20th Anniversary Video Series
by Penny Newman
Pollution by Design: Reducing Pollution Through Organizing
Thirty five years ago, I joined a rag tag group of moms who gathered together to decide how we were going to stop the exposures from the Stringfellow Acid Pits, a permitted Class 1 toxic dump site that accepted chemical wastes from throughout California. This was in response to an incident where the State of California, during a heavy rain period, released over one million gallons of liquid toxic waste into our community in order to relieve pressure on a the dam that was holding back 34 million gallons of hazardous waste. They did this without informing us, flooding our streets, and inundating our homes and school. Our children splashed in the puddles, made beards and became snow men in the frothy mounds of gray toxic foam.
When we realized what had happened, we decided we’d had enough. Concerned Neighbors in Action (CNA) formed to stop it. By 1980 we began to hear rumors of places like Love Canal and Times Beach, where communities were experiencing similar problems. Putting our heads and hearts together we launched into a decade long battle to make the system respond to the health crisis that we, and other communities, were facing. Our efforts changed laws, developed legal precedent and created new institutions.
In 1993, after stopping the exposures and winning a personal injury lawsuit with a $114 million settlement, CNA became the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice (CCAEJ) to broaden our work and bring focus to the underlying factors of polluted communities. We learned that these situations don’t just appear by accident. They are the result of a system that seeks the lowest costs, which can lead to high polluting industries locating their operations in poorer communities and communities of color. This is why CCAEJ has developed a mission of “bringing people together to improve our social and natural environment,” as recognition that the social environment—economic, political, education— determine the fate of our community’s environment and our living conditions.
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EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice has officially launched a 20th Anniversary Video Series. These videos feature federal and local government officials, non-profit leaders and students who tell stories about the lessons that they have learned over their time working on environmental justice. These videos will be featured on the Environmental Justice in Action Blog. Thanks to each of the participants in the video series for sharing your stories and for raising awareness about environmental justice.