Community Health Overlay¶
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Health Burden in Ship Channel Communities¶
Port emissions don't affect all communities equally. The health impact of Houston-Galveston's port operations falls disproportionately on low-income neighborhoods and communities of color located along the 52-mile Houston Ship Channel corridor. NRDC analysis found that air pollution burdens in Ship Channel communities were approximately 50–60 times those of the broader Houston metropolitan region.
Data Sources¶
| Source | Publisher | Data Provided | Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| CDC PLACES | CDC | Census-tract-level health estimates: asthma, COPD, heart disease, depression, obesity | cdc.gov/places |
| EJScreen | EPA | Environmental justice screening indicators by census tract | ejscreen.epa.gov |
| American Community Survey | U.S. Census Bureau | Demographics, income, poverty, housing by census tract | census.gov |
| Toxics Release Inventory | EPA | 500+ TRI-reporting facilities in Harris County | epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program |
| TX Dept of State Health Services | DSHS | State health statistics, disease surveillance | dshs.texas.gov |
Full Assessment Available
The complete analysis for this section — including census-tract-level health quantification, monetized health damages, environmental justice scoring, and scenario modeling — is available through our research services.
See the full methodology in action: Our Duluth-Superior assessment and New York/New Jersey assessment demonstrate the complete analytical depth available for every port on this site.
Contact us to discuss a site-specific assessment for this port community: research@porthealthwatch.org