U.S. Schools’ Proximity to Environmental Hazard Sites: A National Analysis

This working paper provides a nationwide assessment of U.S. PreK-12 public and private schools’ proximity to known environmental hazard sites tracked by the EPA: Superfund sites, brownfields, and Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) facilities. Using geographic information systems (GIS), the authors integrate NCES school data with EPA hazard inventories to estimate how many schools—and which students and staff—are located within proximity distances where negative health and academic effects are documented.

Key findings:

• Nearly 10,000 schools (8%), enrolling 3.36 million students and employing 480,000 teachers and staff, are located within a quarter mile of a hazardous site.
• Approximately 44% of all schools fall within one mile. Exposure risks are highly inequitable: Native, Black, Hispanic, and low-income students are 124%, 86%, 43%, and 40% more likely, respectively, to attend schools within a quarter mile of a hazardous site compared to
• White or non-FRPL peers. Schools in cities face the highest proximity rates (12.7% within a quarter mile), and rates vary substantially by state, ranging from about 3.1% (Texas) to 26.3% (Rhode Island).
• The paper also conducts a site-centered analysis, finding that 17% of all hazard sites are located within a quarter mile of at least one school.

The authors note that findings can inform school siting decisions, targeted environmental monitoring, remediation priorities, and policies aimed at promoting educational and environmental equity.