Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice

Environmental Justice

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Environmental Justice?

What are disproportionate adverse affects?

Is this really a problem?

How does this affect our communities?

What are other states doing about this issue?

What is Environmental Justice?

Environmental Justice is equal protection under all environmental laws and regulations regardless of race, ethnicity, or economic status. It includes fair and meaningful participation in the decision-making processes and equal access to relief measures from existing environmental burdens in proportion to the burdens for all people. Fair treatment means that no group shall bear an unequal share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from municipal, industrial and commercial operations of the execution of federal, state, and local policies. A growing body of evidence suggests that minority and low-income populations bear a disproportionate share of the adverse impacts of pollution and suffer from more adverse health risks than the society at large due to:

· Discriminatory zoning and siting policies and practices

· More barriers to the decision-making processes

· Exposure to harmful chemicals

· Unequal enforcement of environmental laws

What are disproportionate adverse impacts?

The primary Environmental Justice concern is the disproportionate adverse health effects of having multiple sources of and fewer controls over pollution and toxins in minority and low-income communities. These impacts are the result of activities such as the siting of hazardous facilities, illegal and excessive dumping, pollution from transportation activities, insufficient protections in clean-up activities, mismangement of hazardous substances, much higher exposures to toxins due to cultural reliances on fishing and hunting for food, jobs that are more likely to expose workers to unsafe working conditions, etc

There are also quality of life impacts such as noise, odors, dust, and increased traffic. In addition, delays in remediation activities on contaminated sites impede economic development and much needed jobs for these communities.

Is this really a problem? Are members of racial, ethnic or socioeconomic groups bearing a disproportionate share of the environmental burdens in Connecticut?

Yes. …

· A 2001 study conducted by two University of Hartford faculty members found that Connecticut’s regional solid waste disposal facilities are located nearer to neighborhoods with high percentages of minority and low-income residents.

· Using 1990 census data, a 1996 CT DEP study showed that people of color are more likely to live near potential environmental hazards.

· The Environmental Defense Fund’s analysis of the distribution of environmental burdens in Connecticut and found that people of color are exposed to one-and-a-half times the releases of toxic chemicals and one-and-three-quarters times the cancer risks from hazardous air pollutants as their white neighbors. People of color in Connecticut have nearly six times the number of facilities emitting criteria air pollutants near their homes as whites. (See www.scorecard.org)

How does this affect our communities?

The first and major impact on lower income and people of color is the public health implication of siting hazardous facilities in densely populated areas. Many of the pollutants and toxins emitted by these facilities are known carcinogens, and others trigger asthma attacks and/or exacerbate other respiratory diseases.

The Department of Environmental Protection’s rules allow new facilities to locate in any community no matter how environmentally overburdened an area may already be.

Urban areas have environmental problems, like illegal dumping, that occur so frequently that regular enforcement is impossible. Too few resources for too large a problem results in unequal enforcement of laws meant to protect all residents.

What are other states doing about this issue?

Alabama. Arkansas, California, Rhode Island, and most recently, Massachusetts all have state statutes limiting the concentration of hazardous facilities in some way.