St. Louis Community Environmental Justice Project HANDBOOK FOR Pagedale Area Prepared by The Public Policy Research Center University of Missouri-St. Louis 1 Chapter One: ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE This handbook is designed to head of the National Association show you how to take action on for the Advancement of Colored environmental issues that can People (NAACP) coined the term affect your health, property values, “environmental justice” in 1987. or economic viability. The He released the first study handbook does this by providing a showing low-income minorities step-by-step guide to obtaining are more likely to live near an and using environmental existing source of pollution or live information. in a neighborhood where a new source of pollution is to be The handbook is a product located. Several studies have of the St. Louis Environmental since upheld Chavez’s view and Justice Project, a partnership pointed out that poor minority between Project H.O.P.E. (Helping neighborhoods get a less adequate Other People Emerge) and the response when they speak out University of Missouri-St. Louis. about existing or new pollution The Project -- funded by the U.S. sources.1 Thus, environmental Environmental Protection Agency justice usually is taken to mean (EPA) under its Environmental that all people, regardless of Justice Program -- was designed to income or race, have the same provide people like you with the right to clean air, water and soil. tools to do your own research into environmental issues, and to While it is inspiring to develop a plan for seeking believe that something may finally improvements in your be done about this social inequity, neighborhood’s environmental it can take a long time for action in condition. a specific area unless people in polluted neighborhoods learn who The EPA has been is responsible for their particularly interested in issues of 1 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office environmental justice since 1994, of Compliance and Assurance, Office of when President Bill Clinton Environmental Justice Home Page, http://es.epa. officially made it a national gov.oejbut.html, January 10, 1999. National Public Radio, “Environmental Racism Exists in priority. Benjamin Chavez, former Louisiana,” May 15, 1993, as reproduced by LEXIS-NEXIS, October 20, 1998. 2 environmental problems and what different parts of the overall effort can be done about them. This can to control pollution. You may find seem like a very difficult task, information about just one especially when pollution may be company to be kept in four or five unnoticed because residents different offices. The discussion cannot see or smell it. In some that follows introduces you to the inner city neighborhoods, for various levels of government and example, traffic emissions from a their responsibility for nearby freeway can produce more environmental issues. pollution than the neighborhood gets from local industry. Environmental Law This handbook provides you The federal government acts with guides to emissions that are through its laws and the EPA. considered “toxic,” (or poisonous) Laws are created by Congress and and to some that are not, but can approved by the President. These harm human health nonetheless. laws set standards for the You will learn how to identify environment. These standards sources of pollution in your currently include the amount of neighborhood, find out what the certain chemicals that can be emissions mean for your health released into your air, the process and property, and decide which that factories must use to dispose strategy is best for getting action of hazardous wastes, and who is on your situation. (Words such as responsible for cleaning up ‘toxic’ or ‘emissions’ may not be environmental hazards. familiar to you. Although we have tried to define such words as we go, there are definitions on page 38 of this handbook.) Unfortunately, there is no one place to go for information about every pollutant that is emitted into the environment in your area. And there is no single agency that can answer all your questions. This because EPA, state agencies, and local offices have different responsibilities for 3 Congress • Passes the laws that set the national standards for the environment • Supervises the agencies responsible for implementing the laws • Provides an outlet for concerned citizens to ask questions about environmental activities in their district. 4 The EPA is responsible for enforcing the include health hazards of environmental laws passed by Congress, and for explaining them to neighborhood residents, particular chemicals, regional businesses, and local governments. This process environmental issues, includes regulations made by the EPA to determine what businesses and neighborhood environmental hazards caused by residents must do to comply with particular laws industry, and other environmental passed by Congress. information. EPA is also responsible under the “Superfund” The EPA collects a large program for making sure the worst quantity of environmental environmental sites get cleaned information that it makes available up. to the public. The information can Environmental Protection Agency • Creates regulations which explain the standards passed by Congress • Responsible for enforcement of laws • Conducts testing to determine health risks in the environment • Issues permits to control the release of hazardous chemicals State governments also are including educational projects, concerned about the environment. cleanup of contaminated sites, and Every state has its own enforcement of environmental environmental laws, passed by the laws. state legislature. Most states also have their own agencies for Some of the best dealing with the environment. environmental information comes These agencies do many of the from the permits that the state things that the EPA does, but agencies issue to businesses. focus on a much smaller area. Frequently, these agencies also Often, neighborhood residents will have environmental information, have contact with state agency but it is often broken down into staff before they will work with smaller parts, and often matches the EPA. Generally, state agencies closely with the existing city and have funds for many types of county boundaries. environmental programs, 5 State Legislatures • Pass state laws setting environmental standards that may be tougher than federal standards • Supervise the state agencies responsible for enforcement • Provides outlet for citizens to voice their concerns State Environmental Agencies • Responsible for local enforcement of state environmental standards • Create regulations explaining the state standards • Conduct testing and other activities to determine health risks from the environment • Issue permits for the release of hazardous chemicals Finally, cities, counties and other (1) learn a bit about the difference smaller communities have their between toxics (or hazardous own laws on the environment. materials) and substances which These local governments have are not toxic, but which can harm their own level of information; human health; often including business permits, (2) learn about environmental laws zoning laws, and sometimes even and who is responsible for their own environmental enforcing them; regulations. These smaller units (3) learn the shortcomings of also have more local contact information provided by information with businesses, environmental agencies. community leaders, and other agencies, and they are a great You have been given a place to start your search for sketch of the governmental information. structure of environmental activities. The remainder of this What you need to know chapter deals with materials that can harm human health. The To get started on your shortcomings of agencies’ journey for environmental information are covered in Chapter information, it helps to: 2. 6 Toxic/Hazardous Substances states, regulates both toxins and particulates. A toxin (or hazardous material) is a substance that in The next chapter describes basic quantity or form poses an information you can get about unreasonable risk. Hazardous sources of pollution in your waste is toxic material that no neighborhood. It also provides longer has a commercial value. names and addresses of agencies that can supply more The use of chemicals in environmental information. American society has skyrocketed since World War II. According to the Chemical Abstract Service, which provides names and numbers to chemicals, there were 211,000 new chemicals in 1965; 10 million in 19902. An example is chromium, which can cause cancer and other problems if a person is exposed to sufficient quantities over a certain period of time.3 Materials that ordinarily are not considered harmful can become threats to human health. This depends on the form and quantity in which they are emitted. An important example is particulates. These are little bits of material such as shavings, fibers or dust that can be breathed, posing a threat to respiratory health. A good example is the cloth dust emitted from garment factories. The EPA, as well as the 2 Jake Joyce, Ph.D., presentation to Project Researchers, September 3, 1997. 3 Iris Report from RTK.NET, January 20, 1998. 7 Chapter Two: Finding Out About Your Neighborhood How you approach your have on your health, your search for information will depend children’s health, or your property upon your goals. Typically, you values. would become involved in an environmental issue because you One of your first tasks have a particular