“Pollution-by-zip code” has been the dismal realpolitik result of a practice that has been embraced for more than half a century by some of America’s largest industries, and by the regulatory agencies that are charged with their permitting and oversight.
Communities of color, tribal and indigenous communities, and economically depressed areas long have been targeted as sites for chemical plants, refineries, pipelines, landfills – the kinds of enterprises that generate toxic waste. As a trade-off, the corporations behind these projects usually promise jobs-jobs-jobs, which also helps to minimize or distract from local pushback. And historically, there’s been a tacit expectation that government regulatory agencies will be lenient when it comes to environmental oversight because, as the old adage goes, what’s good for business is good for America.
This has happened in Detroit, Michigan (48217) and St. James, Louisiana (70086) and Denver, Colorado (80216). You can probably think of localities where this is happening in the state where you live, too – there are seemingly endless variations on this pathological theme. These places have come to be called “sacrifice zones” – that‘s the term for areas that a society allows to be environmentally damaged for the sake of overall economic advancement – and these areas are almost always located in minority communities.
But over time, as an array of cancers and cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses have proliferated in stunning numbers among adults in these communities, and – even more heartbreaking – as the children in these communities are being diagnosed with everything from asthma to leukemia to developmental disorders, local residents – the survivors – are becoming increasingly vocal about the toll this is taking.
“Over the years, we started seeing different diseases happening to people,” Theresa Landrum, a lifelong resident of the 48217 zip code, said in a recent interview via Zoom. She began ticking off the maladies on her fingers.
“You name it, we have it: diabetes, emphysema, cancer, COPD, lupus, leukemia, kidney failure…” and she went on, running out of fingers before she ran out of maladies.
“I know somebody who died from every one of them,” she said – beginning with both of her parents, as well as neighbors, local shop-owners, teachers, and classmates. “When we grew up, so did our health challenges.”
Environmental Justice for All
by Barbara Lloyd McMichael