Low-income communities are the most likely locations of pollution-producing facilities, incinerators, landfills, and toxic waste disposal sites.
According to many environmental and advocacy organizations, this inequality in pollution distribution can be attributed to the fact that these towns and cities lack the resources to confront polluters.
Tufts students and graduates are doing their part to confront that problem.
"That Somerville suffers from 300 lung cancer and heart attack deaths every decade due to its excess transportation burden is a clear example of an environmental injustice," said senior and former EnviroCitizen intern Aditya Nochur, who researched Bill 2418 last summer.
Bill 2418, which promotes environmental justice, was passed in the Massachusetts Senate but faltered in the House of Representatives. It was designed in response to the inequitable distribution of environmental hazards, and it requires quicker clean-ups of hazardous waste sites, while promoting cleaner development projects that utilize the best and newest pollution-control technology.
The bill also calls for "more inclusive public participation in decision making," in order to grant residents the opportunity to influence decisions that will end up affecting their health.
"Many communities in Massachusetts are similarly overburdened with environmental hazards, especially low-income communities and communities of color, who are exposed to hazardous facilities at a rate three to nine times greater than that for high-income communities and predominantly white communities," Nochur said.
"Such disturbing disparities have strong negative implications for public health and social justice," Nochur added.
Respiratory infections are one of the immediate health risks associated with pollution. Along with Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Dorchester, and others, Medford is one of the 10 Massachusetts communities with the most frequent number of asthma-related hospitalizations.
"Everyone has the right to breathe clean air and drink clean water," said Tufts graduate Johanna Neumann (LA '01) of Toxics Action Center (TAC), a non-profit, environmental justice-focused organization working out of Boston.
According to Neumann, the inability to compete financially with a powerful corporation is not the only obstacle that communities have to cope with.
"These communities often face additional hurdles such as limited access to information [and] education or lack of time to get involved and hold businesses and elected officials accountable to the interests of the community," Neumann said.
TAC works side by side with communities to help them accomplish their goal of protecting the health and safety of their community. "Our program provides information, an expert referral network, and organizing assistance to give residents the skills and strategies they need to win their local fight," Neumann said.
Neumann is currently helping a community group in Easton, Massachusetts clean up an iron foundry that operates in the middle of their residential neighborhood.
"The foundry spews soot and odors into the air, and many of the neighborhood children suffer respiratory problems," Neumann said. "I helped the group to define their goals and educated them on the different processes available to them."
Nochur's internship focused on media advertising. One of his main projects involved organizing a "lobby day" where students came together to speak with their representatives about environmental justice concerns.
"It's difficult for students to help out with [environmental justice] issues," said senior Jennifer Baldwin, an active member of the Tufts ECO club. "It's often difficult for poor, minority communities to take the advice of white, suburban students who could not be expected to directly relate to the problem at hand."
"It's also impractical for students to help with [environmental justice] issues in spare time between classes," Baldwin added. "When dealing with campaigns that directly affect people's health, it is preferable to have full-time workers who can completely dedicate themselves to projects."
Nonprofit organizations work to provide these full-time workers to aid communities threatened by hazardous waste disposal.
Neumann suggests that students help with environmental justice issues by organizing on campus to get their university to purchase clean power, buying 100 percent recycled paper, and increasing waste reduction technologies.
Although Baldwin recognizes the difficulty in confronting environmental justice issues as a student, she understands the importance of keeping students informed about its implications. She advises students to contact their state representatives in support of legislation that promotes environmental justice.
"Even if we don't end up working in the field of environmental justice, in our daily lives we have to do everything we can to overturn the existing social strata," Baldwin said.
Students interested in volunteering or interning at Toxics Action Center can contact Johanna Neumann at (617)747-4374, or e-mail johanna@toxicsaction.org. Congress will consider Bill 2418 again in January 2005.
