Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice

Major Accomplishments 1999

This first funded year of the Hartford Environmental Justice Network has far exceeded our expectations. Our major accomplishments have been:

In Hartford

Banning medical waste in Hartford.
Hartford is already home to more regional waste disposal facilities than any other Connecticut town. It receives waste from 77 Connecticut towns, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York City. Medwaste Management, Inc. of New England proposed to add a ninth type of regional waste facility- a medical waste treatment facility- to our overburdened city. Hartford Environmental Justice Network was able to educate the community and policymakers to the point that the Hartford City Council moved from a position of saying that it couldn't be done, to the enactment of legislation banning medical waste storage and disposal in the City of Hartford on January 24, 2000. This is a total victory for HEJN.

Sewage Sludge Compost Fire Accountability.
For more than eight days in November and December, one of Hartford's eight regional waste disposal facilities- the MDC sewage sludge compost facility burned uncontrollably to the ground, thereby presenting an infectious disease and air toxin hazard to nearby residents. Despite hosting the only community forum asking for an explanation, HEJN received unsatisfactory responses to questions about the cause of the fire, the response of building, health and fire officials to the fire, and how to prevent this from occurring at the other 7 regional waste facilities. We are now petitioning City Council to establish a regional Board of Inquiry to investigate. This activity is still in process.

Protecting Coltsville Residents and Children.
Coltsville Heritage Park, Inc. is developing the highly contaminated former site of the Colt Firearms factory. The site contained about 150 apartments and a Headstart program for 150 children. During demolition, many of the residents complained of illness. We were able to get the state Department of Environmental Protection to declare the property to be a hazardous waste storage facility and to threaten the owners with substantial fines if they did not clean it up safely. In addition, we were able to get the Headstart Program moved off the contaminated site in June of 1999.

Successfully Advocated for Reductions in Airborne Toxins From Incineration of Trash.
HEJN made substantial progress in our goal of reducing airborne toxins from the trash incinerator. CRRA, the incinerator operator has installed nitrogen oxide controls on the incinerator, reportedly because of our expressed concerns about air pollution. In addition, Connecticut has adopted tough new mercury standards for trash incinerators. These standards are expected to stimulate all incinerators to adopt the latest technology in pollution control, which will reduce many other airborne toxins in addition to mercury. Also, the standards have encouraged the incinerators to fund pollution prevention education efforts to reduce the amount of mercury going to the incinerator. Also, due to our efforts, the incinerator no longer burns more trash from New York City than from Hartford. These educational efforts also laid the groundwork for City Council's willingness to ban medical waste from Hartford. However, we will still need to monitor the implementation of the new regulations and pollution controls to determine if they, infact lead to reduction of airborne toxins from the trash incinerator.

Raised Concerns about the Relationship between Airborne Toxins and Asthma.
Now, a substantial portion of residents know about the large amount of trash that we import to burn and the potential link with asthma. We have persuaded the appropriate agencies to document asthma rates (about which we have been alarmed for several years) and to document air toxins in Hartford. This has lead to the finding that, at 41%, Hartford has the highest physician-confirmed childhood asthma rate in the United States.

Raised Environmental Concerns about the Cleanup of Adriaen's Landing.
HEJN members trained other residents to ask questions of the developers to make sure that the contaminated site proposed for Adriaen's Landing and the Patriots' Stadium was properly cleaned with a minimum of risk to residents and workers before the project proceeded.

Asbestos from Hawthorn Fire.
HEJN helped other residents hold public officials accountable for not notifying residents when they discovered that many people were being exposed to airborne asbestos from a major fire at the Hawthorn Building.

Connecticut Solid Waste Management Plan Hearings.
HEJN provided training to residents and worked with DEP to make sure that residents understood and had an opportunity to provide suggestions and comments on the State's 20 year plan to handle trash in an environmentally just manner. DEP officials commented that the participation was much greater and comments received from HEJN members were more substantial than those received from residents in other cities.

Developed and Recognized New Environmental Leaders.
HEJN Provided five leadership development training sessions, provided logistical support so that members could attend five other environmental training sessions and provided leadership opportunities at 11 monthly meetings and five community education days. In addition, HEJN presented leadership awards to four HEJN grassroot environmental leaders, ten HEJN community organizations, one organizer for an HEJN member organization, and one company (Hartford Hospital) for their environmental stewardship.

Heightened Awareness of Environmental Justice Issues.
In addition to the accomplishments listed previously, tangible evidence of the rising awareness of the public to environmental justice issues in Hartford are:

1. The increase in requests for HEJN to respond to regional environmental issues.
2. Forty-three newspaper articles were written in the local press about issues which involved HEJN or CCEJ from Jan. 1999 to Jan. 2000.
3. The election to Hartford City Council of the first African-American to be elected on the Green Party ticket. She was elected on a platform of environmental justice.

Outside of Hartford

Although Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice has concentrated in developing the environmental justice movement in Hartford through the Hartford Environmental Justice Network, it has assisted some organizations outside of Hartford. We expect this activity to greatly increase next year when we hire a full-time staff person.

Community Education at Health Fairs.
Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice has participated in a health fair in New Haven and an asthma education fair in New London to raise awareness of environmental justice issues and to address local EJ concerns.

Phoenix Soil.
Phoenix Soil is a soil decontamination facility that located temporarily in the heart of Waterbury several years ago. It is now operating in a largely Black and Latino neighborhood although the time for which they were permitted to operate has expired and the facility has never met CT DEP standards for air emissions. We participated in community education sessions about the facility and are considering joining in an environmental justice lawsuit against Phoenix Soil.

New Haven Environmental Justice Acitvities.
CCEJ has participated in the environmental justice advisory board in New Haven, has become intervener and assisted with a public hearing s in the permitting of a sewage sludge incinerator in New Haven, and has participated in several efforts to get the New Haven Harbor power plant to meet modern standards and thereby reduce their air pollution.

Filthy Five Campaign.
Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice is a member organization in the Connecticut Coalition for Clean Air. This coalition is trying to get the state to require that the five largest and most polluting power plants meet modern pollution standards. If this is accomplished, it will reduce the air emissions of sulfur dioxides and nitrogen dioxides by 50%. We have provided public education on this issue in New Haven, Bridgeport, Montville, and East Hampton as well as among the Hartford and New Haven Medical Societies and to legislators at the State Capitol.

In addition to these efforts, we have provided information on environmental justice to the Connecticut DEP, the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, other statewide organizations, students at universities in CT, and to individuals who have called for assistance.

January-August 2000

Banning medical waste in Hartford.
Hartford is already home to more regional waste disposal facilities than any other Connecticut town. It receives waste from 77 Connecticut towns, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York City. Medwaste Management, Inc. of New England proposed to add a ninth type of regional waste facility- a medical waste treatment facility- to our overburdened city. Hartford Environmental Justice Network was able to educate the community and policymakers to the point that the Hartford City Council moved from a position of saying that it couldn't be done, to the enactment of legislation banning medical waste storage and disposal in the City of Hartford on January 24, 2000. This is a total victory for HEJN.

Sewage Sludge Compost Fire Accountability.
For more than eight days in November and December, one of Hartford's eight regional waste disposal facilities- the MDC sewage sludge compost facility burned uncontrollably to the ground, thereby presenting an infectious disease and air toxin hazard to nearby residents. Despite hosting the only community forum asking for an explanation, HEJN received unsatisfactory responses to questions about the cause of the fire, the response of building, health and fire officials to the fire, and how to prevent this from occurring at the other 7 regional waste facilities. In March, 2000, we unsuccessfully petitioned the Hartford City Council to establish a regional Board of Inquiry to investigate, but we plan to push for more accountability and community control through legislative action in upcoming sessions of the General Assembly.

People's Public Hearing on Dioxin.
The purpose of the hearing was to educate the public and state officials regarding the recent dioxin reassessment done by independent scientists. Our hearing was part of a national campaign to encourage EPA to release its own similar findings, and featured a nationally-known dioxin researcher, Connecticut environmental and health experts, and state residents. This strategy was a success, and we held a press conference in June to draw attention to the release of the EPA's report.

Declaration of an Asthma Emergency in Hartford.
Responding to Hartford's highest-in-the-nation asthma rates, HEJN successfully persuaded the Hartford City Council to acknowledge that an asthma emergency exists and negotiated language outlining a comprehensive community response to asthma. As a result of HEJN's advocacy, funding was increased in order to establish an environmental health education position in the Hartford Health Department.

Preventing the Expansion of the Hartford Landfill.
Community opposition to the aesthetics of landfill expansion, as well as the growing awareness that Hartford is becoming the dumping ground of the northeast, influenced the landfill operator to abandon plans to expand its 130-foot high landfill by 2.5 million cubic yards. "Sometimes you have to invest in the environment. Let's pay extra and close it," said Hartford Mayor Michael Peters. This type of attitude was rarely heard in City Hall before HEJN was formed.