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The American Energy Consumer







Table 6-4.Percent Distribution of Census Tracts, by Median Family Income and Carbon Monoxide (CO) Level (445 Census Tracts in the Washington SMSA: CO data for 1968, Income data for 1969)
CO Level
Below federal standard Above fed. standard
Median family income per census tract All tracts Less than 2 mg/m3 2-4.99 mg/m3 5-9.99 mg/m3 More than 10 mg/m3
Total all tracts 100 76 16 7 2
Less than $7,000 100 17 47 23 13
$7,000 to $11,999 100 66 23 10 1
$12,000 to $15,999 100 92 3 4 1
$16,000 to $19,999 100 90 6 3 0
$20,000 and over 100 85 13 2 0
Source: Derived by Washington Center for Metropolitan Studies using data from TRW, Inc. and U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1970 Census of Population and Housing, Census Tracts, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area [PH C (1)-226], Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, May 1972, Table P-4.


Footnotes

Footnote :

f Installation of air pollution control devices in autos has not made an appreciable difference in the general level of CO in Washington's air between 1968 and 1972. (Health and Environmental Protection Technical Report No. 2, Air Quality in the National Capital Air Quality Control Region—1972, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, September 1973, graph no. 6).

Footnote :

g For a discussion of this movement see Eunice Grier, Characteristics of Black Suburbanites, (Washington, D.C.: The Washington Center for Metropolitan Studies, October 1973), pp. i-iii, 15-25.

Footnote :

a Median income for the Washington SMSA was $12,933 in 1970.

POLLUTION FROM INDUSTRY, POWER, AND WASTE DISPOSAL—PARTICULATES AND SULFUR DIOXIDE

The first part of this section compares particulates and SO2 pollution with four socioeconomic characteristics in 1969, summarizes the relationship between concentration of the two pollutants and family income in that year, and compares our findings with those of others. The second part looks at the decline of particulate levels in Washington between 1969 and 1973 and shows the reasons for it.

Figures 6-11 to 6-14 show sulfur dioxide and its relationships to the four characteristics. Figure 6-11 (SO2 and poverty areas) shows that although there are nonpoverty pockets within the most polluted areas, poverty is disproportionately present. Most of the nonpoverty land on either side of the Potomac River within the highest isopleth is occupied by parks, highways, an airport and a military base. Thus, likelihood of a poor household living in a high SO2 zone is greater than is immediately apparent. This innermost isopleth corresponds to the federal standard, although any place above 70 μg/m3 should be considered highly polluted.

Figure 6-12 (SO2 and occupations) tells a similar story. Although there are areas with 50 percent or more professional and managerial residents living in highly polluted places (SO2 levels above 70 μg/m3), there are very few