Harris County resident have long raised concerns on the growth of Concrete Batch Plants in the vicinity of their neighborhoods, childrens schools, and churches. Advocates say these plants produce particulate matter (fine dust) smaller than a piece of sand that can penetrate the lungs of those in the vicinity. The lack of zoning regulations in the city of Houston allow these plants to operate in most areas with around-the-clock production, leaving residents with little relief from the incesstant pollution.
These concerns extend beyond the by-products of concrete production itself into the pollutants spewed by the diesel trucks picking up the concrete loads. Well-documented research shows short and long-term exposure to particulate matter can cause and worsen a number of health conditions, including respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
The map below shows asthma rates among adults by Census tract in Harris County. Tracts were equally divided into four percentiles to visualize the disparities in rates of asthma incidence across the county. Darker shades of red indicate increasing rates of asthma among adults, while lighter shades indicate decreasing rates.
For example, if a tract is in the 75%-100% perctile, this indicates the area had a higher incidence of asthma prevalence than at least 75% of other tracts in Harris County. Likewise, if a tract is in the 0%-25% quartile, this indicates the area has a incidence of asthma prevalence that is lower than 75% of other tracts in Harris County.
Blue circles visualize the location of concrete batch plants, as reported by Air Alliance Houston in 2019, the most recent publicly available data I could locate.
Note the majority of the blue dots (concrete batch plants) are located in areas in areas with increasing rates of adult asthma prevalence. While the presented data does not define a link between the presence of CBP’s and asthma rates in Houston, it certainly does not rule out the possibility.
This correlation is complicated by the fact often-times areas with a
higher density of industrial plants are inhabited by minority residents
and/or those with a lack of access to preventative healthcare. The
scatter plot below visualizes this relationship between minority status
and increasing prevalence of adults with asthma.
The scatterplot above visualizes this correlation between increase crude rates of adult asthma in Harris county census tracts and an increasing percentage of residents in each tract who identified as minority residents. This clearly linear relationship defines what advocates have said for years – the health effects caused by concrete batch plants disproportionately affect minority residents in Houston.
These health effects come at a steep price due to the associated
healthcare, labor, and social costs of managing chronic disease. A study
produced by Harvard School of Public Health and Environmental Defense
Fund found that in 2015 alone, the exposure to particulate pollution in
Houston resulted in more than 5,000 premature deaths and almost $50
billion in economic damages.
Houston’s dangerous concrete plants are mostly in communities of color. Residents are fighting back. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/environment/article/Houston-s-dangerous-concrete-plants-are-mostly-17067357.php#photo-22314958
After years of pushback, Houston neighborhoods’ fight against
batch concrete plants begins to gain attention https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/after-years-of-pushback-houston-neighborhoods-fight-against-batch-concrete-plants-begins-to-gain-attention/
Concrete Batch Plant locations in the City of Houston and Harris
County circa mid-2019. https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=a86305a1618b4391b0d31953ee9db757