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Polluted, poor US cities take on 'toxic soup"

New laws open up new routes to cleaning up chokepoints

Concentrate on 'overburdened and poor' areas

Minnesota, New Jersey, New York at vanguard

By Carey L. Biron

State regulators, as well as locals like Roxxanne O’Brien, recognized the factory as a source for lead, chromium, and other pollutants.

As O'Brien concentrated on the fallout of the metals plant on her impoverished neighborhood in north Minneapolis, her eyes widened as she surveyed the other industrial operations that lined the river. Each emitted its own cocktail pollutants.

She calls these levels of combined pollution "cumulative impact" - when pollution from multiple sources is combined and harms human health.

She said that it is especially important in areas with a high minority population, such as the north Minneapolis area, where manufacturing, heavy industry and transportation tend to be concentrated.

The regulators, on the other hand, are more focused on a single operation than they are looking at the consequences of a concentration in whichever area.

O'Brien is hoping to find a solution. She's the co-founder and leader of a group named Community Members for Environmental Justice.

Frontline Communities Protection Act (FCP) is a state statute that establishes a new process of permitting for industries in "environmental justice", impoverished and minority communities.

A law will be passed in 2023 and a framework for implementation is due next May.

After New Jersey and New York, it's the third largest state in the United States.

Supporters of the trend say that local officials are increasingly adopting this new approach to combat pollution in "overburdened communities".

The news comes at a time when President Donald Trump is undermining the national momentum in this area by cutting funding and banning government efforts to promote "diversity and equity" that could have assisted impacted communities avoid pollution.

Industry groups including local chambers and utilities reacted negatively to the Minnesota bill, warning that it could stifle development or duplicate rules already in place.

Fue Lee of Minnesota, the state representative who spearheaded this law, said that the need for change was a "no brainer".

Why do community members continue to ask me for the state to step in when we already have the tools?

NEW JERSEY VANGUARD

In the 1980s, communities became frustrated by regulators who relied on risk analyses that did not reflect the harms they had seen first-hand.

According to the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators, areas that are more racially divided have up to 75% higher concentrations of copper, chromium and lead, and low-income communities suffer from asthma, diabetes, and hypertension.

Ana Baptista of the Tishman Environment and Design Center of the New School, New York, explained that a facility permit could allow a certain level of pollution, but it would not take into consideration other industries polluting the region.

Baptista explained that communities would face a brick wall every time they try to oppose these facilities.

She was instrumental in getting the first law of this kind passed in New Jersey.

The new law strengthens the power of regulators in achieving change and includes local voices as part of the process.

New Jersey regulators issued their first ruling under the new law in May, relating to permits for a recycler plant. They also ordered some changes.

The New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance is a coalition that represents a number of organizations. While applauding this milestone, they said "significantly more should have been done" to protect the overburdened surrounding communities.

According to the Tishman Center, in addition to Minnesota and New York a number of other states and cities, including Maryland, D.C., and Colorado, have proposed similar legislation.

Baptista said that the return of Trump has led many communities to seek help from state legislators, as they do not feel protected by the federal government.

Local Voices

Researchers found in 2019 that Chicago's racially-segregated neighborhoods had the largest life expectancy difference of all US cities - 30 years.

Iyana Simba, a member of the Illinois Environmental Council (a group of 130 advocacy groups) said that clustering industries in some areas has a measurable impact: high rates of cancer, as well as asthma and respiratory diseases.

It's not just a single factory or warehouse. She said that these communities have multiple factories in the same location.

In April, the mayor and other officials introduced a bill on cumulative impacts for an ordinance which could be voted in the coming weeks.

Minnesota is still negotiating how to implement a new law before the deadline of May next year, and they are focusing on "community benefits".

Sasha Lewis Norelle, an activist with COPAL, a group of advocates who work with Minnesota's Latino Community, explained that this could include mitigating the pollution, paying for health problems caused by it, or securing jobs for locals.

(source: Reuters)