While the term ‘environmental racism’ is relatively new to our discourse, the seeds for the particular set of injustices it describes were sown as early as the Jim Crow era. During that period, zoning ordinances were used to segregate white and Black America. In 1911, for example, the Baltimore city council passed a zoning ordinance that assigned city blocks by race in order to isolate Black Americans and shore up the value of white-owned property.1,2 Similar racial zoning ordinances were implemented in other cities (Richmond, VA, Atlanta, GA, and St. Louis, MO) until the Supreme Court ruled in 1917 that the explicit use of race in zoning was unconstitutional.3,4 Legislators nonetheless worked with city planners to circumvent the Supreme Court’s ruling, and continued to isolate Black families into substandard areas.5
In 1919, Harland Bartholomew—a planning engineer for St. Louis—classified each building within the city as either single-family residential, multi-family residential, commercial, or industrial.6 Bartholomew then compiled the racial composition of each building’s occupants.7 With this information, Bartholomew worked with the city to develop zoning ordinances whereby single-family developments would be separated from multi-family (which were predominantly Black), commercial, and industrial developments.8 While this ordinance did not explicitly mention race, the zoning law that placed the latter three buildings in close proximity to one another invariably confined the Black community to specific, emissions-heavy regions of the city.9
Following the Civil Rights movement, Black Americans organized protests against the disproportionate placement of environmental hazards in their community. In Houston TX, for instance, Black residents sued Southwestern Waste Management in order to prevent a sanitary landfill from being established in their neighborhood.10 In Warren County NC, the Black community gained national attention for their protests against the state’s decision to place toxic waste near their community.11 As a result of these two cases, the environmental racism movement started to gain prominence. And yet, despite the efforts of activists, the legacy of segregation and discriminatory siting of toxic waste and hazardous waste facilities has endured until the present day.
Two major studies conducted in the 1980s made it difficult to dispute the intentional link between the location of Black communities and the presence of hazardous waste facilities. In 1983, the United States Government General Accountability Office (GAO)—looking at AL, GA, FL, KY, MS, NC, SC, and TN—discovered that, while Blacks made up twenty percent of the population in that region, more than 50% lived in locations with hazardous waste sites.12 Beyond the South at the time, researchers from the United Church of Christ’s Racial Justice Commission observed the same discriminatory pattern of locating the treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste in Black communities. In 1987, the Commission concluded that—throughout the country—it was race alone that determined the location of hazardous waste facilities.13 The authors of the report discovered that across America approximately 55% of Black Americans at that time lived in communities containing one or more toxic waste sites.14 20 years after the Commission’s findings were published, the environmentally racist practices afflicting Black America had not relented. In fact, Black Americans nationwide were disproportionately represented in populations that lived within 1 kilometer of a hazardous waste facility, constituting 20% of residents within that radius.15
Since those reports were published, mass incarceration has only exacerbated Black Americans’ disproportionate exposure to environmental hazards. Nearly 600 prisons are situated near ‘superfund’ sites, locations deemed by the government to be so contaminated with hazardous substances as to require a long-term response.16 To give but one example, in 2003, construction was completed on the State Correctional Institution (SCI) at Fayette in La Belle, Pennsylvania, a correctional facility whose population is 50 percent Black.17,18 Prior to its construction, this land was the site of one of the largest coal preparation plants in the U.S.19 The waste from washing the coal remained on-site, and, by the mid-1990s, totaled approximately 40 million tons.20 Once the land was purchased by a local company, the site was converted to a dumping ground for coal ash, a substance that contains high concentrations of heavy metals and minerals, and which—following increased contact—can lead to cancer, cognitive deficits, behavioral problems, lung disease, heart disease, and reproductive problems.20 It is not surprising, then, that prisoners at SCI at Fayette reported respiratory, throat, sinus conditions, gastrointestinal problems, adverse skin conditions, and thyroid disorders.21 The racist outcomes in the criminal justice system are thus compounded when the disproportionately Black population of the incarcerated are forced to live in highly toxic environments.
While the location of prisons near toxic waste sites can lead to adverse health effects, returning to communities with poor sanitation places Black Americans at risk for parasitic infections like hookworm. Hookworm, an infection caused by nematode parasites (Necator americanus and Ancylostoma duodenale), is one of thirteen neglected tropical diseases.22 The parasites that cause hookworm tend to develop in warm, moist climates that contain soil contaminated with fecal waste from inadequate sewage systems.23 In Lowndes County, Alabama, many Black residents are unable to afford septic tanks and resort to straight piping to remove waste from their homes. During periods of rain, the sewage can come back into the home, causing residents to live in their sewage and contract hookworm.24
Once the parasite enters the human body through skin contact with contaminated soil, the parasite moves through the bloodstream to the heart and lungs.25 Once the parasite has reached the lung, the parasite will be coughed and swallowed causing the parasite to travel to the gastrointestinal tract.26 In the GI tract, the parasite develops into an adult and can lay eggs that exit the body through human feces.27 In children, hookworm infection can result in iron deficiency anemia, protein malnutrition, memory loss, cognitive deficits, lower performance in school, and deficits in physical growth/fitness.28,29 Women of reproductive age with hookworm are at risk of having children prematurely with low birth weight, maternal mortality, and perinatal mortality.30,31 In addition to Lowndes County, Alabama, other Black communities— including Centerville, Illinois; Mount Vernon, New York; and Greenville, Mississippi—suffer from poor sanitation, placing these communities at risk for parasitic infections.32
In addition to the close proximity of hazardous waste facilities, Black Americans also experience environmental hazards owing to their proximity to industrial facilities. In Louisiana, along an 85-mile stretch between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, there sit nearly 150 petrochemical plants.33 This region has been dubbed “Cancer Alley” owing to the disproportionately high number of cancer cases, unexplained illnesses, and deaths in this region resulting from concentrated exposure to industrial pollution and environmental degradation.34 Similarly, in North Carolina and Mississippi, Black Americans live near Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) facilities.35,36 Beginning in the 1970s, North Carolina state congressperson Wendell Murphy championed legislation that eliminated taxes on hog farm equipment and prevented local authorities from zoning odor plumes.37 CAFOs proliferated throughout the state as a result of these deregulatory measures.38 The animal waste from CAFOs consists of pathogens, heavy metals, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria.39 It is typically stored in lagoons; however, severe weather events (e.g. hurricanes) can cause animal waste to spread to the nearby communities and waterways leading to adverse health effects that include respiratory ailments, mucosal irritation, decreased quality of life, mental distress, and elevated blood pressure.40 Similarly, the odors from the CAFO facilities expose nearby Black inhabitants to eye irritants such as hydrogen sulfide and ammonia gas.41
The disproportionate exposure of Black Americans to heavy metals such as lead can cause multigenerational harm to Black families and communities. In 2012, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reduced the threshold for monitoring of blood lead levels (BLL) from 10 micrograms per deciliter to 5 micrograms per deciliter;42 however, the CDC acknowledged that any amount of lead exposure can cause adverse (physical and mental) effects.43 Adults who have blood lead levels (BLL) less than the threshold are still at an increased risk for decreased kidney function.44 Fetal growth, as well, can be impacted by mothers with BLL less than the threshold.45 In addition, children with BLL less than the threshold are at an increased risk for attention-related behavior problems, anti-social problem behaviors, lower academic achievement, decreased IQ, and reductions in specific cognitive measures.46 During the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, Black American children were found to have over twice the level of lead as non-Hispanic white children.47 And during the first year of life, Black American children had nearly double the level of lead in their blood as non-Hispanic whites.48 After age 3, Black children are found to have higher rates of lead than white children who are 1 year-old (considered the age where blood lead levels are at their peak).49 It is possible that a woman of childbearing age can pass her exposure to lead to her offspring. Once the child is born, their lead exposure continues to increase through their first year of life. Thus, many generations can be damaged by lead exposure.
With an eye to the intentional placement of these hazardous conditions in Black communities throughout America, the Trump administration must do the following:
- Ensure sufficient funding of its Offices of Environmental Justice and Civil Rights so that all cases of environmental racism against Black Americans are properly investigated and prosecuted.
- Regulate and hold accountable corporations and municipalities that, through direct action and/or negligence, create environmental conditions that disproportionately poison Black communities.
- Require federal and state agencies to conduct impact assessments on the cumulative health impacts prior to citing industrial facilities and hazardous waste sites near Black communities.
- Provide relocation packages for Black American families to move away from communities that are close in proximity to environmental hazards (i.e. hazardous waste, toxic waste, superfund sites, lead poisoning, and poor sanitation).
- Create a victim’s compensation fund for medical procedures and treatment to remedy the ongoing physical ailments directly attributable to lead poisoning and living near hazardous waste and toxic waste sites.
- Prioritize resources to Black American communities to remove lead paint from the homes; treat the medical problems that result from continuous lead exposure; and, provide therapeutic interventions to correct for cognitive impairments due to lead exposure.
- Provide Black Americans with proper sewage facilities and direct relevant agencies to conduct appropriate testing for parasites. For Black Americans who test positive for parasitic infections, the U.S. government will provide front-line therapies to Black Americans at no cost.
References
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- Silver, Christopher. “The Racial Origins of Zoning in American Cities.” Urban planning and the African American community: In the shadows 38 (1997).
- Silver, Christopher. “The Racial Origins of Zoning in American Cities.” Urban planning and the African American community: In the shadows 38 (1997).
- Rothstein, Richard. “The Making of Ferguson.” J. Affordable Hous. & Cmty. Dev. L. 24 (2015): 165.
- Rothstein, Richard. “The Making of Ferguson.” J. Affordable Hous. & Cmty. Dev. L. 24 (2015): 165.
- Rothstein, Richard. “The Making of Ferguson.” J. Affordable Hous. & Cmty. Dev. L. 24 (2015): 165.
- Rothstein, Richard. “The Making of Ferguson.” J. Affordable Hous. & Cmty. Dev. L. 24 (2015): 165.
- Rothstein, Richard. “The Making of Ferguson.” J. Affordable Hous. & Cmty. Dev. L. 24 (2015): 165.
- Rothstein, Richard. “The Making of Ferguson.” J. Affordable Hous. & Cmty. Dev. L. 24 (2015): 165.
- Bullard, Robert D. “Environmental Justice in the 21st Century: Race Still Matters.” Phylon (1960-) 49, no. 3/4 (2001): 151-71.
- McGurty, Eileen Maura. “From Nimby to Civil Rights: The Origins of the Environmental Justice Movement.” Environmental History (1997): 301-23.
- United States General Accounting Office. “Siting of Hazardous Waste Landfills and Their Correlation with Racial and Economic Status of Surrounding Communities.” edited by Community Resources, and Economic Development 25: Government Printing Office, 1983.
- United Church of, Christ, and Commission for Racial Justice. Toxic Wastes and Race in the United States : A National Report on the Racial and Socio-Economic Characteristics of Communities with Hazardous Waste Sites [in English]. New York, N.Y.: Public Data Access : Inquiries to the Commission, 1987.
- United Church of, Christ, and Commission for Racial Justice. Toxic Wastes and Race in the United States : A National Report on the Racial and Socio-Economic Characteristics of Communities with Hazardous Waste Sites [in English]. New York, N.Y.: Public Data Access : Inquiries to the Commission, 1987.
- Mohai, Paul. “Chapter 3: Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities in the Distribution of Environmental Hazards.” In Toxic Waste and Race at Twenty, edited by Robert Bullard, Paul Mohai, Robin Saha and Beverly Wright, 11: United Church of Christ 2007.
- Bernd, Candice, Loftus-Farren, Zoe, and Mitra, Maureen Nandini, “America’s Toxic Prisons: The Environmental Injustices of Mass Incarceration,” Earth Island Journal, June 1, 2017, https://earthisland.org/journal/americas-toxic-prisons/
- Carpenter, Taylor. “The Death Sentence That Is America’s Toxic Prisons.” Ind. Health L. Rev. 17 (2020): 229.
- Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. “Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Monthly Institutional Profile as of December 31, 2021.“ Accessed January 29, 2022. https://www.cor.pa.gov/About%20Us/Statistics/Documents/Current%20Monthly%20Profile.pdf
- Carpenter, Taylor. “The Death Sentence That Is America’s Toxic Prisons.” Ind. Health L. Rev. 17 (2020): 229.
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- McKenna, M. L., S. McAtee, P. E. Bryan, R. Jeun, T. Ward, J. Kraus, M. E. Bottazzi, et al. “Human Intestinal Parasite Burden and Poor Sanitation in Rural Alabama.” [In eng]. Am J Trop Med Hyg 97, no. 5 (Nov 2017): 1623-28.
- McKenna, M. L., S. McAtee, P. E. Bryan, R. Jeun, T. Ward, J. Kraus, M. E. Bottazzi, et al. “Human Intestinal Parasite Burden and Poor Sanitation in Rural Alabama.” [In eng]. Am J Trop Med Hyg 97, no. 5 (Nov 2017): 1623-28.
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- Hotez, Peter J., Simon Brooker, Jeffrey M. Bethony, Maria Elena Bottazzi, Alex Loukas, and Shuhua Xiao. “Hookworm Infection.” New England Journal of Medicine 351, no. 8 (2004/08/19 2004): 799-807.
- Hotez, Peter. “Hookworm and Poverty.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1136, no. 1 (2008/06/01 2008): 38-44.
- Hotez, Peter J., Simon Brooker, Jeffrey M. Bethony, Maria Elena Bottazzi, Alex Loukas, and Shuhua Xiao. “Hookworm Infection.” New England Journal of Medicine 351, no. 8 (2004/08/19 2004): 799-807.
- Brooker, Jena. “A sewage crisis is bubbling up in communities of color across the country Biden’s infrastructure bill could provide some relief.” Grist, July 28, 2021. https://grist.org/housing/a-sewage-crisis-is-bubbling-up-in-communities-of-color-across-the-country/
- Keehan, Courtney J. “Lessons from Cancer Alley: How the Clean Air Act Has Failed to Protect Public Health in Southern Louisiana.” Colo. Nat. Resources Energy & Envtl. L. Rev. 29 (2018): 341.
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