Tuesday, April 24, 2007
SWOP homepageToxic waste and race: Report confirms no progress made in 20 years
Toxic waste and race: Report confirms no progress made in 20 years
University of Michigan
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
April 10, 2007
http://www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/story.php?id=3253
Environmental injustice in people-of-color communities is as much or more
prevalent today than 20 years ago, say researchers commissioned to conduct a
follow-up to the 1987 landmark study, "Toxic Wastes and Race in the United
States."
The new report, "Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty,
1987-2007: Grassroots Struggles to Dismantle Environmental Racism in the
United States," shows that 20 years later, disproportionately large numbers
of people of color still live in hazardous waste host communities, and that
they are not equally protected by environmental laws.
"People of color across the United States have learned the hard way that
waiting for government to respond to toxic contamination can be hazardous to
their health and health of their communities," said Robert Bullard, director
of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University.
Bullard was the principal investigator for the study.
The 160-page report, which was commissioned by the United Church of Christ
and produced by scholars at Clark Atlanta University, the University of
Michigan, the University of Montana and Dillard University, points to the
dismal post-Katrina response in New Orleans as one poignant example of
unequal treatment of minorities in hazardous waste emergencies. The findings
also show that environmental laws don't protect communities of color any
more than they did 20 years ago when the original report was commissioned.
Paul Mohai, professor of environmental justice at the University of
Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment and a co-author of
the report, described the results as dismaying. "You can see there has been
a lot more attention to the issue of environmental justice but the progress
has been very, very slow," Mohai said. "Why? As important as all those
efforts are they haven't been well executed and I don't know if the
political will is there."
Bullard, Mohai and colleagues Robin Saha, assistant professor of
environmental studies at University of Montana, and Beverly Wright, founding
director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice at Dillard
University and a Hurricane Katrina survivor, are jointly releasing the full
report. An executive summary of the report was released in February at the
annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
"The cleanup and reconstruction efforts in New Orleans have been shamefully
sluggish and patchy, and the environmental injustice may be compounded by
rebuilding on poisoned ground," Wright said.
The report is the first known national study to use a new method of data
analysis that better locates people in relation to hazardous waste sites,
and uses 2000 census data to show that the racial disparities are much
greater than previously reported.
"We think this study and the findings in it, as well as the case studies
that show the human side to the national statistics, make a really strong
case for environmental injustice to be on the policy agenda of Congress,"
Saha said. "It's clear the policies we are trying aren't working and that
something else needs to be done."
More than nine million people are estimated to live in host neighborhoods
within three kilometers of one of
413 hazardous waste facilities nationwide. The study found that the
proportion of people of color in host neighborhoods is almost twice that of
the proportion of those living in non-host neighborhoods. Where facilities
are clustered, people of color make up over a two-thirds majority (69
percent).
Ninety percent of states with facilities have disproportionately high
percentages of people of color living in host neighborhoods. States with the
10 largest differences in people-of-color percentages between host
neighborhoods and non-host areas include.
- Michigan (66 vs. 19 percent)
- Nevada (79 vs. 33 percent)
- Kentucky (51 vs. 10 percent)
- Illinois (68 vs. 31 percent)
- Alabama (66 vs. 31 percent)
- Tennessee (54 vs. 20 percent)
- Washington (53 vs. 20 percent)
- Kansas (47 vs. 16 percent)
- Arkansas (52 vs. 21 percent)
- California (81 vs. 51 percent)
Differences in these percentages range from 30 percent
(California) to 47 percent (Michigan). Host neighborhoods are typically
economically depressed, with poverty rates 1.5 times that of non-host
communities.
The report analyzed the percentages of all people of color in host
communities by EPA region and every region with commercial hazardous waste
facilities had a disproportionate number of minorities in host
neighborhoods. The study also looked at 80 selected metropolitan areas.
In addition to analyzing the total percentage of people of color in host
communities, the report analyzes the percentages of Hispanic/Latino, African
American, and Asian/Pacific Islander separately. For example in Michigan,
which had the largest disparity in the proportion of people of color living
in host neighborhoods, the majority of those minorities affected were
African American.
The report also gives more than three dozen recommendations for action at
the Congressional, state and local levels to help remedy the disparities. It
also makes recommendations for nongovernmental agencies and industry.
The report includes testimonials on the progress of the environmental
justice movement by some of its founders and key leaders. There are also two
detailed case studies, one on post-Katrina New Orleans, and the other on
toxic contamination of an African American community in Dickson, Tenn.
Finally, the report includes a timeline of milestones in the environmental
justice movement that Bullard solicited from environmental justice leaders
around the country.
See full report > http://tinyurl.com/2nd7dz (.pdf)
Reference sites:
- Clark Atlanta University: www.ejrc.cau.edu
- University of Michigan: www.snre.umich.edu
- University of Montana: www.umt.edu
University of Michigan
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
April 10, 2007
http://www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/story.php?id=3253
Environmental injustice in people-of-color communities is as much or more
prevalent today than 20 years ago, say researchers commissioned to conduct a
follow-up to the 1987 landmark study, "Toxic Wastes and Race in the United
States."
The new report, "Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty,
1987-2007: Grassroots Struggles to Dismantle Environmental Racism in the
United States," shows that 20 years later, disproportionately large numbers
of people of color still live in hazardous waste host communities, and that
they are not equally protected by environmental laws.
"People of color across the United States have learned the hard way that
waiting for government to respond to toxic contamination can be hazardous to
their health and health of their communities," said Robert Bullard, director
of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University.
Bullard was the principal investigator for the study.
The 160-page report, which was commissioned by the United Church of Christ
and produced by scholars at Clark Atlanta University, the University of
Michigan, the University of Montana and Dillard University, points to the
dismal post-Katrina response in New Orleans as one poignant example of
unequal treatment of minorities in hazardous waste emergencies. The findings
also show that environmental laws don't protect communities of color any
more than they did 20 years ago when the original report was commissioned.
Paul Mohai, professor of environmental justice at the University of
Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment and a co-author of
the report, described the results as dismaying. "You can see there has been
a lot more attention to the issue of environmental justice but the progress
has been very, very slow," Mohai said. "Why? As important as all those
efforts are they haven't been well executed and I don't know if the
political will is there."
Bullard, Mohai and colleagues Robin Saha, assistant professor of
environmental studies at University of Montana, and Beverly Wright, founding
director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice at Dillard
University and a Hurricane Katrina survivor, are jointly releasing the full
report. An executive summary of the report was released in February at the
annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
"The cleanup and reconstruction efforts in New Orleans have been shamefully
sluggish and patchy, and the environmental injustice may be compounded by
rebuilding on poisoned ground," Wright said.
The report is the first known national study to use a new method of data
analysis that better locates people in relation to hazardous waste sites,
and uses 2000 census data to show that the racial disparities are much
greater than previously reported.
"We think this study and the findings in it, as well as the case studies
that show the human side to the national statistics, make a really strong
case for environmental injustice to be on the policy agenda of Congress,"
Saha said. "It's clear the policies we are trying aren't working and that
something else needs to be done."
More than nine million people are estimated to live in host neighborhoods
within three kilometers of one of
413 hazardous waste facilities nationwide. The study found that the
proportion of people of color in host neighborhoods is almost twice that of
the proportion of those living in non-host neighborhoods. Where facilities
are clustered, people of color make up over a two-thirds majority (69
percent).
Ninety percent of states with facilities have disproportionately high
percentages of people of color living in host neighborhoods. States with the
10 largest differences in people-of-color percentages between host
neighborhoods and non-host areas include.
- Michigan (66 vs. 19 percent)
- Nevada (79 vs. 33 percent)
- Kentucky (51 vs. 10 percent)
- Illinois (68 vs. 31 percent)
- Alabama (66 vs. 31 percent)
- Tennessee (54 vs. 20 percent)
- Washington (53 vs. 20 percent)
- Kansas (47 vs. 16 percent)
- Arkansas (52 vs. 21 percent)
- California (81 vs. 51 percent)
Differences in these percentages range from 30 percent
(California) to 47 percent (Michigan). Host neighborhoods are typically
economically depressed, with poverty rates 1.5 times that of non-host
communities.
The report analyzed the percentages of all people of color in host
communities by EPA region and every region with commercial hazardous waste
facilities had a disproportionate number of minorities in host
neighborhoods. The study also looked at 80 selected metropolitan areas.
In addition to analyzing the total percentage of people of color in host
communities, the report analyzes the percentages of Hispanic/Latino, African
American, and Asian/Pacific Islander separately. For example in Michigan,
which had the largest disparity in the proportion of people of color living
in host neighborhoods, the majority of those minorities affected were
African American.
The report also gives more than three dozen recommendations for action at
the Congressional, state and local levels to help remedy the disparities. It
also makes recommendations for nongovernmental agencies and industry.
The report includes testimonials on the progress of the environmental
justice movement by some of its founders and key leaders. There are also two
detailed case studies, one on post-Katrina New Orleans, and the other on
toxic contamination of an African American community in Dickson, Tenn.
Finally, the report includes a timeline of milestones in the environmental
justice movement that Bullard solicited from environmental justice leaders
around the country.
See full report > http://tinyurl.com/2nd7dz (.pdf)
Reference sites:
- Clark Atlanta University: www.ejrc.cau.edu
- University of Michigan: www.snre.umich.edu
- University of Montana: www.umt.edu
