Sarah Brooks12/6/00Case Study Environmental Justice Case Study: Innovative Waste Utilization and the Concerned Residents of South Phoenix, AZTable of Contents Problem Background Key Actors Demographics Strategies Solutions RecommendationsKey Contacts Problem: Innovative Waste Utilization (IWU) is one of many hazardous waste facilities located in the area of South Phoenix, Arizona. The company had proposed an expansion of their 4-acre facility in 1999, which is located at 2575 South Sixteenth Avenue. The neighborhood surrounding this hazardous waste facility is comprised of mostly African American and some Latino families (www.greenaction.org).In addition to expansion, IWU also wanted to begin treating hazardous waste at the newly expanded facility. The waste stored at IWU is not produced at the facility. Instead, it is trucked in from other companies, and frequently from other states. This importation of waste produces additional risks to the community. The psychological stigma of living among another state's garbage is one of those risks (Brittle October 19, 2000). The proposed expansion of IWU is yet another environmental injustice that has been placed upon the citizens of the community. The minority neighborhoods of South Phoenix are disproportionately affected by the continual amount of hazardous waste in the area (www.greenaction.org).Recently, the grassroots organization Concerned Residents of South Phoenix (CRSP) with the help of the environmental justice law advocates at The Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment, charged the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality(ADEQ) with violation of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act (www.greenaction.comupdate). Title VI states that agencies that receive federal funding are prohibited from actions that have a disproportionate and discriminatory impact on people of color. The group also claims that the ADEQ did not properly notify the public about IWU's expansion proposal (Kossan August 9, 2000). The mostly minority citizens of South Phoenix are concerned for their health and the health of their children after a long history of environmental problems in their community.Back to Table of ContentsBackground: In 1996, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) described thearea in which IWU is located as a "low-income, minority community already overburdened with industry (qtd. October 31, 1999).” In 1999, the same organization, ADEQ, was considering offering a permit for expansion allowing for increased waste management activities, to the IWU hazardous waste facility. IWU is not the only hazardous waste facility in the area that poses a threat to the people of South Phoenix. There are seven hazardous waste facilities in the Phoenix area that import hazardous waste. Of these seven facilities, one is located on an Indian reservation, and the other six are located in the neighborhoods that make up the area referred to as South Phoenix (Brittle October 19, 2000). The citizens in this area have been dealing with the problems of hazardous waste for too long. Since the 1960s, there has been dumping of waste in South Phoenix neighborhoods. In 1992, there was a toxic chemical fire in the area. The blaze started atQuality Printed Circuits manufacturing plant, which is located about a half a mile from the Salt River in South Phoenix. The fire at this plastic manufacturing facility lasted almost 12 hours, and invaded the homes and lungs of many South Phoenix residents. Tests administered by the ADEQ after the incident have shown abnormally high concentrations of zinc in many area homes (Yozwiak September 9, 1994). After this horrific event, it was shown that death rates in the area had increased, and health of community members had deteriorated in the area downwind of the fire (www.primenet.com). Another incident occurred in 1994,when the ADEQ allowed the state of Californiato send hazardous waste, which contained both DDT and lead, to South Phoenix. The waste was to be stored while the state environmental officials found a permanent locationfor the sludge (Yozwiak November 4, 1994). Both lead and DDT have been found to posesignificant threats to human health. Lead poisoning in low amounts has been linked to kidney damage and reproductive problems, as well as problems with the nervous and immune systems (Johnson 1999). DDT is a known toxin, and its use has been banned in the United States since 1970s. This displaced waste was held by Greenfield Environmental, who was the previous operator of the facility that is now run by IWU. The neighbors of this site and the citizens in the area have dealt with years of living among the environmental toxins that have been stored at this location and others like it. One citizen, Carol Gibbons, was reported in the Arizona Republic as saying, "The community is tired of the amount of dirty industry in its mostly poor, minority neighborhoods"(qtd. Kossan November 4,1999). These events started the neighborhood families in a dispute with not only IWU butalso local and state governmental organizations. There has been much resistance to the expansion of IWU at the local level, as wellas with select environmental groups. The struggle has united the people in the affected area, as well as members of surrounding communities. As a result of the actions of grassroots organizations like CRSP and with the help of larger advocacy groups, the IWUexpansion has been stopped in its tracks (Brittle October 19, 2000).This struggle began as a battle against the expansion of IWU, and soon turned into a fight with all hazardous and toxic waste facilities in the South Phoenix area. Now ithas become an environmental justice battle. The citizens believe that the state officials who allow these facilities to continue to operate in primarily minority neighborhoods are placing them at a disproportionate risk (www.greenaction.org). Living among toxic and hazardous waste does propose many risks. The health effects of living near hazardous waste facilities are numerous and they are especially harmful to certain members of the community. Children, elderly, and pregnant women areespecially vulnerable to the impacts of hazardous and toxic waste (Johnson 1999). Physical risks are not all being faced by the community members of South Phoenix. According to Steve Brittle, Co-Chair of Concerned Residents of South Phoenix and president of Don't Waste Arizona, Inc; the main problem for the citizens of South Phoenix is