Environmental Racism Study Finds Levels Of Inequality Defy Simple Explanation

I know this is older...but I heard this on the radio today (www.environminute.com) and I searched out the story.
Here it is and it reeks.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070709133240.htm
>>>>snip
ScienceDaily (July 11, 2007) — A new study examining two possible factors leading to "environmental racism" finds that although the average black or Hispanic resident of a major U.S. city lives in a more polluted part of town than the average white person, the levels of inequality vary widely between cities and defy simple explanation.

>>>snip
Since the term "environmental racism" was coined in 1987, researchers have investigated why minorities are more likely than whites to reside in areas where there is more pollution, with many arguing that environmental racial inequality is due to racial income inequality or residential segregation. In order to determine whether either of these factors produce environmental inequality, Downey compared environmental inequality levels to levels of residential segregation and racial income inequality in each of the 61 metropolitan areas.

Using a measure of air pollutant concentration and toxicity developed by the Environmental Protection Agency to calculate the air pollution "burden" of each neighborhood in each metropolitan area, Downey compared levels of inequality between blacks and whites, Hispanics and whites, and Hispanics and blacks. He then examined whether metropolitan areas with high levels of residential segregation and racial income inequality also had high levels of environmental racial inequality.

>>>>snip
Overall, there was so little correlation between what would be predicted by the two explanations of environmental racial inequality and the actual results of the study that the study "contradicts the residential segregation and income inequality hypotheses," Downey said."This does not mean that residential segregation plays no role in producing environmental racial inequality," he said. "After all, environmental racial inequality could not exist if blacks, Hispanics and whites were equally represented in all neighborhoods. Instead, the study demonstrates that residential segregation does not necessarily lead to environmental racial inequality.

I guess this is the replacement for the National Environmental Justice Committee that more or less dissolved during the bush years.

I wonder if these researchers have eyes that enable to see the sources of pollution. I wonder if they are capable of viewing old maps to locate the old dumps that are often under poor nieghborhoods. Sometimes researchers are not able to see the huge mounds of industrial waste that are often stored in minority neighborhoods.