Environmental Racism in the Heartland

The report details how systemic racism in Kansas City has led to the disproportionate siting of polluting industries in communities of color and low-income areas, resulting in severe health disparities. It highlights the failure of federal and state air monitoring networks to capture local pollution 'hot spots' and describes the efforts of CleanAirNow to implement community-based monitoring. The document concludes with recommendations for stricter emissions standards, real-time fenceline monitoring, and the transition to zero-emissions transportation to protect vulnerable residents.

• Systemic racism in Kansas City, manifested through redlining, zoning, and discriminatory land-use planning, has resulted in communities of color and low-income residents bearing a disproportionate burden of environmental hazards.
• Residents in heavily industrialized neighborhoods face severe health disparities; for example, a 2016 study in Wyandotte County, Kansas, found a 22-year difference in life expectancy for people in the Armourdale neighborhood compared to other parts of the county.
• Current federal and state air quality monitoring networks are insufficient because they contain geographic gaps in environmental justice communities and fail to capture short-term pollution spikes or 'hot spots' near industrial facilities.
• The Clean Air Act's regulatory framework is inadequate for protecting fenceline communities because the EPA is mandated to analyze the effects of individual chemicals one at a time rather than considering the cumulative impacts of multiple pollutants.
• CleanAirNow (CAN) has established a community-led air monitoring network to provide hyper-local, real-time data, filling gaps left by the EPA and empowering residents to advocate for health protections.
• Several major polluting facilities in the Kansas City area consistently violate federal laws or go long periods without inspection; for instance, Harcros Chemicals was fined $1 million in 2021 for a Clean Air Act violation involving a chlorine gas release.

APA

Lugo-Martinez, B. (2021). Environmental Racism in the Heartland. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/ucs-mr-KC-10.21-Engl-web.pdf

Chicago

Lugo-Martinez, Beto. Environmental Racism in the Heartland. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2021. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/ucs-mr-KC-10.21-Engl-web.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lugo-Martinez |first1=Beto |title=Environmental Racism in the Heartland |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=November 2021 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/ucs-mr-KC-10.21-Engl-web.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lugomartinez2021environmental, author = {Lugo-Martinez, Beto}, title = {{Environmental Racism in the Heartland}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2021}, month = nov, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/ucs-mr-KC-10.21-Engl-web.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }