Mapping Environmental Justice in Portland, Oregon

Air pollution is an increasingly prominent issue because of its implications on human health, among others. According to the State of Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) study of Portland’s air pollution and toxics concentrations, Portland’s air quality has increased in the past three decades, but certain pollutants are notably higher than both ambient benchmark concentrations (ABC) and national healthy benchmark concentrations. In this lab, we utilized ArcGIS to convert tabular data of  the presence of air pollutants in Portland neighborhoods into spatial data in order to understand potential relationships between race and air pollution.  Environmental justice, especially in urban contexts, can involve people of low income, people who identify with minority populations, as well as the way these economic and racial patterns intersect.