Issues: Environmental Justice

All Documents in Environmental Justice

New Orleans Environmental Quality Test Results
Analysis

Results of NRDC's monitoring for mold, contaminated soil, particulates and other substances of health concern in the New Orleans area following Hurricane Katrina.

Rebuilding New Orleans
Overview

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, a team of health and environmental specialists from NRDC has been working with the people of New Orleans to ensure their safe recovery from the disaster.

Katrina’s Wake: Arsenic-Laced Schools and Playgrounds Put New Orleans Children at Risk
Issue Paper

When Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans in August 2005, the levee failures inundated the city -- particularly its most vulnerable neighborhoods -- with a hazardous sea of fuel, sewage and chemicals. Two years after the storm, a team of researchers from NRDC, working in partnership with local community groups, has found that hazardous levels of arsenic are still present in the soil at several locations in New Orleans -- including schools, playgrounds and residential areas. This August 2007 issue paper reveals that people in New Orleans are still returning home to communities that have not been adequately cleaned up, and offers solutions on a federal and local level for charting a safer course for New Orleans.

You Can Beat City Hall - Community Action Tips
Guide

These community-action tips will get you started in fighting the introduction of polluters into your neighborhood.

Partnerships for Change
NRDC has worked with many community-based organizations to defend people's right to a safe and healthy environment.
Overview

Over the years, NRDC has joined forces with community-based grassroots groups across the country to help protect the health and environment of local communities from harmful industrial development and toxic pollution.

The Environmental Justice Movement
History

Championed primarily by African-Americans, Latinos, Asians and Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, the environmental justice movement addresses a statistical fact: people who live, work and play in America's most polluted environments are most often people of color and the poor.

Drinking Water Jeopardized in Arizona's Black Mesa Region
News

An underground aquifer that sustains two Native American tribes in Arizona's arid Black Mesa region is showing serious signs of decline after three decades of pumping by the Peabody Coal Company, which drains more than a billion gallons of water from the reservoir each year to transport coal.

Harboring Pollution
The Dirty Truth about U.S. Ports
Report

Marine ports in the United States are major hubs of economic activity and major sources of pollution. This March 2004 report by NRDC and the Coalition for Clean Air assesses efforts at the 10 largest U.S. ports to control pollution, and provides an overview of policy and practical pollution mitigation recommendations. For more detailed analysis and technical recommendations, see the August 2004 report, Harboring Pollution: Strategies to Clean Up U.S. Ports, which contains practical strategies and policies for port operators, regulatory agencies and community-based organizations to reduce harmful pollution.

On the Ground in New Orleans
An NRDC Fact-finding Mission, October 2005
Photo Album

A photo journal from NRDC experts gathering first-hand information about the health and environmental after-effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

After Katrina: New Solutions for Safe Communities and a Secure Energy Future
Report

The devastation and human suffering left behind by Hurricane Katrina has given America a task not faced since the Chicago fire, San Francisco earthquake, or perhaps even the Civil War -- the challenge of rebuilding one of its major cities. This September 2005 NRDC report represents the combined efforts of our best experts on public health, toxic waste, urban design, coastal protection, energy security and global warming to offer up a set of policies and practices to protect the safety and well-being of Gulf Coast residents -- and all Americans -- today, during the recovery period, and onward into a healthier, more sustainable future.

Environmental Policy Discussions After Hurricane Katrina
Index

Hurricane Katrina spurred widespread debate about environmental policies: those that may have contributed to the devastation and those that can help avert future disasters. As we work to ensure that our leaders take away the right lessons from this disaster, and respond with real solutions, we will update this page with NRDC recommendations and analyses.

Hidden Danger
Environmental Health Threats to the Latino Community
Report

Pollution in the United States poses health risks for everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, language, or country of origin. A large percentage of U.S. Latinos, however, live and work in urban and agricultural areas where they face heightened danger of exposure to air pollution, unsafe drinking water, pesticides, and lead and mercury contamination. These hazards can cause serious health problems, including an increased risk of asthma and cancer; waterborne diseases such as giardiasis, hepatitis, and cholera; and neurological and developmental problems. This October 2004 NRDC report underscores the urgent need for government action on these environmental health threats.

Harboring Pollution
Strategies to Clean Up U.S. Ports
Report

U.S. seaports are the largest and most poorly regulated sources of urban pollution in the country. This August 2004 report by NRDC and the Coalition for Clean Air provides practical strategies and policies for port operators, regulatory agencies, and community-based organizations to reduce health-endangering air and water pollution, noise and light pollution that disrupts communities near ports, and harm to marine habitats. The report also provides information on the health effects of pollution from ports and a comprehensive overview of policies governing U.S. marine ports. A companion report, Harboring Pollution: The Dirty Truth about U.S. Ports, grades the activities of the ten largest U.S. ports in the areas of air and water quality, land use, and community relations.

Cleaning Up the Anacostia River
Overview

After more than a century of abuse, plans are being made to bring Washington, D.C.'s "Forgotten River" back to life.

Drawdown: Groundwater Mining on Black Mesa
Report

For more than 40 years, Peabody Western Coal Company has been draining billions of gallons of potable, pristine groundwater from an aquifer under the Black Mesa plateau in Arizona -- water that serves as the primary source of drinking water for the area’s Hopi and Navajo residents. In 2000, NRDC published an assessment of the damage caused by this groundwater mining and determined that the Navajo aquifer showed signs of serious decline after years of pumping by Peabody. This 2006 update to the original report concludes that material damage is still present in Black Mesa and that the aquifer shows signs of continuing damage and deterioration. NRDC also considers the role of the federal government in addressing the damage and recommends actions that would help conserve Black Mesa's water supply.

Trouble on the Farm: Growing Up with Pesticides in Agricultural Communities
Report

A report examining the disproportionate exposure to dangerous pesticides borne by children of farmers and farm workers, and the related threats to their health.