My research pertains to the waste stations in Bronx, NY. It will also include doing research on the types of areas that are more susceptible to waste stations. The health and environmental impact it has on the communities, and what can be done about it. NYC has one of the most serious trash problems in the U.S. The city currently transports about 6,200 tons of trash per day of commercial waste and 7,250 tons per day of DSNY managed waste by city residents, agencies, and not for profit institutions to disposable facilities outside the city. This paper looks at where landfills and waste stations are being placed. Is there a historical reason, or is it racially motivated? Or is it so entrenched in our society by now that we can’t even tell the difference anymore? The data required will be studies done in the past about low-income areas that lived within proximity of a landfill or any waste station, I will look at what kind of people are more likely to live near landfills. Additionally, I will look at who spearheaded the development (was it the public government, or private businesses) and why. I will be using the internet, and government reports and research that has been done in the past to connect and relate it to what is happening in the Bronx. I do not believe I will find a ton of information specific to the Bronx, but I will be able to make a connection with the information that I do find
Introduction
Waste is a problem that most of the world is facing right now. As we stand, The US produces more than 30 percent of the worlds waste. This translates to about two thousand pounds of waste per American, each year. But this waste, which includes electronics, food, and waste from businesses, and schools, only make up about three percent of the waste. A vast majority of the waste comes from industrial business such as mining, manufacturing, and agriculture (Bradford, 2018). Most of America’s trash could either be composted or recycled, because the majority of things we are throwing out were not used for very long. As Americans, we tend to buy things we do no need, only to get tired of them a few weeks later, and move on to something new. Unfortunately, a lot of materials that could easily be recycled such as, paper, plastic, metals, woods, etc. never make it to the recycling plants. “The majority (65.4 percent) of materials discarded by homes and businesses in the U.S. are ultimately dumped into landfills or burned in incinerators. The U.S. only composts and recycles about half that much material at 34.6 percent” (Bradford, 2018). Landfills are usually built into the ground and are used as a designated place to dump all the trash produced. The EPA defines landfills as a “Well-engineered and managed facilities for the disposal of solid waste. Landfills are located, designed, operated and monitored to ensure compliance with federal regulations.
They are also designed to protect the environment from contaminants, which may be present in the waste stream. Landfills cannot be built in environmentally-sensitive areas, and they are placed using on-site environmental monitoring systems. These monitoring systems check for any sign of groundwater contamination and for landfill gas, as well as provide additional safeguards. Today’s landfills must meet stringent design, operation and closure requirements established under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)” (EPA, 2018). But what the EPA do not mention is where these landfills are being placed, and the impact of what living near a landfill, or a waste transfer station does to one’s health. This description does not mention where waste is placed, and who most commonly have to deal with the consequences. A study done by the university of Michigan analyzing over thirty years of data shows that, Minority and low-income neighborhoods and communities in transition are disproportionately targeted by industries that follow the path of least resistance when deciding where to locate hazardous waste sites and other polluting facilities. The Bronx in NY is home to about 7 waste transfer stations. These stations are placed within minority neighborhoods, who do not have to political weight to have them moved. There has been countless research done showing the harm of living near waste for too long, but the poor and the minorities, are usually the ones who have to suffer these consequences.
Literature Review
A study showed that “Almost one-third of New York City’s trash is handled at waste transfer stations in the South Bronx, and then trucked or sent by rail to landfills across the region. The relentless truck traffic, along with the presence of the waste transfer facilities themselves, has exacted a steep price from South Bronx residents. A 2014 study by the state Comptroller found that the Bronx has the highest age-adjusted asthma death rate “by far” among all counties in New York State: 43.5 deaths per million residents in the Bronx, as opposed to the state average of 13.1 deaths per million. Exposure to exhaust fumes is a known risk factor for asthma, the study noted” (Crean, 2015). This concentration of waste transfer stations is not only bad for the communities in the Bronx, it is also detrimental for the environment, and expensive for the city. According to a report when the major of New York appointed a new commissioner for the cities’ sanitation department, “Trucks carrying trash from residences and businesses currently go to one of 58 waste transfer stations throughout New York City, according to an analysis by Habitatmap. There, the trash is “transferred” on to tractor-trailer trucks, rail cars or marine barges for export out of New York. “Currently, the South Bronx and the neighborhoods surrounding Newtown Creek host a combined 32 waste transfer stations,” says Habitatmap.
“Collectively, these WTS handle over 60% of the 12 million plus tons of waste moving through WTS in NYC annually”. The concentration of waste transfer stations in a handful of areas means intensified impact for a sliver of New York City’s population. Most of the city’s trash exporting is done by truck, which also adds to the local environmental impact of the stations. And because the transfer stations are not evenly distributed throughout the city, trucks are forced to travel long distances, further compounding the pollution impact” The article also says that “arguably the greatest price of the city’s current system is the toll it has taken on public health. Advocates have maintained for years that the stream of diesel trucks in and out of neighborhoods where waste transfer stations are concentrated leads to heightened local air pollution levels. An analysis this month by the state Comptroller’s office found that Medicaid recipients in the Bronx have the second-highest asthma rate- 130.2 people per thousand- of any county in the state. And the Bronx has the highest age-adjusted asthma death rate “by far” (43.5 deaths per million residents), of any New York county. Statewide, the disease is most prevalent among children under the age of 17, and it is concentrated in poor communities. Several factors are believed to impact the risk of developing asthma. According to the state, one of these is “being exposed to exhaust fumes or other types of pollution” (Crean, 2015).
Data
It comes as no surprise that minorities and the poor often get the short end of the stick, in whatever situation they are in. But waste, and especially hazardous waste, is one of those situations where there should be some level of equality. Especially when it comes down to a matter of life and death. This is unfortunately not the case, “Hazardous waste sites, polluting industrial facilities and other locally unwanted land uses are disproportionately located in nonwhite and poor communities” (Erickson, 2016). This is done because minorities, and low-income communities hold the least weight when it comes to political ties, thus they have no way of opposing. This is not a new trend, a study in 1983 showed that African Americans where the majority communities near landfills, and waste stations. And recent study shows the problem to be getting worse.
A more recent case of environmental racism is in Detroit, “Much of Detroit’s heavy industry—steel making, oil refining, and coal-fired power plants—is clustered in the majority-black neighborhoods in the southwest part of the city. In 2011, Mohai mapped Detroit’s public schools over air pollution data. He found 82% of black students went to schools in the most polluted parts of the city, while 44% of white students did. And the children in those pollution-exposed schools scored lower on standardized tests” (Schlanger, 2017). A research done between 1987 and 2007 showed “more than nine million people (9,222,000) are estimated to live in circular host neighborhoods within 3 kilometers of the nation’s 413 commercial hazardous waste facilities. More than 5.1 million people of color, including 2.5 million Hispanics or Latinos, 1.8 million African Americans, 616,000 Asians/Pacific. Islanders and 62,000 Native Americans live in neighborhoods with one or more commercial hazardous waste facilities. Host neighborhoods of commercial hazardous waste facilities are 56% people of color whereas nonhost areas are 30% people of color. Percentages of African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos and Asians/Pacific Islanders in host neighborhoods are 1.7, 2.3 and 1.8 times greater (20% vs. 12%, 27% vs. 12%, and 6.7% vs. 3.6%), respectively. Poverty rates in the host neighborhoods are 1.5 times greater than nonhost areas (18% vs. 12%)” (Bullard, 2007. pg 10).
Methodology
The methodology used for this paper was entirely documentary analysis. I looked at previous data and research done, and I used that information to form my conclusion. For example, Paul Mohai is a leading researcher in the field of environmental racism. His research shows clear patterns of racial and socioeconomic disparities in the distribution of a large variety of environmental hazards. Mohai has come across the same issue that I have when it comes to deciding what came first. Whether those disparities in those communities are the result of facility owners deciding to build in predominantly poor and minority neighborhoods? Or did the establishment of hazardous facilities cause demographic changes that led to disproportionately high concentrations of low-income residents and minorities? Meaning, was it just a case where, when the waste came, those who were able too, left. While those who could not, stayed? This is a tricky situation that I also found myself in, when trying to figure what came first. Analyzing research that was already done, and using someone else’s data made gathering data fairly easy, and I could also count on it being accurate and thorough. A downside that I found was that the data was not always where I needed it to be, so I had to do a lot of inference, and assumptions that the results would apply to the country as a whole.
Results
A research done in California to find out which communities are hit the hardest by environmental disasters, showed that there is a disparity between races, and incomes. In fact, deeper research done by UC Berkeley showed that race, was a bigger disparity than income was. It showed that “neighborhoods with higher percentages of Hispanic and African American residents had poorer air quality, closer proximity to hazardous waste sites or fewer parks” (Yang, 2015). This was relevant to my research because I wanted to look at a wider range of environmental injustices. Since I was not doing any quantitative data, I had to draw data from wherever I could. The final results showed that “people of color in the US are also exposed to a 38% higher level of nitrogen dioxide, on average, than white people. Nitrogen dioxide is pumped out of power plants and exhaust pipes on cars and trucks, and is linked to asthma, bronchitis, and a host of other respiratory problems. And when a power plant emits nitrogen dioxide, it likely also emits sulfur dioxide, another respiratory irritant” (Schlanger, 2017). South Bronx contains nine waste transfer stations, and the population is overwhelmingly minorities, with African Americans and Hispanics accounting for 43% and 54% of the South Bronx population (U.S. Census 2013). South Bronx is also incidentally, the poorest congressional district in the country, and has some of the worse health outcomes in the nation (Sisk, 2018). It is often said that correlation does not equal causation, but I think this is one of those times where correlation is definitely linked to causation.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the decision of where to place a waste management station is not a random, or unbiased one. As with everything in America, there is some subliminal level of racism, or prejudice that goes into just about everything. A waste station can only be placed somewhere, where the people do not have the political weight, money, influence, or public voice, to get it removed, or in other words, “the path of least resistance”, and unfortunately that often falls to minority neighborhoods. In the case of New York, you do not see waste stations in Manhattan, or Brooklyn. But you do see it in the Bronx, Queens, etc. So poorer areas where the people there cannot stand up for themselves. Looking at an example in Washington D.C. one of the most racially segregated cities in the U.S. today, “DC’s Department of Public Works (DPW) runs two large transfer stations, in black communities at Fort Totten and Benning Road. These transfer stations are large enough to take care of the city’s needs, but a proliferation of private transfer stations cropped up years ago, in the absence of regulations. Of about 15 that opened, many have since been closed (after much struggle), and some are still being demolished, yet three remain — all clustered in Ward 5, in the adjacent black residential neighborhoods of Brentwood and Langdon.
Residents of these neighborhoods have been struggling to close these private transfer stations for three decades. They spoke passionately about their experiences at a Feb 5th, 2014 DC City Council hearing where Ward 5 Councilman McDuffie was joined by other members of council in pushing a bill to increase enforcement on these facilities. In addition to nuisances like odors, ‘vectors’ (seagulls, rats), and trucks (and their diesel exhaust), transfer stations are also a source of airborne mercury pollution from sources such as broken fluorescent bulbs” (Ewall, 2014). Some argue that it’s not discrimination if it’s not intentional, or if a people of color moved to where the polluting industry was first. “Academics have argued back that this ‘chicken or egg’ debate is beside the point, as what matters is the community impact, not the intent. Intentional discrimination is hard to prove. Even though the courts no longer allow private lawsuits for Civil Rights Act violations unless you can show intent, it’s still considered a violation of the Civil Rights Act when agencies (like the state agencies that grant pollution permits to incinerators) permit facilities in locations where doing so creates a discriminatory effect” (Ewall, 2014).
Waste stations, and landfills are definitely placed near minority neighborhoods. There are many reasons behind this, and racism plays a role in why this happens. Both private and public entities play a role in this discrimination, and it doesn’t look like it will end anytime soon. “The EPA’s civil rights office denied 95% of civil rights claims they received since the mid-1990s. When the agency made a formal finding of discrimination on the day before Trump’s inauguration, it was the second such finding in the office’s history, with the first being a preliminary finding in 2011” (Schlanger, 2017). That ultimately resulted in a waste of time, because The “Trump administration’s proposed budget for the US Environmental Protection Agency would cut the agency’s environmental justice work by 78%, and likely cut into the EPA’s civil rights office‘s resources, which was set up to handle disparities in geographical distribution of pollution” (Schlanger, 2017).
The future doesn’t look bright for neighborhoods living near landfills and waste stations. But it looks like people are making moves to change this. “On February 13th, scores of South Bronx and North Brooklyn residents assembled at City Hall to hear discussion of a bill aimed at addressing the relentless movement of the city’s waste through their neighborhoods” (Crean, 2015), and this led to the major approving and passing ‘Intro 495’. Intro 495 caps the amount of waste that can be processes in the city’s three over-utilized neighborhoods. The legislation also limits the amount of waste that can be handled in any of New York’s 51 community districts to five percent of the city’s total permitted capacity. So, there are small victories happening every day, and while the bigger problem is still around, admitting that there is a problem, is always the first step to solving it.
