Ammonia Inequalities Associated with Industrialized Poultry Facilities in Rural Maryland and Delaware 1 views

Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) affect air quality, public health, and quality of life, often disproportionately harming communities of color and/or low-income communities in the U.S. CAFO air pollution is largely unmonitored at the surface and public records are uneven, leaving communities with air quality and environmental justice concerns without the material evidence needed to support accountability and mitigation through policy change. The space-based Infrared Atmospheric Spectrometry Interferometer (IASI) observes ammonia (NH3), a common CAFO emission, where there are no surface measurements and CAFO-related air quality impacts are contested. Here, we describe NH3 spatiotemporal variability within the Eastern Shore of Maryland and rural Delaware, an agricultural region with thousands of industrialized poultry houses. We report systemic distributive inequalities in NH3 column enhancements above an empirical tropospheric background (ΔNH3) for Black and Latino residents compared to non-Hispanic/Latino white residents in the Eastern Shore of Maryland of 26 ± 6% and 20 ± 7%, respectively, and in rural Delaware of 21 ± 4% and 25 ± 5%. ΔNH3 columns are 36 ± 11% and 42 ± 8% higher for low-income Black and Latino residents compared to high-income non-Hispanic/Latino white residents in the Eastern Shore of Maryland and rural Delaware, respectively. ΔNH3 columns correlate with the locations of poultry CAFOs, with Pearson correlation coefficients improving to r = 0.67 when CAFO air quality impacts are treated as spatially cumulative using circular buffers (0.01–0.06°). Downwind NH3 gradients are sensitive to wind conditions; however, while ΔNH3 columns are higher on warm than cool days, downfield NH3 gradients are similar. This is a different ΔNH3 temperature dependence than observed using IASI in Eastern North Carolina, an intensive region of swine CAFOs, attributed to differences in animal waste and disposal practices. Analysis of trends in population-weighted ΔNH3 columns since 2008 reveals inequalities emerged in the last decade, corresponding to a dramatic increase in the number of poultry CAFOs in 2013. We discuss these results in the context of specific state and local policymaking and solutions, made more complex by the region’s division by state lines.

MS (Master of Science)

English

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2026-04-29