Odera Matilda, Kelley Blair, Rivers Louie, Wilson Alyanna, Tran Jessica, Patel Khushi, Vallee Brenda, Subra Wilma, Cramer Jennifer A, Irving Jennifer K, Reams Margaret, Richmond-Bryant Jennifer
Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA and now is a Research Associate at the Georgia Health Policy Center of Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
Environ Justice. 2024 Aug;17(4):267-278. doi: 10.1089/env.2023.0003. Epub 2023 Oct 18.
This study investigates environmental justice (EJ) themes related to siting a hazardous waste thermal treatment facility near a low-income community of color. We investigated effects of living near a hazardous waste thermal treatment facility through three EJ aspects: recognitional, procedural, and distributive justice. The study involved the collection of oral history interviews from residents of Colfax, a town in Grant Parish, Louisiana, that hosts an open burn/open detonation hazardous waste thermal treatment facility. The facility processes materials such as munitions, theme park waste, and contaminated soils from Superfund sites, and it increased its volume drastically in 2014. Residents reported adverse health conditions and exposure to air pollutants. We analyzed how the three themes of EJ emerged from the interviews using the NVivo coding software. We recorded narratives that described substantial changes around people's identity, health, and social experiences after the facility's increase in operations. Residents described a peaceful and clean community before the facility's construction in 1980. Some residents stated that the community had not been consulted when the facility was established or when its operations were increased. Colfax residents' narratives jointly relay a proud history of community connections and homeownership that was undermined by environmental health hazards created by the facility and by their exclusion from local and state government decisions about the facility's placement.
本研究调查了与在低收入有色人种社区附近选址建设危险废物热处理设施相关的环境正义（EJ）主题。我们从认知正义、程序正义和分配正义这三个环境正义方面，调查了居住在危险废物热处理设施附近的影响。该研究涉及对路易斯安那州格兰特教区科尔法克斯镇居民进行口述历史访谈的收集，该镇设有一个露天焚烧/露天引爆危险废物热处理设施。该设施处理弹药、主题公园废物和超级基金场地受污染土壤等材料，并且在2014年其处理量大幅增加。居民报告了不良健康状况以及接触空气污染物的情况。我们使用NVivo编码软件分析了访谈中如何呈现出环境正义的这三个主题。我们记录了描述该设施运营增加后人们的身份、健康和社会经历发生重大变化的叙述。居民们描述了1980年该设施建设之前一个宁静且清洁的社区。一些居民表示，在该设施建立时以及其运营增加时，社区都未被征求意见。科尔法克斯居民的叙述共同传达了社区联系和自有住房的骄傲历史，但这一历史因该设施造成的环境健康危害以及他们被排除在关于该设施选址的地方和州政府决策之外而受到损害。
