Historic redlining and the siting of oil and gas wells in the United States

BACKGROUND AND AIM. The presence of active or inactive (i.e., postproduction) oil and gas wells in neighborhoods contributes to ongoing pollution. Racially discriminatory neighborhood security maps developed by the U.S. federal Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) 1930s may contribute environmental exposure disparities. Our aim was determine whether receiving worse HOLC grades associated with more wells. METHODS. We assessed among HOLC-graded 33 cities from 13 states where urban were drilled operated. Among 17 for which 1940 census data available, we used propensity score restriction matching compare well that similar on observed sociodemographic characteristics but received different grades. RESULTS. Across all included cities, redlined D-graded had 12.2 ± 27.2 km-2, nearly twice density graded A (6.8 8.9 km-2). In restricted matched analyses, 2.0 (1.3, 2.7) than comparable a better grade. CONCLUSIONS. study adds evidence structural racism policy is disproportionate siting marginalized neighborhoods. KEYWORDS. Oil gas, justice, racism, health disparities