The term environmental racism was coined in a 1987 study conducted by the United Church of Christ that examined the location of hazardous waste dumps and found an "insidious form of racism." Concern had surfaced five years before, when opposition to a polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) landfill prompted Congress to examine the location of hazardous waste sites in the Southeast, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s Region IV. They found that three of the four facilities in the area were in communities primarily inhabited by people of color. Subsequent studies, such as Ben Goldman's The Truth about Where You Live, have contended that exposure to environmental risks is significantly greater for racial and ethnic minorities than for nonminority populations. However, an EPA study contends that there is not enough data to draw such broad conclusions.

The National Law Journal found that official response to environmental problems may be...