Spatial and Environmental Injustice in an American Metropolis: A ...

(Nonnemaker, 2009) and the semirural enclave neighborhoods of southern Pasco County. It is worth noting, however, that one of the ironic consequences of the recent construction boom around the Port of Tampa and certain areas of downtown Tampa is the prospect that some of Tampa Bay's most fêted young workers and wealthy retirees are now exposed to many of the same potential risks of chronic (long-term) and accidental (short-term) releases of noxious environmental contaminants and pollutants at the port. Until recently, this inequity was almost exclusively suffered by the nearby low-income and minority residents and neighborhoods.

Several reliable environmental databases and ranking schemes indicate that Hillsborough County is already one of the most polluted counties in Florida and the United States. For instance, the county leads Florida for: (a) air releases of toxic chemicals from industrial facilities; (b) cancer risk from industrial toxic emissions; (c) noncancer risk from industrial toxic emissions; (d) health risk from air emissions of criteria air pollutants; and (e) the number of Superfund sites on the National Priority List (Environmental Defense Fund, 2007). Furthermore, for most of these categories, Hillsborough County has been consistently ranked in the top 10% of all U.S. counties since 1998. Detailed empirical research is urgently required to document the spatial and environmental justice causes and consequences of this noxious state of affairs on the most deprived communities, vulnerable individuals, and socially excluded groups in Hillsborough County and its largest city. Indeed, detailed research on Tampa Bay presents researchers, decision makers, and concerned citizens with unique opportunities to build a metropolitan region of genuinely “just sustainabilities” (Agyeman, Bullard, & Evans, 2003), that is, socially just and environmentally sustainable urban built environments.