This research project uses United States Census and EPA Toxics Release Inventory (PRTR) data to examine "environmental inequalities" in Santa Clara County, California, home of the industrial region known as 'Silicon Valley'. Its goal is to explore the historical dimension, or the process that leads to unequal outcomes, especially on poor people and people of color who are more likely to live in polluted areas (neighborhoods with poorer air quality, communities in close proximity to hazardous waste and solid waste dumps). The research documents the distribution of toxics and its relationship to the distribution of relevant demographic characteristics as of 1990. The project demonsrates the use of PRTR information, geographic information systems and digital mapping to analyse social and environmental inequalities.
