The Importance of Local History for Understanding and Addressing Environmental Injustice

One of the most salient debates in environmental policy today centres around racial and class biases in environmental protection and exposure to environmental risk. A persuasive explanation of disproportionate risk has been offered by Been & Gupta (1997) who suggest that instead of discriminatory environmental decision making, factors such as poverty, housing discrimination and the location of jobs, transportation and other public services may have led the poor and racial minorities to 'come to the nuisance' due to the cheapest available housing and potential job opportunities. While compelling, such an explanation is in no way conclusive. Using data from three communities that have filed civil rights complaints against state environmental protection agencies, this article will focus on the importance of local historical information for the development of claims of environmental injustice and environmental racism. In addition, the article will consider the role of history for informing public policy initiatives seeking to address environmental inequities.     

Metal solubility as a function of pH in a contaminated, dredged sediment affected by oxidation

The solubility as a function of pH for metals in a reduced dredged sediment, subjected to different redox conditions, was studied in a laboratory experiment. The redox conditions imposed simulated (i) the undisturbed sediment (flooded), (ii) a dredged material stored in a confined pond (aerated once and then flooded), (iii) an upland stored dredged material (drained and dried), and (iv) an upland stored sediment subjected to tillage (drained, dried and mixed). Minor differences in the solubility as a function of pH were observed between the treatments after two weeks. After three months, the solubility of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn increased strongly in the oxidized sediments. Leachability of Fe decreased, while Mn, Ni and Co were mostly unaffected. Both short- and long-term mobility of metals (except Fe) is expected to be lowest when a reduced sediment remains in reduced conditions. Studying the solubility as a function of pH may provide additional information on the chemical association of metals in sediments.