Many U.S. Parks Sit Near Toxic Waste Sites, New Study Finds
University of Michigan researchers mapped 151,366 public parks against EPA-listed Superfund and TRI sites, finding about 18% of parks (26,886) are within two miles of a Superfund Site and over 2,000 overlap physically; more than half of all parks lie within two miles of a TRI site, with at least 63 parks sharing property with a TRI site. The study, based on the Trust for Public Land’s ParkServe dataset and a preprint in Scientific Reports, highlights the need to consider pollution risk alongside green space and calls for more detailed, localized analysis of pollutants, wind, and topography.