User:Grace.jana07/Environmental racism in the United States

Key:

Bold text is my additions :)

Italic text is section/sub-section/placement within the article (because I hop around a bit on this one)

Strikethrough text are my edits to existing sections

"History" section:

The true origins of the environmental justice movement are unclear. Though there were isolated Throughout the twentieth century, victims of environmental racism and unjust land use have held protests and filed lawsuits against industry polluters and inattentive governments. These efforts were scattered and did not become coordinated '''until the late 1900s. In 1968, grassroots environmental activists from several tribal nations met in Minnesota and formed an organization known as the American Indian Movement (AIM), which has since risen to prominence staging sit-ins and protests against the building of oil pipelines through indigenous lands. unwanted land uses throughout the twentieth century, the The 1982 North Carolina PCB Protest is also''' widely recognized as spurring the modern and widely-publicized environmental justice movement. In 1982, North Carolina state officials decided to place a landfill with highly toxic PCB-contaminated soil in the small town of Afton in Warren County, North Carolina. Afton was about 84% African American. This decision sparked the first national protest against the location of a hazardous waste facility. Organized by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, residents of Warren County, along with local civil rights and political leaders, gathered in opposition to the placement of the landfill site. Over 500 protesters were arrested. In response, two major studies were published: the US General Accounting Office 1983, and the United Church of Christ 1987. Both studies found that there was a strong relationship between race and the location of hazardous waste facilities.

The US General Accounting Office study conducted a survey of the locations of hazardous-waste facilities, and found that these facilities were more likely to be located in minority and low-income communities. The United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice (CRJ) study found that three of the largest hazardous waste facilities were located in primarily Black areas, and accounted for 40% of the hazardous-waste landfill capacity in the United States. The study also found that the strongest predictor of the placement of hazardous waste facilities was race, surpassing both household income and home values. An additional study conducted by the CRJ found that three out of five African and Hispanic Americans lived in communities with hazardous waste sites.

"Water Pollution" section:

Through the 1940s and 1950s, the US Military responded to wartime industry by erecting uranium mines in the southwestern deserts. The nearest residents were almost exclusively Native American tribal members, who make up just 4% of today's US population and are among the most affected racial minorities in terms of environmental racism. Navajo and Hopi drinking water supply in Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico continues to this day to be affected by runoff and pollution from neighboring mines.

A more recent, highly publicized example of water pollution's disproportionate effect on racial minorities is the Flint Water Crisis. In 2014, Flint, Michigan, a city with a 57% Black population, switched its drinking water to the Flint River, which led to complaints about the water’s taste and color. Studies found that the water was contaminated with lead from aging pipes. As of 2015, the US government had spent $80 million in addressing the Flint Water Crisis.

'''Also in 2015, the Gold King Mine spill contaminated 3 million gallons of water in the Colorado River, which served as a primary source of drinking water for the Navajo and Hopi nations downstream. The Navajo and Hopi subsequently recorded dangerously high levels of arsenic and lead in their water supply. Through the following litigative proceedings, the US EPA appropriated just $156,000 in reparations to those affected by the Gold King Mine spill.'''

The Environmental Integrity Project and Earthjustice reviewed data from 4,600 groundwater monitoring wells at coal fired power plants. 91 percent of coal plants that are required to monitor groundwater near their coal ash dumps show unsafe levels of coal ash components in nearby groundwater. The report also found that 52 percent of plants had unsafe levels of cancer-causing arsenic and 60 percent showed unsafe levels of lithium in nearby groundwater.

"Tribal Outreach" section:

The US EPA holds annual conferences, such as the Tribal Leaders Environmental Forum (TLEF), with Native American tribal leaders; EPA employees and tribal representatives meet in issue-based listening sessions and exchange environmental policy suggestions. The USDA has had a role in implementing Michelle Obama's Let's Move campaign in tribal areas by increasing Bureau of Indian Education schools' participation in federal nutrition programs: they, by develop ing community gardens on tribal lands, and developing build tribal food policy councils,. This is combined with measures to and provide Rural Development funding for community infrastructure in Indian Country. The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is working to update its policy on protection and management of Native American Sacred Sites, an effort that has included listening sessions and government-to-government consultation. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has also consulted with Tribes regarding management of reintroduced species where tribes may have a history of subsistence-level hunting of those species. Meanwhile, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is exploring a program to use meat from bison s raised on tribal land to supply AMS food distribution programs to tribes. The Intertribal Technical Assistance Network works to improve access of tribal governments, communities and individuals to USDA technical assistance programs. Federally recognized tribes are also eligible to apply for "Treatment as State" (TAS) status with the EPA, which gives the tribe jurisdictional authority to enforce their own environmental programs, regulations, and quality standards over nearby polluters or over the state in which they reside.

"Mapping" section:

USFS has established several Urban Field Stations, to research urban natural resources' structure, function, stewardship, and benefits. By mapping urban tree coverage, the agency hopes to identify and prioritize EJ communities for urban forest projects.

Another initiative highlighted by the agency is the Food and Nutrition Service and Economic Research Service's Food Desert Locator. The Locator provides a spatial view of food deserts, defined as a low-income census tract where a substantial number or share of residents has low access to a supermarket or large grocery store. The mapped deserts can be used to direct agency resources to increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables and other food assistance programs.

'''The US EPA database EJ Screen is publicly available. EJ Screen maps the United States with socioeconomically determinant factors including income level and race, as well as environmental health data including rates of asthma and cancer occurrence in a given area. Where there is high correlation between socioeconomic determinants and detrimental health impacts, "EJ communities" are noted.'''