New environmental report evokes mixed
reactions
By Brian Hansen, Colorado Daily
Copyright 1999 Colorado Daily
March 9, 1999
Toxic waste and industrial pollution don't
kill minorities and poor people --
poor nutrition and
"socioeconomic factors" kill minorities and poor people.
So says a new study released last week, which will surely
exacerbate the
philosophical chasm between anti-regulation libertarians and
environmental
justice activists.
The study, facilitated by the National Academy of Sciences
and sponsored by the
U.S. Department of Energy, the National Institutes of Health and
the
Environmental Protection Agency, declares that there is
"no scientific link" between the health problems of
minority and poor communities and the
industrial activities prevalent in such areas.
"There are identifiable
communities of concern that experience ... higher levels of
exposure to
environmental stressors in terms of both frequency and
magnitude," the report declares.
"However, research so far has not been able to tie the health
problems of
minority and poor communities to environmental stressors such as
chemicals,
noise or air pollutants."
But despite its conclusion, the report recommends that
further study be
undertaken in four key areas -- public health, research, education
and health
policy. For Cato Institute public health scholar Steven
Milloy, these are highly divergent -- and very suspicious --
conclusions indeed.
"The report is a clear case of
disregarding the facts for a politically palatable
conclusion,"
Milloy said.
"There never has been any evidence that pollution is causing
any harm -- much
less disproportionate harm -- to minority communities. This report
-- in its
mealy mouthed way -- confirms that."
Milloy said that the report -- which links health problems
not to
industrial pollution but rather with
"socioeconomic status" and
"political disenfranchisement" -- ought to delegitimize
the so-called
"environmental justice" movement once and for all.
"The report even acknowledges that, to the extent
minority communities do have
more health problems, they're likely due to issues more akin to a
lower
quality lifestyle,"
Milloy said.
"The EPA can't fix that."
But environmental justice activists -- who work to ensure
that low income and
ethnically diverse communities don't get saddled with
disproportionate
pollution and health risks -- see things differently.
"Communities of color and low income communities are
absolutely
impacted -- disproportionally -- by the kinds of industrial
activities that
commonly invade these kinds of neighborhoods," said Melissa
Munoz, environmental justice director for the Colorado Peoples
Environmental and Economic Network.
"It's not a coincidence that whole neighborhoods in north
Denver suffer from the
same types of cancer -- there's
definitely a connection."
And of course the health of minority and poor neighborhoods
is impacted by
sub-standard
"socioeconomic factors," said Munoz -- because these
communities have long been
"targeted" by poison-spewing companies.
"Industries and government agencies have traditionally
seen communities of color
and low-income communities as easy targets,"
said Munoz.
"These polluters are just like electricity -- they take the
path of least
resistance."
The report acknowledges that people living in industrial
areas are frequently
"less able to deal with these hazards as a result of limited
knowledge of
exposures and disenfranchisement from the political process."
Munoz puts the point more succinctly -- she
calls it
"environmental racism."
"Companies come into these sorts of communities
because they know people don't
have the money or clout to fight them," she said.
"And to smooth their way even further, they promise jobs and
economic prosperity
-- but they're always half-truths and misrepresentations of
reality.
"These promises are the equivalent of economic
blackmail," she declared.
Community zoning codes -- and local politicians who fail to
adequately enforce
them -- are at the heart of this problem, Munoz explained.
"Currently (in north Denver and elsewhere) the burden
of proof is on the
community to show that a proposed toxic waste dump, for example, is
not in the
community's best
interest," she said.
"It ought to be the other way around -- companies should have
to prove that it
is."
Munoz, who has long believed that there's a link between
the health problems of
her north Denver neighborhood and the high incidence of industrial
activity
there, has a chance to prove the prestigious National Academy of
Sciences'
report wrong.
Recently, Munoz and COPEEN were awarded a two-year Environmental
Protection
Agency grant to study the effects of industrial pollution in five
north Denver
neighborhoods.
"There have been a number of isolated studies of
individual polluters, but
nothing to pull it all together with a health survey," she
said.
"We believe there is a direct link between our community
health and the amount
of pollution generated by the industries in our area."
COPEEN's study, Munoz said, will focus on
"loopholes" in federal pollution reporting guidelines,
known as the Toxic Release
Inventory, or TRI. Currently, she said,
TRI reporting guidelines are set far too high, which diminishes the
possible
"link" between poor community health and industrial
activity.
"We know there are over 1,000 polluting businesses in
our 80216 Zip Code, but
only about 24 have to report under TRI," she said.
"We hope to learn how
much more pollution is really out there -- and how it's affecting
our health."
There are myriad on-line databases available to Coloradans
wishing to search
for TRI data, including the Right to Know Network at
www.rtknet.org.
To read the full text of the National Academy of Sciences'
environmental
justice
report, go to the academy's home page at www.nas.edu.
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