Race, Class and the proposed Cove Point, Maryland - LNG Terminal

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While being a very bad idea, the proposed LNG terminal at Cove Point Maryland does not appear to be a blantant case of race or class based discrimination in its location. 

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I use JusticeMap.org (beta) to analyze the proposed location.  You can see that the income for the immediate census tract is actually higher than the more distant ones, and there are also more white people in the immediate area.  

On the other hand, if you look at the number of people affected - there are relatively few people in the immediate area (1304) compared to the number of people within 2.5 miles (7263).  If you compare the people within 2.5 miles to those at greater distances you get a small increase in income and percent white as you move away from the location.

Not all facility locations are cases of racism or discrimination against the poor.  In this case, I'm guessing that the location of LNG terminals is limited by the need for water access - which can correlate with nice scenic areas to live.  And they might require shallow water which might be harder to find than land for facilities like a landfill.

You can analyze the race/class demographics for your area using JusticeMap.org by first clicking on "Advanced" to load the advanced mode.  Then click on "Compare" to turn on the comparison mode.  Finally click on the map on the center point that you want to analyze. You can increase the distances in the comparison by zooming out, and increase them by zooming in. You can also add your own distance by putting a number next to Distance, hitting submit, and clicking on the map to choose your center point.