Twenty years ago, a groundbreaking study by the Environmental Justice Resource Center showed a disproportionate amount of minorities were living close to hazardous waste facilities in the U.S. The study suggested that the government placed the waste facilities in neighborhoods of low economic means and no political voice, and it gave birth to the term, “environmental racism.”

A new report by the same organization proves the problem is more prevalent today than 20 years ago. Nine million people live in hazardous waste host communities within 1.5 miles of 413 hazardous waste facilities nationwide. Host neighborhoods are typically economically depressed with poverty rates 1.5 times that of non-host communities, and the proportion of people of color in host neighborhoods is almost twice that than in non-host neighborhoods. Dr. Robert Bullard, the lead researcher in both studies, says it’s not always a matter of race. “Issues of environmental racism don’t just deal with people of color. We are just as much concerned with inequities in Appalachia, where the poor whites are basically dumped on because of a lack of economic and political clout.”

OUTDOOR DICTIONARY

YOGI-ING: The thru-hiker art of bumming food off other hikers without actually asking for it.

HOHA: Hateful Old Hikers Association. A mountain biking term used to describe the old guard of hikers who hate sharing the trails with fat tires.

HIKERSPASSIONS.COM: An online dating service designed to hook you up with a partner that loves the long climb up mount love as much as you do.

CYCLINGSINGLES.COM: Similar service for men and women who are interested in riding something other than their bike.

Thru the Years

In 1948, Earl Shaffer became the first person ever to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail in a continuous stretch. Until Shaffer completed his hike, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and the hiking community thought it was impossible to hike the entire length of the trail in a single season. Shaffer thru-hiked again in 1965, this time from Maine to Georgia, becoming the first person ever to hike the length of the trail in both directions. And he did it again in 1998, at the age of 79, becoming the oldest person ever to thru-hike the A.T., a distinction he held until 2004, when Lee Barry hiked the entire trail at the age of 81.