Author: CHEJ Intern

By: Ruth Rodriguez, Communications Intern
Nearly 600 federal and state prisons are within 3 miles of a Superfund site in the United States. Over 100 are within 1 mile. These numbers are staggering. To make matters worse, the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world with 655 incarcerated per 100,000. Further, people of color are overrepresented in the incarcerated population, and are more likely to live near toxic waste sites. 
The siting of prisons is an environmental injustice. These facilities are built next to mines, landfills, and as previously mentioned, Superfund sites. Some are legitimately built on top of toxic land. Inmates, as well as the communities nearby, are bearing the threats of harsh pollution. 
The 1969 National Environmental Policy Act states that all federally funded construction must report to the Environmental Protection Agency to continue. In these reports consideration is often taken into the impact of the project onto the environment and how the environment would, in turn, impact its residents. Paul Wright, the director of the Human Rights Defense Center, says that the EPA does not consider the impact on prisoners in its environmental reviews. Additionally, advocates say that even though most of the prison population is made up of people of color and people from low income communities, the EPA does not apply its environmental justice regulation to prisoners. This is due, in part, to inmates not being counted in overall population data.
Here are just a few of the many facilities putting inmates in harm’s way:

• State Correctional Institution Fayette in Labelle, Pennsylvania is located next to a coal ash dump.
• Victorville Federal Correctional Institution in California is on top of, former Superfund site, George Air Force Base.
• Rikers Island in New York was built on top of a landfill and even had a lawsuit in which former correctional officers claimed the facility gave them cancer.

The State Correctional Institution (SCI) Fayette in Labelle, Pennsylvania is nearby two coal slurry ponds and 40 million tons of coal waste. The ash dump is made up of toxics like mercury, lead, arsenic, and thallium. Because many prisoners were complaining of health issues, the Abolitionist Law Center and the Human Rights Coalition issued an investigation into the health of those incarcerated. More than 80 percent of inmates were “suffering from exposure” to the coal ash. Health problems included cancer, thyroid disorders, fatigue, throat and sinus conditions, dizziness, and headaches. Residents in the town of La Belle had similar symptoms and illnesses.
When Marcus Santos arrived at SCI Fayette he knew something was wrong. That led him to begin keeping notes of his symptoms. During his time at SCI Fayette, Santos had multiple emergency medical treatments for things like skin rashes, vision loss, and throat swelling. When he was finally relocated to another facility his health noticeably improved. Though Marcus was able to leave, the consequences from pollution exposure can be long lasting, especially on long-term inmates of SCI Fayette. 
Other environmental health issues inmates deal with are sewage and sanitation violations in their institutions, furthering the threats to their health. 
Those incarcerated are being further criminalized and punished by being prevented from living in a clean environment that is not a threat to their well-being. No one deserves to be breathing toxic air, drinking unclean water, and living on top of contaminated land. A clean environment is a basic human right, and no one should be subjected to these conditions.
Photo Credit: Bruno Mallart

By: Leia Ku Cheng Yee, Communications and Development Intern
As we enter the month of March, we mark one year of wrestling with the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In regards to the impacts of the pandemic, it comes to no surprise, that the minority, impoverished groups are the most negatively affected. One good thing that came out from the pandemic is that it has spotlighted the societal issue of the disproportionate amount of low-income population that live in contaminated areas. It has made these communities more visible than before. These low-income, racial-minority communities are more vulnerable to COVID-19 and have higher risk of death due to the decades of unjust and inequity in the system. The people still need to be more educated on this issue and raise awareness to the public. One year has gone by, and not much has changed. 
In 2020, the inequity in the country has been amplified through the Black Lives Matter Movement, but we still lack environmental regulations in the country to target environmental justice issues. I am sure that we are all aware that the virus does not discriminate, so why are certain communities struggling more than others? This is mainly caused by the lack of strong political voices in these communities, in comparison to a white, high-income community that has more economic power. Moreover, coal plants, landfills, injection wells, and other toxic waste sites have existed in communities of colors for decades, and have been emitting toxic pollutants to the air and water of these communities for years.
A new Harvard study found a significant overlap between COVID-19 fatalities and other conditions related to long-term air pollution exposure, showing that those who have lived in places with significant air pollution (cities) are 15% more likely to die from COVID-19 than those with the same health profile who live in less polluted areas. Through inhaling toxic chemicals in the air, these communities are more prone to cardiovascular and pulmonary disease, chronic health issues that increase their risk of contracting COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its first breakdown of COVID-19 case data by race, showing that 30% of patients whose race was known were black. Communities of color have long fought for environmental justice issues through addressing the unjust in the system, but they lack political and economic power to prevent incoming toxic exposure, or eradicate existing pollution. 
To address the disparities in COVID-19, we have to first address our structural inequalities in this country. The high-income communities have easier access to professional health care, priority access for testing kits as well as vaccines, and have the luxury to enjoy staying at home. On the other hand, low-income communities struggle to put food on their table, and are risking their lives everyday just living in the contaminated neighborhoods, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our country needs to invest more in public health preparedness, so that these vulnerable communities are prepared when encountering disasters like the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo Credit: Bebeto Matthews