The Filthy Truth: An Environmental Justice Analysis of Public Beaches in Cleveland, Ohio

Corso, Anna

The Filthy Truth: An Environmental Justice Analysis of Public Beaches in Cleveland, Ohio

Persistent URL

https://dspace.allegheny.edu/handle/10456/56640

Author(s)

Corso, Anna

Date Issued

March 2023

Abstract

This research takes an environmental justice perspective to analyze three public beaches in Cleveland, Ohio–Euclid Villa Angela Beach, Mentor Headlands, and Edgewater– to determine if beach quality is lower in Black and low socioeconomic communities than in majority white and upper class neighborhoods. To measure beach quality, trash from each beach was collected along a known distance, and an infrastructure analysis was performed to assess the recreational infrastructure present at each location. Data on each of the surrounding communities’ socioeconomic status was collected and measured the average home value, percentage of population without health insurance, rate of car ownership, percentage of renting residents, Black population, and percent of population living below the poverty line. Data produced in this study revealed that the beach with the highest density of trash had the highest Black population of the communities examined, indicating potential environmental injustice along the Cleveland coastline.

Major

Environmental Science

Honors

Environmental Science and Sustainability, 2023

First Reader(s)

Pallant, Eric T.