Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 15
Environmental Justice
The Mercury Connection
JEROME NRIAGU, NILADRI BASU, and SIMONE CHARLES
involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national
origin, or income with respect to the development, imple-
mentation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regula-
tions, and policies.” Fair treatment means that no group of
people, including racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic groups,
should bear a disproportionate share of the negative envi-
ronmental consequences resulting from industrial, munici-
pal, and commercial operations or the execution of federal,
state, local, and tribal programs and policies. Meaningful
involvement means that: (1) potentially affected commu-
nity residents have an appropriate opportunity to participate
in decisions about a proposed activity that will affect their
environment and/or health; (2) the public's contribution can
infl uence the regulatory agency's decision; (3) the concerns
of all participants involved will be considered in the deci-
sion-making process; and (4) the decision makers seek out
and facilitate the involvement of those potentially affected
(USEPA, 2008).
Other authors view environmental justice through a
broader prism that encompasses ethics, civil rights, public
health, and social disparities. Bunyan Bryant (a pioneer in
this fi eld) notes that
POPULATIONS AT RISK
DISPARITIES IN SITING OF MERCURY SOURCES
Brownfi eld Development
DISPROPORTIONATE EXPOSURE AROUND HOT SPOTS
OF MERCURY
Grassy Narrows, Ontario (Chlor-Alkali)
James Bay Cree of Quebec (Hydroelectric Dam)
Pomo Tribe at Clear Lake (Cinnabar Mine)
Selected Tribes within the Great Lakes Basin
IMMIGRANT POPULATIONS FROM ASIA
NON-HISPANIC BLACK URBAN ANGLERS
CURSE FROM THE WIND: CONTAMINATION OF THE ARCTIC
REGION WITH MERCURY
DO FISH-CONSUMPTION ADVISORIES PROMOTE
ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE?
Environmental justice and sustainable development are
two recent concepts that have provided exciting and nor-
mative framework for public debate and environmental
planning in many countries. Although both concepts are
diffi cult to defi ne and lack precision as analytic policy tools,
each paradigm has a potential to effect long-lasting changes
on how we relate to and manage the environment (Agye-
man, 2005). What makes the concepts unique is that both
promote environmental equity using communitarian-
approach to issues at the local, regional, and global scales.
As defi ned by Bullard (1994), environmental justice
“embraces the principle that all people and communi-
ties are entitled to equal protection of environmental and
public health laws and regulations.” The United States
Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) offers a somewhat
different defi nition—“the fair treatment and meaningful
Environmental Justice is broader in scope than environmen-
tal equity. It refers to those cultural norms and values, rules,
regulations, behaviors, policies, and decisions to support
sustainable communities, where people can interact with
confi dence that their environment is safe, nurturing, and
productive. Environmental justice is supported by decent
paying and safe jobs; quality schools and recreation; decent
housing and adequate health care; democratic decision-
making and personal empowerment; and communities free
of violence, drugs, and poverty. These are communities
where both cultural and biological diversity are respected
and highly revered and where distributed justice prevails.
(Bryant, 2008)
