[MUSIC] Hi, my name is Michele Roberts. I'm the national co-coordinator Of the Environment Justice Health Alliance. And in addition to that, I'm the outreach director for coming clean. Today, I want to talk to you about losing communities to toxic pollution and disasters and the importance of community-based science. Incorporating community based science into that of grassroots organizing is a very important tool for what we call fence line communities. Fence line to some of our nation's most egregious oil and gas, chemical and extractive operations. More production means more pollution. What do I mean by that? When we look at our communities, especially environmental justice communities, everything from a lipstick to tire sealants, babies' diapers, food packaging, pool liners, they are all connected to the natural gas chain. So therefore everything from production to market base, to that of disposal, is all happening in one community. That being environmental justice communities, creating accumulative impact on those communities and a reason for them to really have to prove their case on their health disparities. In the Southwest area, communities are still grappling with the legacy of uranium mining. Everything from mining, production, disposal, these communities are still grappling with the legacy challenges of uranium mining that impacts everything from their water to health. Manchester Texas just outside of Houston is a historical community that predates the acquisition of Texas. This community is concerned about the high rates of childhood leukemia, respiratory, heart disease and cancers. In addition to that, this community is also concerned and in the eye of, many hurricanes and storms. More recent Hurricane Harvey where floodwaters came in inundating the community. In addition to that of the ongoing health challenges and pollution that this community is faced with daily. In the Appalachian region of the United States communities are inundated with big energy production that is actually compromising their human right to water. For example, Charleston, West Virginia, you may recall the freedom industry Disaster that impacted 300,000 residents right to water. Today, those communities are still grappling with the right to water and the impacts that the Freedom Industry disaster had on water. Communities still are unable to drink and bathe in the water, this being many years out past that disaster. What is important to know Is that Freedom Industries had not been inspected in over ten years. There were no leak detectors on the above-ground storage tank that leaked into the Elk River, thereby compromising the water production and the water intake to the community of Charleston, West Virginia, which, as I said, impacted over 300,000 people. We are also impacted in the United States by high risk facilities. Here on this slide we have a map indicating 12,500 high risk facilities that are permitted to be located across the United States. If you look at the northeast and mid-Atlantic region of the United States on down to the Gulf Of the you know in the states you would see the density of these facilities located. We found when we place race and income layers over these facilities, we learn that race then income, in that order, mattered. With race being that of Black, Latino and poverty. In that order, showed where the disparity was with respect to the siting of high risk facilities. The melting permafrost in the Alaska region and the Arctic has exposed some major debris left from military experiments. Annie Alowa a community based scientist worked in Saint Lawrence Island Alaska. With members of the Alaska Community Action Against Toxics. To help those living in St. Lawrence island Alaska make the connections between that of toxic pollution and the high disparity of cancers that the communities were facing on St. Lawrence Island. In addition to that, the impacts of climate change began to deeply impact St. Lawrence by melting permafrost which exposed military experiments left over from the 1950s. Great work was taking place in and along St. Lawrence Island, with Annie Alowa. Unfortunately, Annie herself died herself of cancer. Today that work continues to go on. Going back to Appalachia and more specifically the Oak River spill in Charleston West Virginia, communities are still grappling with clean portable water coming from the tap. Many see nothing but brown water and as a result are actually purchasing water with the small amounts of monies that they have. That is not only going on in Appalachia. In Texas Colonias there are communities that have made shrines to the rights of water. There again, there are clusters of childhood leukemia where deep well injection of the oil and gas refinery industries are actually rendering clusters of childhood leukemia in the Texas Colonias. Fence line communities across this nation from Norco, Louisiana through that of Detroit, Michigan to that of South LA, the Central Valley, Wilmington, Delaware, Boston, Massachusetts. Many of our children in Fenceline communities are literally playing on playgrounds that have a backdrop of industrial source pollution. In fact, many communities say that you can tell a fenceline or an environmental justice community just by looking at the playground. If you look at the playground, you will see all the industrial sources that surround that space where children play. So what are communities doing about these threats of chemical disasters? The environmental justice health alliance several years ago authored a report, who's in danger? Race, Poverty, and Chemical Disasters. It was a demographic analysis of chemical disasters that were taken place in vulnerable communities. We identified just over 3400 facilities that we looked at high risk facilities and where they were located. It turns out that race, then income, were the driving factors of where these facilities were located. So we found that the disparity was based on black, Latino and poverty, yet again. So what are communities doing about that? In a place such as Wilmington, Delaware where I'm originally from. Communities like the Delaware Concerned Residents for Environmental Justice. Have worked along with the Environment Justice Health Alliance, the Union of Concerned Scientists For Center for Science and Democracy to compile yet again a demographic analysis that addressed high risk facilities, pollution sources and layered that over race and income. Again, in a small state like Delaware, we found that residents of at least seven communities in the Newcastle County Community that made up about 1% of Delaware's population, were located near more that 35% of the state's most polluted sites. This is why community based science is so important to environmental justice and fenceline communities, as we are addressing the issues and impacts of health clusters. What we are finding is that there are cumulative impacts that are actually impacting around these clusters, cumulative impacts. Meaning that of going back to that original point made earlier where everything from the lipstick to the natural gas chain is actually impacting that of communities. And what do we mean by that? Market based sources such as the dollar stores, that of Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, Dollar General, 99 cents stores, that are locating now In abundance in and around communities, especially what we call environmental justice and fence-line communities. These stores are selling discounted goods that we have found through community base science and testing that have high levels of heavy metals and other plastics such as bisphenol A in their products. Well communities are now doing as organizing and working with these stores to make sure that these shelves are made whole a clean with that of products that communities need to be healthful and thrive. Many of these communities only have these stores to depend on for food sources or the sources of supplies that they need for their homes, such as cleaning supplies. If indeed these communities are actually surrounded by permitted facilities, such as chemical manufacturing, oil and gas refinery, uranium production, and now that of a market-based store that has high levels of goods that include high levels of contaminants. How is it that community members are able to prove the source of their exposures and address in a holistic way the clusters that are impacting their health and well-being. The Environmental Justice Health Alliance continues to work with many of these communities across the nation. Like Charleston, West Virginia, Houston, Texas, Wilmington, Delaware, Louisville, Kentucky, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Central Valley, California. Many of these communities, again, who over time, have been constantly reaching out to their public health and environmental regulatory a gencies as well as they're local and federal agencies sharing their concerns about their health. The fact that they are indeed losing their health as they feel, losing their health, their land, their lives, their very well-being to that of toxic pollution. Communities like Mosville, Louisiana who is actually in the line of right now also becoming no more. Say enough is enough. We need science to really help underguard that of legacy based challenges that our communities. Black, brown, the poor, environmental justice, and fence line communities now equally impacted by the climate crisis. We need science to address the very challenges and embrace the remedies and the redemptions and solutions that communities have. At the end of the day, this will make it a better world and a much more healthier and safer world for all of us. Thank you so very much and if you wish to be in touch with us, please contact me at mroberts@comingcleaninc.org. Thank you. [MUSIC]
