Brownfields, Environmental Justice, and the Environmental Protection Agency

Brownfield Sites

Mass Dept. of Environmental Protection via Flickr

A Brownfield site is land previously used for industrial or commercial uses that may be contaminated by low concentrations of hazardous waste or pollution and has the potential to be cleaned up and reused.  In 1995, the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfields Program began empowering states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse Brownfields.

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Environmental Justice

According to the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program, communities of color in the United States bear a disproportionate share of exposure to hazardous substances due to discriminatory land use, citing, and permitting decisions.  Also, less environmental protection is afforded to communities of color due to discriminatory enforcement and remedial actions.  Because of these reasons, the Environmental Justice Movement and The Brownfields Program have evolved over a similar timeline.

The Movement Ignites 

Brownfield and Environmental Justice Grow

In mid-September of 1982, the Environmental Justice Movement sparked and brought the Brownfields issue into the national spotlight.  Poor, rural, and overwhelmingly black, the people of Warren County, North Carolina were the first Americans to be arrested for peaceful protests over environmental issues.  Since the state government had decided to dump 6,000 truckloads of soil laced with toxic PCBs in Warren County, dismissing concerns over PCBs leaching into drinking water, the people of Warren County met the trucks with peaceful resistance.  During the six weeks of nonviolent marches and street protests, many were arrested, thrusting issues of environmental justice into the national spotlight.  Ultimately, the people of Warren County did not win the fight against dumping of PCBs, however, they were able to bring national awareness to the Environmental Justice issue.

Prior to the Warren County protests, the Environmental Justice movement was percolating under the surface.  In the 1960s, Cesar Chavez organized Latino farm workers to fight for protection from harmful pesticides, African American students in Houston protested a city garbage dump that had claimed the lives of two young children, and in West Harlem residents fought against the citing of a sewage treatment plant in their community.

As the movement began to take hold, more and more connections between people of color and Brownfield Sites became clear.  In 1987, the United Church of Christ published Toxic Waste and Race in the United States.  Soon after, the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission received the first EPA Brownsfields Pilot in 1993, then in 1995, 22 more communities were awarded Brownsfields grants and the EPA convened with the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council to discuss Brownsfields and public health.  To date, 78 tribes and 90 nonprofit organizations have received Brownfields funding.

Conclusion

The Brownfields Law has both served communities in need and spurred the Environmental Justice Movement.  The two are inextricably intertwined.  Since Brownfields Sites are predominantly located in low-income communities where the resources needed to initiate Brownfields cleanup and redevelopment projects are lacking, the EPA funding has been able to fill the void to build project momentum to revitalize these communities.