennesee), and Flint (Michigan).

St. Louis is the second largest city in Missouri, and it has historically been a key location for trade and transportation due to its location on the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. Consequently, St. Louis is one of the most historically rich cities in the American Midwest.

However, after a reaching a peak in population in the 1950’s, the City of St. Louis has steadily been losing its population, mostly due to westward suburban expansion. Data from the 2019 U.S. Decennial Census show that, since the peak in the 1950’s, St. Louis City has lost about 64.9% percent of its population. This decline in city residents has led to an increase in abandoned buildings, both residential and commercial, as well as an increase in vacant lots in the city.

It is also important to note that this loss of St. Louisans to the city suburbs, which was encouraged by the continuous creation of brand-new residential housing outside of the city’s boundaries, was not demographically homogeneous. Most families that were able to afford new housing typically belonged to medium to high-income communities and were also typically white. Consequently, lower-income families that belong to racial minorities remained within the city boundaries, contributing to the striking racial and economic segregation in St. Louis that is still visible today.

In addition to the segregation that exists between St. Louis City and St. Louis County, it is also important to note the racial segregation that exists within the city boundaries. The African American population is strongly concentrated in the northern side of the city, with Delmar Boulevard constituting the sharp line that borders this area on the south. Other racial minorities are also concentrated in specific neighborhoods in the city. Some examples are the Mexican and Latino communities around Cherokee Street, and Bosnian population in South City.

Demographic data obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau clearly evidences the sharp line that exists between areas with opposite socioeconomic status in St. Louis City. With Delmar Boulevard as the dividing line, the northern half of the city is characterized by a high percentage of black population, as well as predominance in low-income families. In contrast, the southern half of the city has a much lower percentage of black population and total income is relatively higher. A less evident division exists in the southern part of the city, where the western half of south city (i.e., south of Forest Park and west of Kingshighway Boulevard) has a notably low percentage in black population and relatively high total income.

To investigate environmental racism and injustice in St. Louis city, we analyzed non-emergency requests to city authorities placed between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2018. These data were obtained from the Citizens’ Service Bureau (CSB) for the City of St. Louis. These requests are typically placed by city residents and business owners via email, call, fax, or through the CSB website. These data are made public by the City of St. Louis.

These data are classified by “Call Type” and contain calls that correspond to numerous non-emergency requests. To evaluate environmental racism in the city we will be focusing the analysis exclusively on the following types of requests.

1.     Lead Inspiration

2.     Debris in alleyways and streets

3.     Collapse of buildings and other structures

4.     Mold in buildings

5.     Wastewater leaks

The total amount of environmental-related calls to the CSB in St. Louis ranged from 21 to 541 for all census tracts. Looking at the overall distribution of total calls per census tract in the city shows that, generally, areas located north of Delmar Boulevard and east of Kingshighway Boulevard have a significantly higher number of calls compared to other areas in the city such as Midtown and west of Kingshighway in South City. Indeed, this same trend persists when analyzing individual types of calls related to environmental hazards. For instance, the north and south-east of the city have a relatively high number of calls related to building or structure collapse, debris in streets and alleyways, and wastewater contamination, as well as mold and lead contamination in homes. In contrast, other environmental-related calls, such as hazardous waste and fumes and odors, do not follow this trend (data not shown). Instead, the distribution of these two call types is more homogeneous throughout the city, without high numbers of calls clustering in any specific areas in St. Louis.

Results from this study show that the distribution of environmental-related non-emergency calls to the CSB is indeed related to race and socioeconomic status. The total amount of calls is significantly higher in areas with a higher percentage of Black population and lower total income. However, it is important to note that this trend is dominated by the distribution of calls related to collapse, debris, wastewater, mold, and lead. All these types of calls are related to poor housing conditions in those areas, where unoccupied houses tend to collapse and old houses are more prone to develop issues related to bad infrastructure, leading to wastewater leaks, as well as issues related to mold (i.e., poor aeration and insulation) and lead inhalation (i.e., old paint chipping). In addition, lack of street cleanliness in these areas also leads to poor living conditions due to illegal dumping and littering in streets and alleyways.

The Penrose neighborhood is located in North St. Louis, west of Kingshighway Boulevard and north of Delmar Boulevard. This neighborhood contains one of the highest total amount of non-emergency requests placed during the study period. It also contains one of the highest percentages of Black population and the lowest total income in the whole city. When taking a close look at the spatial distribution of individual requests, we notice that the vast majority of calls are related to debris in alleyways and streets (red) and lead inspiration (blue). The number of calls related to building collapse is also significant (green).

Looking at this type of data in detail provides valuable information that can help city authorities target problematic areas and improve the quality of life of city residents. For instance, these data show that littering and illegal trash dumping is likely one of the most important issues in this area. This problem might be targeted by increasing street cleaning, public education, the number of public trash cans, or increased illegal dumping patrols and fines.

St. Louis is characterized by the sharp geographic divisions that exist between communities with very different socioeconomic statuses as well as communities with a high percentage of black population. This unique demographic distribution makes St. Louis an ideal city to investigate environmental racism by using spatial analysis tools. By investigating calls to the CSB related to environmental-related concerns (e.g., collapse, debris, wastewater, mold, lead, hazardous waste, and fumes), we were able to determine that environmental racism indeed exists in the city. Environmental threats to low-income communities and black St. Louisans are directly associated with poor quality of living conditions, such as old houses and high density of abandoned buildings. In contrast, industrial and hazardous waste issues do not seem so prevalent in the city. However, to fully characterize the response of city authorities to general issues that arise in different areas of the city, it is necessary to investigate additional variables (e.g., traffic, crime, etc.).

Our study demonstrates that non-emergency request data collected from the CSB can be used as a proxy for environmental racism in American cities. These data can be used to identify environmental hazards that pose significant threats to low-income communities and racial minorities. Results from this type of analysis can be used to target problematic areas in a region and improve the overall quality of life of city residents. The findings from this study could potentially be applied to other metropolitan areas in the United States. In fact, a report focused on environmental racism in the City of St. Louis identified poor living conditions and lack of quality housing as one of the main causes of environmental racial disparities in the city (IEC, 2019).

While this study shows successful results when assessing environmental health disparities related to race and income in St. Louis, it is important to highlight some of the limitations that are inherent to this method. For instance, many of the negative consequences of environmental racism are health-related. Consequently, data obtained directly from health authorities and hospitals might be more effective at describing the severity of some of the issues described here, such as lead poisoning and respiratory illnesses related to lead inspiration and mold exposure, respectively. Thus, further work needs to be done to establish the accuracy of this type of dataset by comparing it to more robust datasets obtained directly from health authorities. Furthermore, it is important to note that the City of St. Louis reports that this dataset might be inaccurate and incomplete. Thus, data managers recommend caution when using publicly available CSB data for reporting and research purposes.