Proximity of parks to polluting sites in the United States

This study investigated the spatial overlap and proximity of parks in the United States (US) to two types of polluting sites. Using data from ParkServe (2024) and the Environmental Protection Agency (2023 and 2024), we conducted a spatial analysis in ArcGIS Pro to quantify (1) the presence of Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) sites in each US park or within 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 miles of the park’s boundary; and (2) the area of overlap between each park and any Superfund Sites (SFS) or between each park and the 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 mile buffers around each SFS. We found that over half (52.6%) of US parks are within two miles of a TRI site and 9.3% have TRI sites that either overlap or fall within a half mile of park boundaries. Over 2,000 of all parks ( N = 2,442 or 1.6%) contain land that directly overlaps with SFS, and nearly 18% (17.7%) of parks are within two miles of SFS. The results of this study show that across the US, green spaces and polluting sites are far from mutually exclusive. These places require localized attention, analysis, and advocacy to support both human and environmental health.