IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v16y2019i12p2117-d239974.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Search for Environmental Justice: The Story of North Birmingham

Author

Listed:
  • Shauntice Allen

    (Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1665 University Blvd., Birmingham, AL 35294-0022, USA)

  • Michelle V. Fanucchi

    (Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1665 University Blvd., Birmingham, AL 35294-0022, USA)

  • Lisa C. McCormick

    (Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1665 University Blvd., Birmingham, AL 35294-0022, USA)

  • Kristina M. Zierold

    (Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1665 University Blvd., Birmingham, AL 35294-0022, USA)

Abstract

Environmental justice is a rising social movement throughout the world. Research is beginning to define the movement and address the disparities that exist among communities exposed to pollution. North Birmingham, a community made up of six neighborhoods in Jefferson County, Alabama, in the United States, is a story of environmental injustice. Heavy industry, including the 35th Avenue Superfund Site, has caused significant environmental pollution over time, leaving residents concerned that their health and well-being are at risk from continued exposure. For years, pollution has impacted the community, and residents have fought and challenged industry and government. The United States (U.S.) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and the Jefferson County Department of Health (JCDH) in Alabama have historically played a role in working with the community regarding their health concerns. In this manuscript, we describe a city entrenched in environmental injustice. We provide the history of the community, the responsible parties named for the contamination, the government’s involvement, and the community’s response to this injustice. Through this manuscript, we offer insight into a global concern that challenges local communities on a daily basis.

Suggested Citation

  • Shauntice Allen & Michelle V. Fanucchi & Lisa C. McCormick & Kristina M. Zierold, 2019. "The Search for Environmental Justice: The Story of North Birmingham," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-13, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:12:p:2117-:d:239974
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/12/2117/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/12/2117/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hongtai Huang & Timothy M. Barzyk, 2016. "Connecting the Dots: Linking Environmental Justice Indicators to Daily Dose Model Estimates," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.
    2. Roberto Pasetto & Benedetta Mattioli & Daniela Marsili, 2019. "Environmental Justice in Industrially Contaminated Sites. A Review of Scientific Evidence in the WHO European Region," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-20, March.
    3. Carla Campbell & Rachael Greenberg & Deepa Mankikar & Ronald D. Ross, 2016. "A Case Study of Environmental Injustice: The Failure in Flint," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-11, September.
    4. Lindsay P. Galway, 2016. "Boiling over: A Descriptive Analysis of Drinking Water Advisories in First Nations Communities in Ontario, Canada," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-15, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yuliang Jiang & Yufeng Yang, 2022. "Environmental Justice in Greater Los Angeles: Impacts of Spatial and Ethnic Factors on Residents’ Socioeconomic and Health Status," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-26, April.
    2. Crystal Stephens & Young-il Kim & Rekha Ramachandran & Monica L. Baskin & Veena Antony & Sejong Bae, 2022. "Disparities in Healthcare Utilization: Superfund Site vs. Neighboring Comparison Site," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-10, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Neier, Thomas, 2023. "The green divide: A spatial analysis of segregation-based environmental inequality in Vienna," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    2. Jayajit Chakraborty & Timothy W. Collins & Sara E. Grineski, 2016. "Environmental Justice Research: Contemporary Issues and Emerging Topics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-5, November.
    3. Agnieszka Genowska & Birute Strukcinskiene & Jacek Jamiołkowski & Paweł Abramowicz & Jerzy Konstantynowicz, 2023. "Emission of Industrial Air Pollution and Mortality Due to Respiratory Diseases: A Birth Cohort Study in Poland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-13, January.
    4. Jonathan Fairburn & Steffen Andreas Schüle & Stefanie Dreger & Lisa Karla Hilz & Gabriele Bolte, 2019. "Social Inequalities in Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution: A Systematic Review in the WHO European Region," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-19, August.
    5. Jelonia T. Rumph & Victoria R. Stephens & Joanie L. Martin & LaKendria K. Brown & Portia L. Thomas & Ayorinde Cooley & Kevin G. Osteen & Kaylon L. Bruner-Tran, 2022. "Uncovering Evidence: Associations between Environmental Contaminants and Disparities in Women’s Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-22, January.
    6. Danielle Sinnett & Isabelle Bray & Gergő Baranyi & Matthias Braubach & Sinaia Netanyanhu, 2022. "Systematic Review of the Health and Equity Impacts of Remediation and Redevelopment of Contaminated Sites," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-25, April.
    7. Garett Sansom & Leslie Cizmas & Kathleen Aarvig & Benika Dixon & Katie R. Kirsch & Anjali Katare & Lindsay Sansom, 2019. "Vulnerable Populations Exposed to Lead-Contaminated Drinking Water within Houston Ship Channel Communities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-8, August.
    8. Agnieszka Zwirowicz-Rutkowska & Joanna Nowak Da Costa & Andrzej Muczyński, 2023. "Managing Health Concerns Related to Post-Industrial Sites Redevelopment: A Warsaw, Poland Case Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(14), pages 1-18, July.
    9. Usha Dahal & Triin Veber & Daniel Oudin Åström & Tanel Tamm & Leena Albreht & Erik Teinemaa & Kati Orru & Hans Orru, 2022. "Perinatal Health Inequalities in the Industrial Region of Estonia: A Birth Registry-Based Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-17, September.
    10. James E. S. Nolan & Eric S. Coker & Bailey R. Ward & Yahna A. Williamson & Kim G. Harley, 2021. "“Freedom to Breathe”: Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) to Investigate Air Pollution Inequities in Richmond, CA," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-18, January.
    11. Yuliang Jiang & Yufeng Yang, 2022. "Environmental Justice in Greater Los Angeles: Impacts of Spatial and Ethnic Factors on Residents’ Socioeconomic and Health Status," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-26, April.
    12. Alina Maciejewska & Marianna Ulanicka-Raczyńska, 2023. "Lack of Spatial Planning as a Cause of Environmental Injustice in the Context of the Provision of Health Safety to Urban Residents Based on the Example of Warsaw," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-22, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:12:p:2117-:d:239974. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.