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Annotation:
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This article discusses empirical evidence suggesting that risky facility siting has been geographically, procedurally, and socially unfair, with the facilities placed disproportionately in low-income communities and in communities of color. As a general rule, the promoters of risky facilities have attempted to compensate the communities for the measurable negative impacts. The authors argue that such compensation is not enough. The authors offer a proposal to both break the siting impasse and improve environmental equity, which holds that the siting of noxious facilities be embedded in a broader development package, prepared jointly by citizens of low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, so that their environment is actually improved and overall health risks are reduced. Six steps are included in the proposal: principled leadership, informal assessment, stakeholder involvement, joint assessment, citizen choice, and iterative learning.
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