Science Inventory

Environmental Justice and Great Lakes Areas of Concern: Addressing the Need for More Research

Citation:

Josephs, J., T. Hollenhorst, M. Wick, AND T. Angradi. Environmental Justice and Great Lakes Areas of Concern: Addressing the Need for More Research. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE. Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., New Rochelle, NY, 14(5):315-321, (2021). https://doi.org/10.1089/env.2021.0050

Impact/Purpose:

In this paper, we consider key ideas from of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement to discuss AOC processes and outcomes in the context of adverse community experiences, trauma, and marginalization. Using existing studies and project descriptions from the St. Louis River and Milwaukee AOCs, we explore these concepts as well as innovative strategies that could improve EPA understanding about the impact of racism and discrimination in AOC communities. We discuss alternative approaches and frameworks as possible bridges between environmental justice and social equity within AOC communities. This paper will contribute to academic and professional discussions about strategies to improve EJ impact of AOC process and practice, as well as exploring alternative collaborative approaches and community partnerships.

Description:

In the United States, marginalized, nonwhite, and Indigenous populations are often disproportionately exposed to environmental contaminants. Historical and systemic experiences of racism and discrimination and other social and economic challenges that diminish equity and well-being, may be associated with contaminated environments. Communities experiencing these challenges can enter a cycle of deprivation, social disparity, and diminished capacity to engage in environmental decision making, and therefore fail to receive an equitable share of the benefits of environmental improvements. Using examples from two Great Lakes AOCs, the St. Louis River and the Milwaukee Estuary, we examine environmental justice in the AOC process, including interactional, procedural, and distributional justice. We consider the challenges for Indigenous populations impacted by AOC contamination and cleanup initiatives, and we identify examples of local and regional tools, frameworks, and approaches to achieving more equitable processes and outcomes. We consider the environmental justice dimensions of the AOC process, and we highlight some approaches to achieving more equitable AOC outcomes. We conclude that persistent exposure to racism and discrimination can result in a diminished ability of individuals from marginalized populations to equitably engage in planning processes (procedural justice); marginalized populations can fail to establish positive and just relationships in place of historically damaged ones (interactional justice), and they may not share in an distribution of beneficial outcomes. How to address these injustices is group and context specific.