Introduction

"Environmental Justice" is a movement comprising Civil Rights activists and  environmentalists working to ensure the rights of low-income and minority communities to clean and healthy environments. Movements, often comprised of an aggregate of  issues and events, are usually defined in singular moments--catalysts for momentum towards comprehensive, cohesive action and response.

The catalyst for the Environmental Justice/Equity Movement had its beginnings in a small, predominately African-American community in the South. And while there had always been an awareness of the disproportionate burden borne by minorities and low-income communities, events did not give rise to a " movement " until 1982 in Warren County,  North Carolina.

Warren County, North Carolina

In the early eighties, the State of North Carolina decided to build a toxic waste landfill  in an overwhelmingly low-income and minority community in Warren County. This landfill was created for the disposal of PCB-contaminated soil, removed from fourteen counties throughout the State. Civil rights and environmental activists collaborated to stage numerous demonstrations, which resulted in the arrest of more than 500 people, including Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.--then Executive Director of the United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice (and formerly the Executive Director of the National  Association for the Advancement of Colored People), Dr. Joseph Lowery of the  Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Congressman Walter Fauntroy (D- DC).

Effect of the Warren County Protests; GAO Study

Warren County became a rallying point for those eager to see national attention focused on the inequities clearly present in the siting of unwanted land uses. At  the behest of Congressman Walter Fauntroy, the U.S. General Accounting Office  (GAO) conducted a study of the states comprising Region IV (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee) "to determine the correlation between the location of  hazardous waste landfills and the racial and economic status of the surrounding  communities."

The study's conclusions, while not surprising, were disheartening. The report found that three out of every four landfills, in the EPA's Region IV, were located near predominately minority communties.

Commission on Racial Justice Report; Toxic Waste and Race

In 1987, a milestone Commission on Racial Justice report showed that the most significant factor in determining the siting of hazardous waste facilities, nationwide, was race. The CRJ study found that three out every five African-Americans or Hispanics live in a community buttressing unregulated toxic waste sites. Additionally, the study noted that African-Americans were heavily overrepresented in the populations of metropolitan areas with the greatest number of uncontrolled toxic waste sites.

Results of other studies; race and economic considerations as factors

Other studies support the premise of race as a significant factor in the siting of unwanted land uses; however, economic considerations also play a role in the decision to site in predominately minority communites. Oftentimes, poor communities are intentionally chosen to host undesirable land uses simply because there is no expectation of resistance from community residents and/or leaders.

National Law Journal study; official response to EJ situations

Following closely on the heels of C.R.J. Report, the National  Law Journal conducted a study of its own and found that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took 20% longer to place abandoned sites in minority communities on the national priority action list and that polluters of those neighborhoods paid fines 54% lower than polluters of white communities.

Grassroots Activism

Grassroots activists and community leaders have utilized the data developed by environmental equity theorists, advocates, and sociologists to confront corporate entities and inert and oftentimes ineffectual state and federal agencies over unwanted sitings.

Clinton Administration and Executive Order 12898

With the advent of a new administration, advocates have begun noting changes in the law, as well as the overall reception given by government officials. On February 11, 1994, President Clinton signed Executive Order 12898. This "Order" directs each federal agency to develop an Environmental Justice strategy for "identifying and addressing... disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of its programs, policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income populations." Monies have been allocated to federal agencies and state governments assisting communities develop strategies to local environmental problems.

"Regulatory Reform" and Environmental Policy and Protection Rollbacks

In the mid-1990's,  the advent of rising voter apathy, divisional politics, and a conservative Congress resulted in stemming the tide of change in American Environmental Policies. Under the guise of "regulatory reform," attempts were made to rollback environmental protections developed in the last twenty years. Nonetheless, grassroots organizers and local community activists were not stymied by these developments. Throughout 1995 and 1996, community leaders, national advocacy groups and environmentalists worked to prevent conservative legislators from gutting existing environmental laws. Indeed, the very nation responded with a resounding "NO" when offered a so-called "regulatory reform package"--an unpalatable range of bills designed to decimate the very safeguards which afford every American clean water and clean air.

What can YOU do???

As is often the case, ALL must be vigilant in protecting the very basic right to a clean and healthy environment. We--as individuals--cannot rely on others to protect or secure our rights. The means by which to ensure the continuation of environmental protections across the land is to stay informed. Knowledge is POWER. Use the tools at your disposal--public libraries, newspapers, public hearings--to learn about what is happening in your community.  Stay invloved in the PROCESS, let your voice be heard, make your concerns known!!!

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SEE:

U.S. General Accounting Office, Report, Siting of Hazardous Waste Landfills and Their Correlation With Racial and Economic Status of Surrounding Communities, GAO/RCED-83-168, B-211461 (June 1, 1983).

Jay M. Gould, Quality of Life in American Neighborhoods, Levels of  Affluence, Toxic Waste, and Cancer Mortality in Residential Zip Code Areas  (1986)

United Church of Christ, Commission for Racial Justice, Toxic Wastes and Race in the United States: A National Report on the Racial and  Socioeconomic Characteristics of Communities with Hazardous Waste Sites (1987).

Robert D. Bullard, Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and Environmental Quality (1990)

Benjamin A. Goldman, The Truth about Where You Live: An Atlas for Action on Toxins and Mortality (1991).

The National Law Journal, Special Issue: Unequal Protection: The Racial Divide in Environmental Law, Sept. 21, 1992

Race and the Incidence of Environmental Hazards: A Time for Discourse (Bunyan Bryant & Paul Mohai eds. 1992).

Rae Zimmerman, Social Equity and Environmental Risk, 13 Risk Anal. 649 (1993)

Confronting Environmental Racism: Voices from the Grassroots  (Robert D. Bullard ed. 1993)

Unequal Protection: Environmental Justice and Communities of Color (Robert D. Bullard ed. 1994)

Timothy Noah, U.S. Rollback of Green Agenda Is Stalled , Wall Street Journal, December 26, 1995, A8

GOP leaders rethinking their environmental strategy , Chemical Marketing Reporter, February 12, 1996, pg 3

Mary Beth Regan, THE GOP'S GUERRILLA WAR ON GREEN LAWS;  Newt & Co. plan a procedural overhaul, not a direct attack, Business Week, December 12, 1994, pg 104

Cindy Skrzycki, Slowing the Flow Of Federal Rules; New Conservative Climate Chills Agencies'  Activism, The Washington Post, February 18, 1996, A01.

H. Josef Herbert, EPA Chief Denounces GOP Lawmakers' Ties to Industry Lobbyists, Associated Press Pol. Serv., April 20, 1995.

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