We need clear places of input for communities to not just understand, but use the information that will drive decisions, because we simply won’t find justice in the data alone. When people’s actual experiences have been denied, we must integrate processes from the outset that allow for participation in environmental governance. But we will continue to do a disservice if we overlook what comes after the data is collected and observations have been made.Īlongside the additional monitoring capacity and attention of regulators, EPA needs to ensure adequate places for feedback loops with communities in the process of accountability, and create mechanisms to begin repairing long-broken trust between communities and government. It feels even more promising during a political moment when justice is being centered in a whole-of-government approach. This new EPA investment in monitoring infrastructure is a win for Cancer Alley residents, and environmental justice communities more broadly. They’ve organized and continue to organize through it all. ![]() ![]() They’ve collected articles, tracked noxious smells, used an assortment of air monitors and partnered with researchers to document air quality. What is the role of more data without strong accountability toward ensuring ongoing community involvement, especially of those who have been ignored for so long?įenceline communities are not only aware, but they live the consequences of the industrial era every day: The air doesn’t get cleaner as refineries self-report emissions and fly under the radar in our nation’s long reliance on, and reluctance to give up, petroleum and other fossil fuels. And so when I see news of such a significant investment, I can’t help but ask what the end result will be. In the decade since, I’ve attempted to answer the question of why it is so hard for people to be involved in environmental decisions affecting their health. Residents would share binders filled with years’ worth of articles detailing refinery explosions and accidents or demonstrate how touching a residential surface would leave one’s finger covered in the black dust of petroleum coke. We worked with “fenceline” communities - those directly adjacent to industrial facilities. This is a big step in a direction that residents have been calling on for years - government action.Īs I read this news, I thought back to when I was a young organizer with the Louisiana Bucket Brigade. Recently, EPA Administrator Michael Regan announced a $600,000 investment in air monitoring in Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley,” an area with a heavy concentration of petroleum facilities.
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