There are tens of thousands more communities where the pollution continues unabated. These are known as “sacrifice zones” — places where the health of residents is permanently sacrificed to industrial contamination. Our government just told polluters they are free to pump deadly chemicals into our air and water. That’s because the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has suspended all enforcement indefinitely, until the COVID-19 crisis is over. Read more.
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Coal Miners and Covid-19
As a result of economic cutbacks in the fossil fuel industry during the pandemic, coal companies are requesting relief from taxes that contribute funding to retired coal worker health benefits. Nearly 25,000 retired coal miners receive support from the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. The program is funded by an excise tax on the mining industry and is set per ton of coal extracted. If the excise tax is cut back, more strain could be put on a population that is already vulnerable to serious impacts from the virus. Read More.
The predominantly black and low-income communities living near the back-to-back petrochemical refineries of Louisiana’s “cancer alley” have long suffered compromised immune systems and high rates of disease. Now, the state’s fast-growing COVID-19 outbreak is poised to hit them especially hard. <Read more>
The Baltimore City Council unanimously passed a resolution on Monday, April 6th to adopt Baltimore’s Fair Development Plan for zero waste. Residents are now calling for supporter to sign on to encourage Baltimore’s Mayor Young to defend the city’s right to clean air and zero waste by breaking Baltimore’s contract with BRESCO, a trash incineration company. BRESCO is the city’s largest polluter, accounting for 55 million dollars in damages each year.
Baltimore City Council Resolution
Baltimore’s Right to Clean Air Petition
Is air pollution connected to higher coronavirus death rates? The Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health released findings on a study that found a positive correlation between long term exposure to particulate matter (PM 2.5) and higher death rates from disease. The study concluded that exposure to air pollution leads to more severe outcomes to patients infected with COVID-19. The study may be important to how health officials allocate virus resources, such as ventilator or respirators, to more vulnerable regions. Read More.
Find Harvard University’s health study here.
Nuclear power plants are among the many other industries that will be receiving regulatory relief during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among some of the proposed changes are longer work days and work weeks for some employees because of shortage in available staff. Some employees may be permitted to work upwards of 12 to 16 hours a day or 86 hours a week. Additionally, repairs, inspections and replacement of equipment might go undone during the pandemic. The NRC has assured that safety and security at facilities will not be compromised; however, with the proposed changes and limited staff, the risk of accident is higher than normal. Read More.
In response to the COVID-19 virus, the Environmental Protection Agency suspended regulations requiring facilities to monitor and report emissions. CHEJ’s very own Lois Gibbs provided commentary on the impact this action could have on individuals living in sacrifice zones, or areas overburden by pollution from industrial facilities. Although the regulation change comes at a time during a global pandemic, it is not the first change to facility requirements. While families are required to stay at home to avoid risk of exposure to the virus, they are “sitting ducks” to the toxic chemicals they are exposed on a daily basis from polluting facilities. Read More.
The St. James Parish, also referred to as Cancer Alley, is home to some of the largest industrial polluting facilities in the country. The industrial sector is expected to grow an additional 2,300 acres as part of what is known as the Sunshine Project. The project is going to mostly include new plastics plants, including Formosa, a Taiwanese based plastics production company. The expansion is predicted to release 800 additional tons of toxic pollutants and 13.6 million tons of greenhouse gases a year into the air of an already highly polluted region. Read More.
The small town of Grant Township, Pennsylvania won a seven year battle against an injection well permit in a fight of nature vs. industry. General Energy has been denied the permit on the grounds that injection wells in Grant Township are banned and that nature has rights. The residents of the town fought to block the company, arguing that the well would impede their right to clean air, water and land. Read More.
The Environmental Protection Agency has released its FY 2019 Progress Report for the Federal Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice (EJ IWG). The EJ IWG was established to provide a platform for Federal agencies to work together for the advancement of environmental justice principles.
View the 2019 report here.
View more information on the EJ IWG here.