An evaluation of the public health and environmental aspects of brownfields in Baltimore, Maryland

Throughout the United States, there are approximately 400,000 to 500,000 abandoned and under-used commercial and industrial facilities with real or perceived contamination. Many of these sites are located in urban centers in the Northeast and Midwest where heavy manufacturing, other industrial activities, and related businesses once thrived. In Baltimore City, over 1,000 vacant or under-used industrial parcels persist across its landscape. Little knowledge exists about the past uses of these sites and the potential environmental hazards associated with these sites. Moreover, information on the health status and socioeconomic well being of communities living near these sites is unknown.; Research questions. (1) What are the environmental characteristics of vacant industrial sites in Baltimore city? (2) Do vacant industrial sites represent potential urban environmental hazards? (3) How can site-specific hazard evaluations be prioritized for planning purposes? (4) Do high-risk communities live near vacant industrial sites, as measured by mortality and morbidity information and socioeconomic status?; Methods. A public health assessment of vacant urban industrial lots was conducted in Baltimore City. This assessment included an evaluation of environmental health hazards associated with vacant lots in southeast Baltimore and an evaluation of community health status. Using site-specific information, an algorithm was created to evaluate vacant industrial sites and rank these sites relative to other vacant industrial sites. Additionally, statistical models were developed to consider population health status in communities living in aging industrial areas, of which vacant industrial sites are a proxy.; To set the public health context of vacant industrial lots, herein referred to as ‘brownfields’, health and socioeconomic trends were examined throughout the City and within the study area at the US census tract level, using surveillance data on mortality and cancer incidence and US census data from 1980 and 1990 on socioeconomic position. Geographic information systems (GIS) were employed to examine the spatial patterns of these select indicators.; To evaluate the relationship between the location of brownfield sites and the health and social well being of communities living near these sites at the citywide level, basic information about 480 sites greater than or equal to one acre and neighborhood-level data on mortality and socioeconomic position was examined. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...