Environmental racism

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Environmental racism refers to intentional or unintentional racial discrimination in the enforcement of environmental rules and regulations, the intentional or unintentional targeting of minority communities for the siting of polluting industries, or the exclusion of minority groups from public and private boards, commissions, and regulatory bodies.

The term was coined and defined by Reverend Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. Executive Director and CEO of the United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice.

Environmental justice is the movement to reverse environmental racism.

Background

In the United States

Since the term "environmental racism" was coined, researchers have investigated why minorities are more likely than whites to reside in areas where there is more pollution. Some social scientists suggest that the historical processes of suburbanization and decentralization are examples of white privilege that have contributed to contemporary patterns of environmental racism.

In the United States, the wealth of a community is not nearly as good a predictor of hazardous-waste locations as the ethnic background of the residents, suggesting that the selection of sites for hazardous-waste disposal involves racism. Researcher James T. Hamilton studied American zip codes targeted for capacity expansion in plans by commercial hazardous waste facilities from 1987 to 1992, and locations targeted for hazardous waste facilities had an average nonwhite population of 25 percent, versus 18 percent for those areas without net expansion. Hamilton suggests that differences in the probability that residents will raise a firm's expected location costs by engaging in successful collective action to oppose expansion offer the best explanation for which neighborhoods are targeted by polluting industries. Another study centered around Los Angeles in 1997 found that working-class minority communities are more frequently targeted for the construction of hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities.

A 2007 study by the University of Colorado at Boulder showed that although the average black or Hispanic resident of a major U.S. city lives in a more polluted part of town than the average white person, the levels of inequality vary widely between cities. The study found that black/white environmental inequality levels were highest in Orlando, Florida, Norfolk, Virginia, Louisville, Kentucky, and Portland, Oregon, and weakest in Baltimore, Maryland, Las Vegas, Nevada, Boston, Massachusetts, and Nassau and Suffolk Counties, New York Urban minority communities may also face environmental racism in the form of parks that are smaller, less accessible and of poorer quality than those in more affluent or white areas in some cities. This may have an indirect impact on health since young people have fewer places to play and adults have fewer opportunities for exercise.

Policies related to redlining and urban decay can also play a role in environmental racism, and in turn have an impact on public health. For example, sociologist Robert Wallace writes that the pattern of the AIDS outbreak during the 80s was affected by the outcomes of a program of 'planned shrinkage' directed in African-American and Hispanic communities and implemented through systematic denial of municipal services, particularly fire extinguishment resources, which are essential for maintaining urban levels of population density and ensuring community stability.

International

Environmental racism also exists at an international scale. First world corporations often produce dangerous chemicals banned in the United States and export them to developing countries, or send waste materials to countries with relaxed environmental laws.

In one instance, the French aircraft carrier Clemenceau was prohibited from entering Alang, an Indian ship-breaking yard due to a lack of clear documentation about its toxic contents. French President Jacques Chirac ultimately ordered the carrier, which contained tons of hazardous materials including asbestos and PCBs, to return to France.

E-waste disposal sites, such as one in Giuyu China, are also subject of controversy. In Giuyu, laborers with no protective clothing regularly burn plastics and circuit boards from old computers. They pour acid on electronic parts to extract silver and gold, and crush cathode ray tubes from computer monitors to remove other valuable metals, such as lead. Nearly 80 percent of children in the E-waste hub of Giuyu, China, suffer from lead poisoning, according to recent reports.

Environmental justice

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), "Environmental Justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people...with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. EPA has this goal for all communities and persons across this Nation. It will be achieved when everyone enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards and equal access to the decision-making process to have a healthy environment in which to live, learn, and work."

On 11 February, 1994 President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 12898, which directed federal agencies to develop strategies to help federal agencies identify and address disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of their programs, policies, and activities on minority and low-income populations. Clinton also intended the Order to provide minority and low-income communities with access to public information and opportunities for public participation in matters relating to human health or the environment.

United States organizations working for environmental justice include: Greenaction, Center for Health, Environment and Justice, and the Coalition Against Environmental Racism. In response to public concerns raised by these groups, the United States Environmental Protection Agency created the Office of Environmental Justice in 1992.

Hazards

According to the United States EPA, the six most prominent examples of environmental hazards include:

Lead - There is a particularly high concentration of lead problems in low-income and culturally diverse populations, who live in the inner city where the public housing units were built before 1970.
Waste Sites - Low income, and quite often culturally diverse populations, are more likely than other groups to live near landfills, incinerators, and hazardous waste treatment facilities.
Air Pollution - 57 percent of all whites, 65 percent of African Americans, and 80 percent of Hispanics live in communities that have failed to meet at least one of EPA's ambient air quality standards.
Pesticides - Approximately 90 percent of the 2 million hired farm workers in the United States are people of color, including Chicano, Puerto Ricans, Caribbean blacks and African Americans. Through direct exposure to pesticides, farm workers and their families may face serious health risks. It has been estimated that as many as 313,000 farm workers in the U.S. may suffer from pesticide-related illnesses each year.
Wastewater (City Sewers) - Many inner cities still have sewer systems that are not designed to handle storm overflow. As a result, raw sewage may be carried into local rivers and streams during storms, creating a health hazard.
Wastewater - (Agricultural Runoff) - It is suspected that the increased use of commercial fertilizers and concentrations of animal wastes contribute to the degradation of receiving streams and rivers in rural areas, with communities that are often low income and culturally diverse.