The Washington State Environmental Health Disparities Map: Development of a Community-Responsive Cumulative Impacts Assessment Tool

Esther Min, Deric Gruen, Debolina Banerjee, Tina Echeverria, Lauren Freelander, Michael Schmeltz, Erik Saganić, Millie Piazza, Vanessa E. Galaviz, Michael Yost and Edmund Y.W. Seto
Additional contact information
Esther Min: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
Deric Gruen: Front and Centered, Seattle, WA 98122, USA
Debolina Banerjee: Puget Sound Sage, Seattle, WA 98104, USA
Tina Echeverria: Washington State Department of Health, Olympia, WA 98504, USA
Lauren Freelander: Washington State Department of Health, Olympia, WA 98504, USA
Michael Schmeltz: Department of Health Sciences, California State University, East Bay, Hayward, CA 94542, USA
Erik Saganić: Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, Seattle, WA 98101, USA
Millie Piazza: Washington State Department of Ecology, Olympia, WA 98504, USA
Vanessa E. Galaviz: Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and Office of the Secretary, California Environmental Protection Agency, Sacramento, CA 95814, USA
Michael Yost: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
Edmund Y.W. Seto: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 22, 1-16

Abstract: Communities across Washington State have expressed the need for neighborhood-level information on the cumulative impact of environmental hazards and social conditions to illuminate disparities and address environmental justice issues. Many existing mapping tools have not explicitly integrated community voice and lived experience as an integral part of their development. The goals of this project were to create a new community–academic–government partnership to collect and summarize community concerns and to develop a publicly available mapping tool that ranks relative environmental health disparities for populations across Washington State. Using a community-driven framework, we developed the Washington Environmental Health Disparities Map, a cumulative environmental health impacts assessment tool. Nineteen regularly updated environmental and population indicators were integrated into the geospatial tool that allows for comparisons of the cumulative impacts between census tracts. This interactive map provides critical information for the public, agencies, policymakers, and community-based organizations to make informed decisions. The unique community–academic–government partnership and the community-driven framework can be used as a template for other environmental and social justice mapping endeavors.

Keywords: environmental justice; geospatial mapping; geographic information systems; community engaged; community driven research (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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