The Need for Environmental Justice

Throughout history it has become evident that communities of minorities have had to suffer the burden of pollution from landfills, incinerators, sewage treatment plants and chemical industries. This is mainly due to the fact that large companies want to find the cheapest and least resistant areas for their dumping grounds, causing minority communities to become sacrificial zones for the benefit of these companies. Dickson, a small town in Tennessee, has become the focal point of this particular environmental racism issue. For years the Holt family has claimed that the poisons from a local Dickson landfill have caused some of them to acquire potentially deadly diseases, including cancer. In 2003, the family took legal action for compensation, but it remains unclear who is at fault for their mistreatment. The article “NAACP Hold Rally; Claims Toxic Well Poisoned Black Families” published by the Associated Press describes the controversial issue that is at hand, as well as the legal evidence that demonstrates the carelessness of the landfill company, the city, and the country.

The proof demonstrating that this family was a victim of environmental racism lies within the fact that their Caucasian neighbours were advised not to drink the well water. Unlike the Holt family, white members of the community were informed that their water contained the toxic chemical trichloroethylene, which was leaking from the landfill, making the water unsafe to drink. Furthermore, the owners of the landfill who resided across the street from the Holts knowingly allowed local African American families to bathe, drink and cook with the contaminated water (Associated Press, 2009).

This negligence can be connected with the equity principle, and more specifically, intragenerational equity. The latter includes justice and the considerations of what is fair for people within any one nation (Beder, 2006) and it is apparent that this principle was not correctly applied to all members who resided in the Dickson community. It is one thing that the neighbours did not inform the Holts of the contaminated water, but it is discriminative and illegal for the landfill company not to educate the entire community on the conditions of the water. If the equity principle was applied correctly, the community at large would have been informed about the issue, no matter their ethnicity or race.

This dispute also touches on human rights, which are entitlements based on morality, justice and fairness that all people ought to have (Beder, 2006). The rights of all people, including the Holt family, can be found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This includes a person’s right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family (Beder, 2006). All of the families living within the community had the right to be informed of the chemicals that were leaking into the well water, and by failing to do so, the landfill company neglected these rights.

The main cause behind this controversy is that the Holt family did not receive the environmental justice they were entitled to. This term includes “the fair treatment of people of all races, cultures and income with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and programs and policies” (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2008). In part, this means that no racial group should possess an unequal share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial operations. If this justice was initiated in the first place, family members would not have used the contaminated water, preventing the deadly diseases that were acquired.

Unfortunately, the Holt’s story is not the first incident concerning environmental racism. In fact, a US Environmental Protection Agency study found that “black Americans are 79 percent more likely than whites to live in neighbourhoods where industrial pollution is suspected of posing the greatest health danger” (Beder, 2006). Due to statistics such as this and inequities such as the Holt’s story, environmental justice has become a public issue, especially in the United States. By creating awareness of the environmental racism that occurred in Dickson, it will be shown how important it is that all people be given the equity and rights that they are entitled to.

References
The Associated Press. (2009) NAACP Hold Rally; Claims Toxic Well Poisoned Black Families. September 2009. http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=11082691. Accessed 22 November 2009.

Beder, Sharon. 2006. “Environmental Principles and Policies: An Interdisciplinary Introduction.” University of New South Whales Press Ltd.

United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2008) Environmental Equity and Human Resources. http://www.ateec.org/publ/critical_issues/ci-environ.cfm. Accessed 23 November 2009.