Blog

The past two days have been a whirlwind of activity, making connections with poeple, hearing inspiring stories, and getting insight into the many layers that contribute to environmental injustices and the ways people have fought against them and won.

We started Tuesday morning in my town of Albany, New York at the state Legislative Office Building. Nate Davis, Executive Director of the W. Haywood Burns Environmental Education Center (www.w-haywoodburns.org), led Tour bus riders, media representatives and local activists on a tour of Albany’s low-income and predominantly African-American neighborhoods of Arbor Hill and the South End. Albany’s event focused on the social injustices and political decisions that perpetuate violence, poverty and disconnection from the environment, contrasting highly groomed parks in the affluent center of downtown with Tivoli Preserve and Island City Park, which receive little to no maintenance. The contrast was startling. He showed us baseball diamonds that the community created and which , once taken over by City government, fell into disrepair.

After the quick-and-dirty tour, Nate was joined by Tour participants Dr. Mark Mitchell and Ted Carrington to talk with TV stations about the connections between work going on in Albany and around the country, and what Mark and Ted had already seen the previous two days in Buffalo, Syracuse and Endicott, NY.

I boarded the bus after our time in Albany and we headed off to Hartford, CT. At the Mark emceeing a press conference that addressed many of the key environmental justice concerns in Hartford, followed by a tour of specific neighborhoods. Brooke Suter from the Clean Air Taskforce joined the bus, and we headed off to New Haven.

The event in New Haven had a very different quality. Instead of focusing on the media, we started with a groundbreaking ceremony for a sound barrier to be constructed between a housing project and the highway, which was so close you could feel the wind from passing vehicles it seemed. I had never considered that not only would a sound barrier reduce the near-deafening volume (the running joke by speakers was that we in the audience could hardly hear their congratulations over the din of the highway) but also reduce diesel emissions from passing trucks. Many residents explained that their children had asthma and other health problems, and they hoped to get some relief from the new barrier.

A brief tour of the surrounding industrial area revealed numerous other polluters, some of which were standing dormant because of community action and pressure. All in all, it was a very moving and empowering leg of the Tour.

Today’s tour in Boston was a mosiac of many aspects of environmental injustice, and also the triumphs that have been achieved. With so many people taking the tour that ACE had to hire an additional Trolley, we traveled all around Boston, from Dudley Square to the South End, the East End to Chelsea. Community residents talked about the problems of violence at memorials for gang-related deaths; residential housing directly across a narrow, truck-filled street from diesel-fueled power plants and massive fuel storage tanks; illegal transfer stations that were shut down and legal transfer stations that were cleaned up; and former industrial properties along the Chelsea Creek returned to parkland. This event tied together what we’d seen throughout the tour: Environmental Justice is about addressing the underlying social issues that disempower people, ending the disproportionate burden on communities of color and low-income neighborhoods, ensuring the right of meaningful participation in decisionmaking, and ensuring equal access to environmental benefits.

On the bus, we reflect on what we’ve seen, talk about the personal stories, and how each stop is very different, but also the same.

Each stop offers another perspective on the pervasive underlying problems of inequaltiy. Each stop shines a spotlight on the people who live daily with the concrete outcome of such inequality and who are fighting it. Each stop reminds us that we can win, with patience, perseverence and by working together.

– Bobbi Chase Wilding

We are on the bus going to African American and Vietnamese American communities in southern Louisiana, communities that were struck by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita as well as decades of toxic pollution. People in Mossville and New Orleans greet us with warm smiles and painted signs that read: “Gert Town Is Fighting DDT and Global Warming,” “Stop the Dioxin Poisoning of Mossville,” “Say No to Dirty Industries,” and “Environmental Justice Now!”

On our bus are Hilton Kelley, Community In-power Development Association, Marnie Rosen and Annie Ducmanis, Gulf Coast Fund for Community Renewal and Ecological Health, Elizabeth Crowe, Coming Clean Network, Christine and Delma Bennett, Mosssville Environmental Action Now, Monique Harden and Nathalie Walker, Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, Dwana Makeba and Khalid Hafiz, Road Managers for the EJ Tour, William Sabourin and Royce Osbourne who are videotaping the tour.

Mossville, Louisiana

The community leaders we meet in Mossville talk to us about their battles to convince the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to stop the permitting of the fourteen industrial facilities surrounding the community. These facilities release millions of tons of pollution. Edgar Mouton, President of Mossville Environmental Action Now (MEAN), complains that government agencies work as a cover for industrial companies by only blaming eating habits for the host of health problems plaguing his community. Mr. Mouton explains, “It’s not only what we eat, it’s what we breathe that is causing our health problems. And industrial companies are releasing the pollution that gets into our food and air.”

Dorothy Felix, Vice-President of MEAN, holds up the report, Industrial Sources of Dioxin Poisoning in Mossville: A Report on the Facts that Government Agencies Have Hidden. This report was co-authored by MEAN, environmental scientist Wilma Subra, and the public interest law firm Advocates for Environmental Human Rights. “Our report is based on the data that agencies have kept under lock and key for years. It was like pulling teeth to get this data from ATSDR. We had to do what ATSDR wouldn’t do, which is show that Georgia Gulf, Conoco Phillips, Entergy, Sasol, and Lyondell are all responsible for the high levels of dioxins that are in our blood and our environment,” says Ms. Felix. “I’m concerned about our health, but our government is only concerned about keeping industries happy,” she said.

Wilma Subra and I explain that the report presents information held by ATSDR and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that show the direct matches between the specific dioxin compounds found in the blood of Mossville residents, the fish they eat, and their environment and the dioxin compounds that facilities operating in and near Mossville release into the environment.

We all get on the bus to tour Mossville and deliver the report along with a black and gold coffin adorned with a picture of an industrial smokestack spewing a toxic cloud (created by Hilton Kelley, a man of many talents) to the Lake Area Industry Alliance (LAIA), whose members include all of the companies that operate 14 toxic facilities in Mossville. We observe these facilities in operation next to homes in Mossville. There is a noticeable odor in the air. There is also the loss of an entire section of the Mossville community, where the massive Georgia Gulf vinyl production facility, Conoco Phillips oil refinery, and Sasol chemical facility continue to operate. Mr. Mouton tells us that this section, known ironically as Bel Air, was once inhabited several hundred families who had to move as a result of a class-action lawsuit settlement involving several years of underground toxic spills by the facility now owned by Georgia Gulf. The homes and people of Bel Air have been replaced with trees and tall weeds. Industrial companies have set up barricades blocking entry to several streets. This is the fate that remaining Mossville residents want to avoid. “If we do nothing, we are guaranteeing that industry runs us off, takes our land, and grows even bigger. We are holding on to defend our community and health,” said Mr. Mouton. We drive over the Interstate 210 Loop which passes over a broad section of the Calcasieu Estuary, where PPG Industries dominates the water with a massive vinyl production facility. The estuary is clogged with several other petrochemical facilities and casinos.

Local news reporters meet us in the parking lot of the LAIA office that is tucked behind the front Safety Training office on 1201 Ryan Street in the city of Lake Charles. We march up to the LAIA office carrying EJ Tour banners and signs, but the office is locked. We look through the windows and see people inside the office walking quickly away from the door. Soon Larry Durrel, who represents the LAIA opens the door. He smiles at us as we tell him that LAIA companies are poisoning the people of Mossville. He accepts the report and responds that he has a report from ATSDR showing that dioxin levels are low. We leave the coffin at the door of the LAIA building. On the bus, we look at LAIA’s report and see that it is based on ATSDR’s study of dioxin levels in people who do not live in Mossville.

New Orleans, Louisiana: Gert Town and Agriculture Street

We ride along Interstate 10 from Mossville to New Orleans, where we pass over the Mississippi River and see the enormous Exxon oil refinery belching smoke behind the Louisiana State Capitol. Over 130 oil refineries and petrochemical facilities operate in predominantly African American communities located along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. This area is known as Cancer Alley.

Our bus arrives in the New Orleans neighborhood of Gert Town. We meet Rev. Lois Dejean, Director of the Gert Town Revival Initiative, and community residents at the corner of Earhart Blvd. and Burdette Street, where the shuttered Thompson Hayward facility mixed and blended pesticides and herbicides that included DDT. The facility property takes up an entire square block that is surrounded by modest homes of Gert Town’s African American residents. Rev. Dejean tells us of GRI’s work to move the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality from inaction that allowed 9 million pounds of contaminated waste to remain underground at the facility for nearly 20 years.

Environmental scientist Wilma Subra provides fact sheets that show the areas where the pesticides and herbicides remain underground. She also provides results of tests that show these chemicals and other toxins have moved off the site into the community after the hurricane. The levels of arsenic in the neighborhood soil are seven times higher than the clean up level that EPA established for an industrial site in Slidell, Louisiana. Subra explains that the arsenic came from the surge of water and sediment that flooded the community.

“The DEQ would have had this mess cleaned up years ago if our community was wealthy and white. Heck, DEQ would not have allowed this company to make DDT in the first place in Gert Town if it wasn’t an African American community. This is environmental racism,” she said. Rev. Dejean says it’s a victory for the community to force the department to direct the owners of the Thompson Hayward to begin excavating the contamination in accordance with the community’s demands for safeguards. Today is the first day of the excavation work. Contract workers are at the facility surveying the property. Gert Town Revival Initiative will be getting training to monitor the air and inspect the work to make sure that all safeguards are met during the excavation work. “We are thankful for the support of Advocates for Environmental Human Rights and Wilma Subra for helping us in our battle with DEQ and the company,” said Rev. Dejean.

Rev. Dejean also informs us that the challenges for protecting Gert Town have increased following Hurricane Katrina. Only a small fraction of residents have been able to return to their homes, but many more cannot come home because they do not have the money to rebuild their homes. Since Katrina, Rev. Dejean had to move from the home she rented for nearly 30 years because the rent was increased. At 70 years old, she has had to find employment to afford the rent of another home in Gert Town. Gert Town Revival Initiative has garnered the support of Advocates for Environmental, Green Belt Movement International, and Bridges to Community to rebuild two of the homes that are owned by elderly residents. The group is also using funds granted by the Gulf Coast Fund for Community Renewal and Ecological Health to support other residents in returning home. “This is about our human rights. Our government caused four to five feet of flood waters to destroy our homes because they did not build effective levees,” said Rev. Dejean. “We have to not only fight to get our government to clean up the toxins at this facility, we also have to fight for our rights to return home, to have an effective flood control system, and housing,” she said. The homes in Gert Town still bear the dark flood lines and, through the windows of some homes, you can see that walls have been torn down to the studs. “We say Gert Town is a community of great possibilities, and our goal is to make those possibilities a reality,” said Dejean.

Our next stop is the Agriculture Street neighborhood, a subdivision of brick single family homes and rental town homes that were built on top of landfill where huge amounts of debris from Hurricane Betsy were deposited. Dr. Beverly Wright, Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice at Dillard University, explains that people who moved into the subdivision did not find out that they were living on a toxic landfill until they began suffering from cancers, miscarriages, and birth defects. The subdivision was built with an assortment of federal, state, and local housing funds. “Agriculture Street residents have the highest incidence of breast cancer for women and men in the state, and children have died from leukemia” she says. EPA found over 100 toxic chemicals and heavy metals as far as 17 feet below ground, but the agency only removed 1 to 2 feet of soil. “I want you to imagine what it looked like in Agriculture Street when EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers began excavating toxic soil in this neighborhood while people remained in the neighborhood. Underground pipes were broken causing streets to flood and toilets to backup. The dust from the toxic soil entered homes and covered everything,” she explained. The homes are all vacant and damaged from the flood waters that were as high as 9 feet when the levees breached. We see three FEMA trailers outside of homes. “EPA says that this area is a toxic hotspot after Katrina. They said that they would not have to clean up the area immediately because no one had returned to this community, but you can see that a few people have returned,” said Dr. Wright.

Wilma Subra explains that the sediment that remained in the neighborhood after the toxic floodwaters were drained are contaminated with bacteria, arsenic, and a host of toxic chemicals. The levels of arsenic in the neighborhood soil are more than four times higher than the clean up level that EPA established for an industrial site in Slidell, Louisiana. The levels of polynuclear hydrocarbons are three times higher than the clean up level EPA established for the site.

We are standing in front of the Moton Elementary School that was built on the subdivision and was closed for years after EPA found dangerous levels of toxins below ground. The school reopened after EPA announced the area was “clean.” After Katrina, the school was closed again.

The African American communities in Mossville, Gert Town, and Agriculture Street are all victims of environmental racism that have been caused by governmental decisions. Each community has sections that are overgrown with vegetation, where homes either no longer exist or are vacant. Each community also has residents who are passionate and unwavering in their demands for restoration and renewal, as well as the reform of our government to value the health and lives of people of color and the poor.

Day 2 covered the Bay Area and Central Coast areas. It was a day filled with eye-opening sites, and emotionally stirring speakers.

Aditi Vaiyda from the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition and Goro Mitchell, Executive Director from Community Development Institute in East Palo Alto, guided us through the area’s toxic underbelly. We started at the Romic site, a fuel blending facility, which received one of the largest fines in CA history. They explained how what appeared to be a serene wetland ecosystem and natural preserve was actually a toxic wasteland, with contaminated water and buried hazardous waste. The horizon scarred with powerlines, smokestacks, and air traffic.

Next we toured an area where one of the world’s leading chip manufacturers toxic legacy has lead to contaminated drinking water and vapor intrusion at a local school. The above groundtanks, we learned, hold production chemicals, while the hazardous waste materials are stored underground.

The star of the show in Sunnyvale was, without a doubt, Alyda Hernandez. On her birthday, this fiesty environmental justice crusader came out to spread her message of awareness. A retired IBM employee, she did not mince words about her personal experience with cancer and how it has afflicted multiple members of her family and community. Her story hit home for many participants and stimulated a very intense dialogue session on the bus as we rolled on to the next site. Thanks Elita for your words and wisdom.

We heard stories from members of the Fort Ord Environmental Justice Network of how the health of their communities are being affected by the contaminates associated with this former military base.

One of the main issues discussed was the intentional burn of brush to expose unexploded ordinance left from military training procedures. The most recent burn took place in 2003, a burn that spread a plum of smoke over the entire town and into the nearby tourist area in Monterey’s famous Canary Row. In a presentation by Dr. Peter De Fur we learned ATSDR claimed the burn would have no long-term health impacts from exposure to particulate matter. As the evening progressed and more personal stories were shared, it was clear there was no real assessment of alternatives to the burn and they did not consider the short and long-term health impacts of burning.

During the Town Hall the residents celebrated their victories, including increasing the Army’s efforts to clean up water contamination and successfuly maintaining the Army’s voluntary relocation program. As the testimony and stories progressed, we began to hear a familiar refrain… why must we prove that our illnesses were caused by these chemicals and what should we know as we move towards an environmental justice clinic?

One participant asked, “Why should the burden of proof be on us… When will we shift the burden of proof?” The response from the Fort Ord’s technical advisor Peter De Fur was, “Science is necessary but without your action it is not sufficient.”

The innocent should not have to prove that they are not safe.

-Rafael Aguilera and Martha Dina Arguello

We began the West Coast leg with a guided tour of West Oakland, CA by Margaret Gordon of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project. The tour highlighted the Port of Oakland Maritime activities, 2 long-standing railroad tracks, a Waste Water Treatment Center, the Oakland Army Base expansion of the Port of Oakland, the Redevelopment Area for the City of Oakland, 3 major freeways and a Superfund site. All this exists within a square mile of West Oakland, a low-income community of color. The major pollution problem they identified in this community was diesel pollution from the trucks frequently running through the Port of Oakland. The West Oakland Indicators Project is using community health assessments as a tool to combating these poor land use decisions.

Margaret’s presentation highlighted irresponsible land use decisions that allowed a children’s park to be built on top of a Superfund site next to a freeway. An ongoing issue in Oakland is the efforts at Gentrification that is threatening one of West Oakland’s historic monuments- the old train station where African American pull-men workers organized their strikes.

We continued on to Midway Village, a small community lying on the fenceline of a PG&E plant and built on top of a contaminated site in Daly City, CA. LaDonna Williams, a former resident and local activist, took us on a walking tour around the PG&E plant, past an elementary school located across from the plant and through the Midway Village housing area, separated from the plant only by a linked fence. There is an ongoing debate as to how clean is the Midway site. According to the agencies there is little risk, yet current Midway Village residents feel that there are still significant pathways of exposures as evidenced by the large number of cracks in the cement that has been poured to cap the contaminated soil.

The residents are deeply concerned that the various health problems they experience are due to their exposure, yet no long-term health studies have been executed in this community. It was clear from the stories that the lack of access to health care and the lack of knowledge of environmental health have been deeply damaging to the psyche of the residents. A particularly disturbing anecdote shared by the residents was when children found deformed frogs.

Our next stop was a tour of the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood in South San Francisco. After many years of fighting, Bayview Hunters Point recently had a victory of closing down the PG&E plant located in the heart of their community. The Port of San Francisco’s property surrounds the neighborhood and is a major source of pollution. Across from the PG&E plant lies a US Navy Shipyard surrounded by homes. In 2000, it was discovered that during World War II, unbeknownst to local residents, the Navy conducted radiation testing at the shipyard. We were driven along the Sewage Treatment plant, where most of San Francisco and it’s surrounding areas’ waste is treated. This site would be labeled a Superfund Site if it was not in operation.

We ended the day with an informal Town Hall Meeting at the Bayview Hunters Point Southeast Community College. This open dialogue designed to allow participants to get to know each other and talk about each other’s work and the challenges we face. Participants shared success stories from attending an international maritime meeting in London to promoting the port communities bill of rights to pushing the city of Oakland to conduct health impacts assessments for proposed development projects.

The advocates discussed how we could work closely on the Ditching Dirty Diesel campaign. We discussed the Governors veto of the SB 927, a bill that would have imposed a $30.00 fee on each container ship coming into the port. This was a priority bill for both Northern and Southern California ports despite the fact the bill would have only covered Southern California port operations. The advocates discussed how to build power to create stronger polluter pay legislation and how we get ready for that very important battle.

The advocates attending the town hall meeting committed to ensuring a stronger environmental justice presence in Sacramento answering the often asked question… What are you going to do Monday morning after the tour?

-Martha Dina Arguello