Environmental Justice Through an Engineering Lens: A Multidisciplinary Evaluation of Baltimore City’s Air Quality

Abstract

The study aims to investigate Baltimore City's air pollution through an environmental justice (EJ) lens by referencing a historical analysis of the city and racial and economic demographic data to understand if there are EJ disparities across the city. Data from the EPA's National Emissions Inventory (NEI) was used to calculate multiple Gaussian Plume Model (GPM) concentrations from point sources all across Baltimore City. After analysis of the models, it was concluded that there are no explicit air quality violations, but certain wind directions do subject neighborhoods of marginalized racial and economic backgrounds to higher amounts of emissions. Future studies involving an environmental justice lens in environmental engineering will result in a more holistic profile of the environmental harms communities are exposed to.