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Personal Account of Moving out of Altgeld Gardens

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Personal Account of Moving out of Altgeld Gardens

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There was a lawsuit against the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) claiming that there was racial discrimination in its housing policy which came to be true. This made CHA move people out of the projects and into the suburbs. The writer of the article is one of them and she accounted for the major differences between the two ways of life which clearly shows the racial injustice. Her family went from dodging chicken bones, broken glass, and fist fights on their way to school to being in what seemed a scene out of the Brady Brunch. They now had dishwashers, washing machines, swimming pools, and golf courses in every direction while the gardens did not. It was her first time not seeing any rust in the park and the most striking difference to her was that there were no roaches. That says a lot about the inequality of the two neighborhoods. It sounds as if she's in a completely different country the way she speaks about it.

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In 1966, the ACLU and a woman named Dorothy Gautreaux, initiated a class action lawsuit against the Chicago Housing Authority, alleging the CHA engaged in racial discrimination in its public housing policy. The lawsuit claimed, the fact public housing was being erected solely in areas with high concentrations of poor minorities was in violation of the federal guidelines and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The ACLU won the lawsuit, and in 1978, the Gautreaux Program began moving families from the projects into Chicago's wealthier suburbs through a voucher program. With the launch of the program was a study by Northwestern University, which would track over the next ten years whether the change of a zip code would change the outcome of a family's life.

My family was one of the first ten Gautreaux families moved from the Altgeld Gardens Housing Project to integrate a little township in the southwest suburbs called Woodridge. Suddenly, my two younger sisters and I went from dodging chicken bones, broken glass and fist fights on the way to school, to being dropped into what appeared a scene out of the Brady Bunch.

It was a hard adjustment, and we experienced a lot of racism. So pretty much every weekend, we travelled back to the city to visit our family on the South Side of Chicago. And it was during these first few years of traveling back and forth I began to notice the stark differences between what we now had in the suburbs- even as a family on welfare- and what the rest of our family had back in the city:

Simple things, like dishwashers, washing machines and air conditioners inside of each home, with swimming pools, tennis courts and golf courses in any direction; like shopping malls and gigantic grocery stores with ten times the selection of food. On the playgrounds, the paint had not yet rusted off the monkey bars or slides, and the swings were still attached. But the most impressive of all: no roaches!

Those were the first things I noticed through my juvenile eyes.
It was clear that life was arranged differently for white people than for black people. And at the time, I didn't understand why.
I felt lucky to be living the way we lived, but I needed to know why none of us back in Chicago knew this life even existed. Besides being a naturally curious little gemini, this experience is what first piqued my desire to understand inequality; to always peek behind the curtain, push the boundaries, seek out the forbidden, and search for what might be hidden on the other side. It's a funny habit of mine, playing Inspector Gadget- one that often ended me up in trouble but, more often, landed me opportunities and resources I would not otherwise have.

All of this to say, if you are feeling that your circumstances are bleak, do not resign yourself to what has been placed in front of you. Do not believe that that is all there is for you. Push! I promise you, there is more.

Today's headlines are daunting. And while so many are still struggling financially to make ends meet, it's easy to feel hopeless, confused, defeated. It may feel as though all is lost. But nothing is ever truly lost (Remember: energy is never lost; it is transferred). Everything we ever need is available to us; even if it is hidden from plain view. There will always be groups of people- regardless of their racial background- intent on hoarding resources, hiding truths or abusing power. This is a constant, a part of life. So, then make it a part of your life to push.

Treat the uncomfortable space you may be in as a moral assignment to seek justice and equality; to live the life you deserve. And be free.

Read. Research. Observe. Organize. Strategize. Then, push! Despite the pushback you may receive; the times of no progress or even the trouble you may cause, do not give up. Eventually, you will break through.

Push!

What's waiting for you on the other side might surprise you.

Sincerely,

Zawadi Morris, Publisher

P.S. If you'd like to learn more about the Gautreaux Program results and my family's story, The New York Times published a recent video retrospective that you can watch here.

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Letter from the Editor: Push! | BK Reader

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In 1966, the ACLU and a woman named Dorothy Gautreaux, initiated a class action lawsuit against the Chicago Housing Authority, alleging the CHA engaged in racial discrimination in its public housing policy. The lawsuit claimed, the fact public housing was being erected solely in areas with high concentrations of poor minorities was in violation of the federal guidelines and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

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When the residents of the Altgeld Gardens began fighting to clean up waste and hazardous sites with the help of the EPA, Trump cut the funding and staff by a drastic amount. This eliminated as many as 3,000 jobs. These cutbacks also include the staff and resources for the Office of Research and Development which provides expertise to monitor polluters and make sure that every facility complies with the health codes. Funding for the environmental justice programs will also drop by a huge 78 percent. All of these changes, impact the community in the worst way possible. It basically means that this is there life and there's no way out it which is unfair. Because of the minority status, there is really no way for them to reach the political office and advocate for themselves which silences their voices. This is racial injustice at its finest.

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The 7,000 residents of the Altgeld Gardens housing complex call their neighborhood the toxic doughnut. Located on Chicago's Southeast Side, the nearly 1,600 units in the community of Riverdale sit right in the middle of a ring of brownfields, Superfund sites, and landfills. The two-story brick housing complex is surrounded by the largest concentration of hazardous waste sites in the country.

For most of the past century, the steel industry and paint manufacturing plants treated this area as a dumping ground. By the 1980s, only a few industrial operations remained, but tons of pollution were left behind. Within just one-third of a square mile were 50 festering landfills and 250 leaky underground storage tanks. The community had the highest rates of cancer in the city along with scary rates of other illness related to exposure to toxic substances.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency began finding elevated levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ( PAHs), pesticides, and heavy metals in the soil near Altgeld Gardens in the 1990s. This is around the time the environmental justice movement began taking shape as a result of several studies showing that hazardous waste sites often crop up in low-income, minority communities. Altgeld Gardens was one of many examples around the country of this environmental racism. The residents began fighting to clean up these sites, and the EPA started providing technical assistance to local groups working to remediate the land.

That federal support, however, is now in jeopardy. In early March, President Trump proposed his "skinny budget," which would cut the EPA's funding by ( at least) 31 percent and slash its staff by 21 percent, eliminating as many as 3,000 jobs. As part of these cutbacks, the White House proposes reducing staff and resources for the Office of Research and Development, which provides scientific expertise to monitor polluters and prosecute those that don't comply with the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. Grants to address harmful contaminants from brownfields and Superfund sites are also up for elimination. Reports are also now circulating that the Trump administration is looking to shut down the EPA's regional office in Chicago.

But that's not all. While the official budget makes no mention of it specifically, a draft leaked in March states that the agency would get rid of the Environmental Justice office, combining it with the Office of Policy. Funding for environmental justice programs would also plunge―by 78 percent. The news prompted Mustafa Ali, a 24-year veteran of environmental justice at the agency, to retire. In his resignation letter, he stated that the cuts would leave the country's most vulnerable communities at risk.

"When the general American gets the flu, the black and brown community gets pneumonia," Cheryl Johnson says from her office in the Altgeld Gardens complex. The executive director of People for Community Recovery (PCR), a nonprofit focused on local social justice issues, says President Trump is taking her community back to the days when it had no voice in the EPA. Riverdale, the Chicago community of which Altgeld Gardens is a part, is 95 percent black and has per capita income of $7,500 a year. Like many communities near waste sites, its residents don't have the same political connections as people living in wealthier neighbors, nor do they have much influence over where local governments allow hazardous materials. And once pollution has left its grimy mark, it's difficult to make areas attractive to businesses.

"If we could clean up the Southeast Side of Chicago, we could clean up any part of this world," Johnson says.

PCR has been on the forefront of the environmental justice movement for decades. After founding the group in 1979, Johnson's mother, Hazel Johnson, received national attention for her work in the community, earning her recognition as the "mother" of the environmental justice movement. She documented her neighbors' cancer and asthma. She pushed local officials to test the community's air and water for pollution, and she fought for the removal of asbestos in Altgeld Gardens, where she resided until her death in 2011.

Johnson's organizers included a young Barack Obama. And when Bill Clinton signed an executive order in 1994 addressing environmental justice, Hazel Johnson stood at his side. The picture of her and Clinton now hangs on the wall in PCR's office next to several framed awards. Over the years, her group has pushed for PCB removal, advocated for brownfield cleanup, provided remediation training for community members looking for jobs, and brought Altgeld Gardens residents into meeting rooms with EPA officials.

"In my experience, speaking with members of other communities, those meetings can be really meaningful," says Anjali Waikar, an attorney for NRDC who focuses on environmental justice in the Midwest. They allow people "to understand their rights and how the EPA operates, and to talk about how it handles complaints and address environmental issues more broadly," she adds. Waikar says that without funding and personnel, those information sessions will no longer be possible.

PCR is currently trying to clean up a brownfield on an old railroad property that once served as a gas station. According to the younger Johnson, the land is likely tainted with volatile organic compounds, but one day it could be a commercial property or a place used for public good. Johnson and her team asked the EPA to conduct an assessment of the railroad brownfield, and the agency said it does have enough money for the job-at least this year. As for help with any other projects they'd like to take on, they'll just have to wait and see.

In the meantime, PCR is joining other grassroots organizations, like the local Sierra Club chapter, to form a stronger and larger coalition to fight Trump's changes. Group members plan to attend the March for Science on April 22 in Chicago and will continue to speak out against efforts to undermine their work.

If there's any silver lining to Trump's threats, it's that more people are paying attention. "People have been dormant, people have been nonchalant," Johnson says. "This is forcing people to get politically engaged in decisions that are going to have an impact on their lives." This daughter of the movement says she will put on her boxing gloves and stand ready to fight this administration.

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What a Gutted EPA Could Mean for Chicago's "Toxic Doughnut"

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The 7,000 residents of the Altgeld Gardens housing complex call their neighborhood the toxic doughnut. Located on Chicago's Southeast Side, the nearly 1,600 units in the community of Riverdale sit right in the middle of a ring of brownfields, Superfund sites, and landfills.

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Residents of the Altgeld Gardens have to go as far too even ask for sidewalks. This is something that isn't even though about in the wealthier communities. They have an abundance of them by the urban minority community of the Altgeld Gardens does not. Deloris Lucas has been advocating for a sidewalk on 130th Street which is an interstate-like roadway. This forces people walking to the Rosebud Farm Stand to tread along a narrow, muddy dirt trail by the side of the road. They also have no option but to make this walk because it is the only source of fresh produce and healthy groceries in the area. This also shows an inequality in the lack of resources and development in that area. It is completely unacceptable to have just one place where you can get your groceries and even worse that it is a hassle to get to it. Also the fact that there is a lack of sidewalks shows another form of danger apart from the pollution because there can easily be a car accident due to this.

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[This article also runs in Checkerboard City, John's column in Newcity magazine, which hits the streets on Wednesday evenings.]

" Altgeld Gardens is really secluded," Active Transportation Alliance community liaison Cynthia Bell recently told me. "It's like its own city." The area, which includes the housing project of the same name, plus the Concordia Place, Riverside Village and Golden Gate subdivisions, is located by a bend in the Calumet River on the Far South Side, surrounded by industrial land and isolated from other neighborhoods.

Bell has been assisting the local Safety Transportation Advisory Council, residents who want to improve conditions for walking, biking and transit use. "They have a lot of issues with the built environment, like missing sidewalks and crosswalks," she said. "They're really underserved."

Deloris Lucas, a former Chicago Public Schools employee and longtime Golden Gate resident who's spearheading the council, has been working hard to change that. In particular, she's upset that 130th Street, the interstate-like roadway that walls in the community from the north, has no sidewalk. That forces people walking to Rosebud Farm Stand, the area's only source for fresh produce and healthy groceries, from the west, to trudge along a narrow, muddy dirt trail by the side of the road. The store is located at 525 East 130th.

The path is a textbook example of a " desire line," urban planning lingo for a trail blazed by pedestrians who want to walk somewhere, but haven't been provided with a sidewalk that would allow them to do it in safety, comfort and dignity. To add insult to injury, drainage issues in the market's parking lot create a permanent pond that pedestrians have to detour around.

Altgeld Gardens was built in 1945 to provide housing for African-American vets returning from World War II, and named after John Peter Altgeld, the Illinois governor who pardoned three of the Haymarket Affair defendants. "These communities were established decades ago," Lucas told me when I met her at a local youth center last week. "It's 2014, and you would think that the neighborhood would have been made safer by now. To me, it's appalling that people still have to walk through the dirt to get to the store."

To start organizing for sidewalks and other improvements, Lucas and her neighbors formed the STAC in August 2013, with the motto "Safety Is Our First Priority." Last November, they partnered with Active Trans and the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children to do a walkability assessment in the neighborhood. The residents surveyed the area, taking inventory of unsafe walking conditions and brainstorming ways to improve transportation access.

In addition to adding a sidewalk on the south side of 130th between Indiana and Ellis avenues, the STAC members want to install "Stop for Pedestrians" signs at key intersections. They also hope to get more high-visibility crosswalks striped, especially near schools, plus speed humps, pedestrian-refuge islands and wheelchair ramps. And, in an area where many people rely on the bus in order to travel outside their neighborhood, more bus shelters are needed-right now there are only two.

The 130th Street sidewalk is Lucas' top priority. "Rosebud is our only grocery store," she said. "Yes, this is a food desert." Like many locals, Lucas doesn't own a car. Driving from the center of Altgeld Gardens to the nearest large store with groceries, a Walmart a few miles away in the Pullman neighborhood, would only take seven minutes. However, doing the same trip by CTA requires taking two different buses, a roughly forty-minute one-way journey. "That's pretty ridiculous," Lucas says, so unless she's carpooling with a neighbor, she walks to Rosebud for her shopping.

So far, progress on getting the sidewalk installed and the other improvements made has been slow. Last year, the advisory council put in several 311 service requests for these projects, and most of them still haven't been addressed.

The advisory council approached 9th Ward Alderman Anthony Beale about getting the sidewalk built, but he said funding wasn't available, Lucas says. The lion's share of the ward's $1.3 million in annual discretionary menu money was allocated to fix potholes for drivers, she said. Beale has sent a staffer to attend STAC meetings, who has advised the members to talk to the Chicago and Illinois transportation departments about their requests.

"The alderman's treatment of this issue could have been better," Lucas says. "We were hoping he would embrace this project. He is our shortcut to finding the funding. We're just residents who are not as astute with city policies as he is."

After we wrap up our interview, Lucas takes me for a short walking tour of the neighborhood. Joining us is STAC member Victor Maurice Flemings, Sr., a lifelong Altgeld resident and union plumber. Flemings was forced to stop working after an injury, so he's using his time to volunteer with several different community organizations.

Approaching Rosebud from the east, we take a wide dirt path next to the store's fenced-in parking lot. Until recently, it too was a muddy trail, even though hundreds of Altgeld residents use it. However, someone recently lined the path with gravel, creating a better walking surface. "Somebody had some compassion for people on foot," Lucas says.

Finally, we come to Rosebud with its old-timey sign featuring a cornucopia of fresh veggies, fruit and meat. The parking-lot pond is still there, as is the dirt trail along 130th, snaking off into the distance. The absurdity and injustice that an important pedestrian route lacks sidewalks is painfully obvious. Hopefully, Lucas and her neighbors will succeed in bringing the matter to the attention of the right people at City Hall, and the result will be a concrete solution.

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Altgeld Gardens Residents Campaigning for Sidewalk on 130th Street

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This article also runs in Checkerboard City, John's column in Newcity magazine, which hits the streets on Wednesday evenings.] " Altgeld Gardens is really secluded," Active Transportation Alliance community liaison Cynthia Bell recently told me. "It's like its own city."

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This article discusses the different health hazards and diseases derived from living in the complex. These include lead poisoning, asthma, bronchitis and other respiratory diseases. This exemplifies the toxicity of the environment and how unsafe it is to live there with in turn shows environmental injustice. The article also discussed government interaction that is making progress worse. Trump's administration proposed a massive budget cut to EPA of 31 percent, including its efforts to address air and water quality and lead-risk reduction which is the exact problem the community if facing. This shows how the government really shows no in trust in fixing or addressing the problem which is horrific to those apart of the community. It also reinforces and inhibits environmental injustice because nothing will be done to change it as funding is lacking.

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According to Johnson, in addition to lead poisoning, some of the biggest health problems in the community are asthma, bronchitis and other respiratory diseases. This upcoming August, Altgeld Gardens plans to begin a community air management program. With high rates of respiratory diseases in the community, grassroots organizers hope this can lead to policy change.

The program will implement the testing of air quality in the area. Johnson believes the data from this testing will help residents make informed decisions about community mobilization and possibly influence policy about air pollution.

Thanks to efforts of PCR and other grassroots organizers, Altgeld Gardens is one of the birthplaces of the environmental justice movement. Meanwhile, environmental justice continues to be undermined in the federal government as this past May, President Trump's administration proposed a massive budget cut to the EPA of 31 percent, including to its efforts to address air and water quality and lead-risk reduction. EPA leadership has also proposed to dismantle its environmental justice program.

Just a couple of weeks ago, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt defended these cuts, saying he will continue to shrink the EPA's workforce. These cuts threaten residents who live in vulnerable communities, as they face major health risks. Altgeld Gardens is one of these communities.

PCR has led the way in organizing for housing renovations to make Altgeld Gardens safer and in educating residents about disease prevention, but the effects from nearby industrial plants and landfills, as well as lead in public housing, still linger today.

Johnson hopes data from the air management program can help the community determine if air pollution permits are a factor in the community's air quality, especially since bad air quality can threaten the health of residents. The community has some of the city's highest rates of cancer, including prostate, bladder, and lung cancers. Air pollution is associated with increasing the risk of these cancers. In addition, Johnson often sees children with excessive skin rashes, which air pollution can cause. Altgeld Gardens also has a higher rate of premature births, miscarriages, and children born with brain tumors.

For residents new to Altgeld Gardens, it's important to understand the risks they face and how to prevent diseases, White says. In late March, The Chicago Reader reported that around 50 families were relocated from the lead-contaminated West Calumet Housing Complex in East Chicago. But at least three of these families are being relocated to Altgeld Gardens, a shock to many because of the community's long history of residents being affected by pollution. Rather than being moved to somewhere safer, public housing residents are shuffled from place to place.

"Those who had been there for a long time, they knew about all the high rates of cancer they had and the respiratory problems a lot of residents were having, but a lot of people outside the community said it was a lifestyle factor," says White, who conducted a study on the perceptions of health risks in the Altgeld Gardens, implying that outsiders blamed the community's health problems on unhealthy nutrition, exercise, and alcohol consumption habits. "But we know that based on a lot of conditions we see in the community, it's not just that. It's the environment they live in."

PCR continues to lead the community in working to eradicate lead hazards in the community. The organization has trained workers of the Chicago Housing Authority's Altgeld Gardens development on environmental lead dust reduction when apartments were being renovated.

The organization also started workshops for families on lead awareness and implemented a program for residents to canvas the community and teach other residents about lead poisoning prevention. For example, fatty foods can increase the absorption rate in children's blood, so these workshops include discussion about nutrition.

"We make it personal," Johnson says. "We tailor to the potential of having exposure based on the age of the house people live in. "It's one of the most preventable diseases we can address." Read This Next: States May Be Intentionally Poisoning Each Other With Toxic Air

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The 40-Year Fight to Clean Up One of America's Most Polluted Projects

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According to Johnson, in addition to lead poisoning, some of the biggest health problems in the community are asthma, bronchitis and other respiratory diseases. This upcoming August, Altgeld Gardens plans to begin a community air management program. With high rates of respiratory diseases in the community, grassroots organizers hope this can lead to policy change.

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Visual Representation of the Issue and its Impact

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Visual Representation of the Issue and its Impact

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This is a short film with a collective of drawings that build on top of each other which visually show the problem instead of just saying the problem. It shows aspects of the issue like birth defects, people dying, and the large amounts of waste being dumped in the neighborhood. It also shows how the amount of companies that produce these hazardous waste products are multiplying. This shows a sense of environmental injustice because you can see how the matter is getting worse and worse with no prevail and therefore many friends, and family are dying because of it. It also shows distributive injustice as you can see many waste sites being piled up in the same place and same area with no attempt to spread it out or relocate.

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Facilities and Sites Causing the Injustice

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Facilities and Sites Causing the Injustice

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The community of Altgeld Gardens is completely isolated from the rest of Chicago. The industries surround them, and the city is so far from it. The Chicago Steel Mills spewed copious amounts iron oxide particles that lead to respiratory health issues and even after its closing its impact still lingers in the air. Landfills are a link to the geography because the gardens were built on top of a landfill which shoes racial injustice because it was originally meant for only black World War II veterans. It brings up the topic of them not being deserving of clean land. Also, more landfills were built along with it which reinforces of treatment of these people being waste as well which lowers self-esteem and can cause many psychological problems. The article goes into more companies and facilities as well and discusses the effects it has on the community and what is suggests.

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Reports find that the government is barely cleaning up toxic sites near public housing and have failed to inform residents of the threats they face by living in the Altgeld Gardens. They also don''t care to include their voices on the matter in terms of what to do with the land. Policies and practices have directly encouraged public housing initiatives to be built in areas of environmental contamination and have also encouraged polluting industries to build near low- income areas. It's also as if the government is acting blind to what is happening. A resident feels that they have to prove to them the environmental injustice that they already know is going on. All of this goes to show the negligence that the government shows to this community and how hard it is for them get out of this hinderance.

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Cheryl Johnson grew up in a community so polluted it became known as the toxic doughnut because of the hundreds of environmental threats around her home at Altgeld Gardens public housing on the far South Side.

Altgeld Gardens and nearby Trumbull Park, both Chicago Housing Authority developments, are within a short drive of the Lake Calumet Cluster, an almost 90-acre site of former toxic-waste dumps. Despite the best efforts of Johnson, who continues an activist campaign started by her late mother, Hazel, the government has yet to complete a decades-long cleanup.

A new report finds that the government has been slow to clean up toxic sites near public housing and has failed to inform residents about the threats they face or give them a say on future uses of remediated land. Federal and local housing authorities and the Environmental Protection Agency should do a better job of protecting residents' health, the report says.

"A confluence of historic policies and practices have encouraged the construction of federally assisted housing in areas of environmental contamination and have also enabled the polluting industry to be built near existing low-income housing," said the report, Poisonous Homes, led by the Shriver Center on Poverty Law.

The study notes that it looks at only a slice of poor communities that are in polluted areas. Still, across the country, tens of thousands of families living in federally assisted housing also happen to live close to some of the worst hazardous-waste sites designated for cleanup. That's the case with Altgeld Gardens and Trumbull as well as nearby West Calumet housing complex across the border in East Chicago, Indiana. Combined, the two Chicago sites have more than 2,400 apartments.

Ensuring that residents near toxic-waste cleanup sites "have the information and tools they need to participate in the decision-making process is a cornerstone of our program," an EPA spokeswoman said in a statement. "We welcome the opportunity to advance our commitment to community involvement and environmental justice."

One of the researchers disputed the agency's assertion.

"Our research demonstrates that time and time again, EPA and the parties financially responsible for these sites have not provided information to members of the public in a timely, comprehensive and understandable manner," said study coauthor Mark Templeton, director of the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Chicago. "Failure to do so has put public health and safety at risk."

The Abrams clinic and Earthjustice partnered with Shriver to produce the study.

In a statement, the Chicago Housing Authority said it "conducts all necessary environmental assessment procedures outlined" by federal law. The agency also noted that the city's Department of Assets, Information and Services performs environmental evaluations on CHA properties, which are shared with resident representatives.

In a separate statement, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, which funds CHA, said its "primary concern is the health and well-being of public housing residents."

Housing authorities need to work better with EPA and with residents on environmental issues, Johnson said.

"It's sad that we have to prove to the government something that they already knew," said Johnson, who leads the group her mother founded, People for Community Recovery.

Johnson's mother, Hazel, was a fierce advocate for poor people who suffer from toxic contamination, a fight that brought national attention to the problem. Hazel Johnson's work led to an executive order by President Bill Clinton in 1994 to recognize so-called environmental justice communities, minority and low-income areas disproportionately affected by pollution.

The Altgeld Gardens row houses were built in 1945 as a housing development initially for Black veterans and their families and was surrounded by dozens of landfills, hundreds of underground chemical-storage tanks and other industrial hazards, the Shriver report notes. It was Hazel who coined the term toxic doughnut.

The nearby Lake Calumet Cluster is a site that includes at least three former hazardous-waste storage facilities and a former waste incinerator, EPA records show. It's on a list of sites for high-priority cleanup but that designation was made 10 years ago after decades of complaints and study. While some toxic materials have been removed it's unclear when the site will be completely remediated.

'A horrific smell'

At nearby Trumbull Park, built in 1938, residents are kept in the dark about environmental issues, said a longtime leader at the housing site.

"At Trumbull Park, every summer, there's a horrific smell," said Myra King, president of the housing development's local advisory council. "You can't walk down the street without covering your nose and mouth."

King says she and others have complained to CHA but have never gotten an answer on the source of the smell.

"CHA may write back and say something like 'we're working with EPA' or something like that," King said. "Residents are furious about that smell."
Brett Chase's reporting on the environment and public health is made possible by a grant from The Chicago Community Trust.

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Public housing residents kept in dark about toxic sites, report says

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Cheryl Johnson grew up in a community so polluted it became known as the toxic doughnut because of the hundreds of environmental threats around her home at Altgeld Gardens public housing on the far South Side.

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The People for Community Recovery is an advocacy program/organization that educates and brings awareness to the cancer crisis brought upon by the environmental justice that is pollution. This initiative has been going on for four decades. They have been trying to make the government and "corporate polluters" aware of their negligence for a long time now. Through research they have also found that there is a direct correlation between the byproducts that pollute the air, water, and land with the health status of urban minority communities. This shows that there is racial injustice because the health status of minority communities are way worse than those of higher status.

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Current Executive Director Cheryl Johnson

Altgeld Gardens, the Site of PCR's Headquarters

People for Community Recovery (PCR) was founded in June 1979 and was incorporated on October 25, 1982. Our initial mission was to press for serious and long overdue repair work in Altgeld Gardens, a Chicago Housing Authority development located on the South Side of Chicago. PCR soon turned its attention to the more serious problems of urban environmental pollution when it was discovered that the Southeast side of Chicago had the highest incidence of cancer of any area in the city.

PCR's founder and CEO, Hazel Johnson, made numerous calls around the country to educate herself regarding the cancer rate in her own community. Later, she connected with city and state health departments to investigate reports on environmental problems surrounding Altgeld Gardens, as well as information regarding industrial pollution.

Ms. Johnson dedicated years learning about urban environmental issues and networking with other environmental groups. After conducting her research, she learned that many waste disposal companies surrounded Altgeld Gardens as well as manufacturing companies that produced and emitted thousands of pounds of pollutants into the air, water, and land. PCR found that due to the heavy concentration of industry, low income residential communities on the Southeast side of Chicago were being exposed to substantial amounts of toxic chemicals that could be responsible for negative health impacts.

With these facts in mind, PCR, along with other residents from Altgeld Gardens, began to address the environmental problems within their community. For the past four decades, PCR has been applying pressure on "corporate polluters" and government officials to make them aware of their negligence. It is PCR's goal to make both corporations and the government accountable to the communities in which they operate.

Concurrently, PCR has continually been educating itself and the community about urban environmental issues and their relationship to industry. Through extensive research and partnerships, PCR has found a significant correlation among various industrial processes-- the byproducts of which pollute the air, land, and water--and the health status of urban minority communities. With perseverance, tenacity and dedication, PCR continues to be a positive force not only within the Altgeld Gardens community, but within the Environmental Justice movement at large.

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Current Executive Director Cheryl Johnson Altgeld Gardens, the Site of PCR's Headquarters People for Community Recovery (PCR) was founded in June 1979 and was incorporated on October 25, 1982. Our initial mission was to press for serious and long overdue repair work in Altgeld Gardens, a Chicago Housing Authority development located on the South Side of Chicago.

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This painting depicts the degradation of the Altgeld Gardens. It shows how the pollution is bringing every down with it even the people. The man on the floor is very powerful and impactful because for one he is black which is the primary race of that area. Also he appears. to be angry and on the ground which a lot of people are because it is unfair. In the background you can see sun within the communities which depicts how they still hold each other up and they find happiness with in each other. But right outside their neighborhood theirs heavy toxins, facilities, and companies bringing the neighborhood down and ruining whatever light they have. This shows environmental injustice because you can see the many ways and forms the toxins come in as well as an abundance of it.

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Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. "Kerry James Marshall: Mastry," April 23-September 25, 2016.

New York. The Met Breuer. "Kerry James Marshall: Mastry," October 25, 2016-January 29, 2017.

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. "Kerry James Marshall: Mastry," March 12-July 2, 2017.

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Kerry James Marshall | Untitled (Altgeld Gardens) | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. "Kerry James Marshall: Mastry," April 23-September 25, 2016. New York. The Met Breuer. "Kerry James Marshall: Mastry," October 25, 2016-January 29, 2017. Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. "Kerry James Marshall: Mastry," March 12-July 2, 2017.

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Altgeld Gardens sue Chicago Housing Authority (CHA)

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Altgeld Gardens sue Chicago Housing Authority (CHA)

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A group of residents sued CHA claiming that the agency has exposed them to poisons in the neighborhood and misled them about the risks. There were many instances where CHA knew about the hazards of the facilities and companies present in the area and have only done stuff about it once it escalated. For example, chemical plant explosion forcing evacuations. The common theme is that they've only acted when it required an evacuation which would require something very extreme. Another example would be when 200 residents were treated for chemical exposure after an industrial accident spewed out a cloud of acid and 14,000 have to be evacuated.

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A group of residents at the Altgeld Gardens public housing development sued the Chicago Housing Authority Wednesday, saying the agency had exposed them to poisons in the neighborhood and misled them about the risks.

The residents claim pollution from nearby landfills and industry has increased their risk of respiratory illness, skin diseases and other health problems. They want the CHA to pay to move them out and compensate them for the problems they say they have suffered.

The allegations are not new. For nearly 20 years, some Altgeld Gardens residents have said they live amid a toxic waste dump.

They have called their Far South Side public housing development "The Toxic Doughnut" and compared it to Love Canal, and they have commissioned health studies to chronicle breathing problems and birth defects. They also have protested plans to add more waste-disposal plants to an area thick with them, and they have pressured government officials to clean up the area.

"Surrounded by industrial pollution, tainted water and contaminated soil . . . Altgeld Gardens was unsafe and posed a threat to the health and well-being of the tenants," the residents said in a complaint filed Wednesday in Cook County Circuit Court.

Jerome Levy, an attorney for the residents, said, "That's not a place where these people should be living." As a landlord, Levy said, the CHA has an obligation to provide safe housing.

CHA spokeswoman Karen Bates declined to comment on the allegations Wednesday, saying the agency had not seen the lawsuit.

Built in the 1930s, Altgeld Gardens is a cluster of buildings on the southeastern edge of Chicago, near 130th Street. It has about 6,000 residents.

The development is surrounded by landfills, factories, and a sewage-treatment plant, according to the complaint.

In 1974, about 200 area residents were treated for chemical exposure after an industrial accident spewed out a cloud of acid. Some 14,000 were evacuated.

In 1993, city officials ordered the closing of a landfill across the Little Calumet River from the development, saying the dump was leaching garbage-tainted water into the river.

Two years ago, a chemical plant explosion just north of Altgeld Gardens covered the neighborhood with another acid cloud, forcing hundreds of evacuations.

And a state study in the 1980s found certain cancers were five times as common in some Southeast Side communities as they were in the rest of the city. A community group commissioned its own study, which documented other health problems.

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ALTGELD GARDENS GROUP SUES CHA OVER HEALTH CONCERNS

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A group of residents at the Altgeld Gardens public housing development sued the Chicago Housing Authority Wednesday, saying the agency had exposed them to poisons in the neighborhood and misled them about the risks.

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Air quality and its impact on health are extremely different between neighborhoods. The lowest air quality is found in areas like the Altgeld Garden which is on the southeast side. Downtown Chicago you can bike ride and hang out outside while on the southeast side there’s foul odors, piles of concrete, and crushed metal. This racial injustice is clear and right in your face. Simple activities like talking a walk outside mean something completely different for those that live downtown than those that live in the southeast. Dangerous and toxic industries have been set up near parks, schools and homes for decades and not a change has been made while city officials say that they are working on it.

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Air quality and its impact on the health of Chicago residents differs vastly between neighborhoods, according to a 2020 study published by the city.

The study showed air pollution contributes to more chronic health conditions, including asthma, in the west and south sides of the city. Community members who live in the most impacted areas said decades of city policies have contributed to environmental racism.

Cheryl Johnson grew up in Altgeld Gardens on the city's Far South Side. The housing complex was established for African American veterans of World War II. But through the years it has been labeled the "toxic doughnut," due to a high concentration of hazardous waste sites nearby.

"They knew it was dangerous to build residential houses on it, but they did it anyway," Johnson said.

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency found elevated levels of pesticides and heavy metals in the soil near Altgeld Gardens in the 1990s. There have been clean-ups to remove lead.

Presently, Altgeld Gardens is bordered by a sewage treatment plant and a landfill.

Johnson leads People for Community Recovery, an environmental awareness group founded by her mother, Hazel. She said there is no environmental justice law to protect residents from pollution.

"It's not just about my community. It's about all of us. And that's what environmental justice does," Johnson said. "It bring us together because we have a commonality, and the commonality is we want to breathe clean air. We want to drink healthy water, and we don't want to live on land that is highly-contaminated."

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, the city of Chicago has allowed for dangerous and toxic industries to set up near parks, schools and homes for decades.

"It's actually a little bit worse now because there's the multigenerational families that have lived in some of these communities that have been experiencing the disproportionate health burdens that come along with living surrounded by this industry," said NRDC Midwest outreach manager Gina Ramirez.

Anthony Moser, of Neighbors for Environmental Justice, said residents of McKinley Park are demanding the closure of a nearby asphalt plant that manufactures road paving materials for the city.

"For starters, the city needs to stop financially supporting the plant. They run almost entirely on city contracts," he said.

MAT Asphalt opened in 2018 and has faced odor complaints filed by residents.

"It's just been hard to feel like the city is listening when we're notifying them of that type of stuff and we don't really feel like we have any control or advocates," said neighbor Jackie Montesdeoca.

The company said any odors from asphalt plants, while sometimes noticeable in truck loading, pose no danger to facility employees or the community.

"Since MAT Asphalt opened in July 2018, we have operated one of the most environmentally friendly facilities of its kind in the nation. We have invested in the most sophisticated pollution-control systems available," said MAT Asphalt co-owner Michael Tadin, Jr. "Our emissions are less than one-fourth the allowable level, according to the IEPA draft permit issued in late 2019. The air quality is well within legal limits across the board: less than one-fifth the allowable level for carbon monoxide, less than one-sixth for particulate matter, and less than one-fifth for volatile organic matter."

The Chicago Department of Public Health's analysis of community-level data took into consideration air quality, health and social factors to identify neighborhoods that "should be prioritized for efforts to mitigate and reduce air pollution to better protect public health."

Mayor Lori Lightfoot's office said the city has taken significant steps to ensure that residents' concerns about health and environment are being heard and acted upon.

"We have hired a Chief Sustainability Officer and issued an Air Quality & Health report to help identify communities that are more vulnerable to the effects of pollution so we can target them for enhanced protections," said a mayor's office spokesperson. "We also worked with stakeholders - including groups representing the Southeast Side - to create new and more stringent rules for large recycling facilities. And in everything we do around environmental concerns or potential impacts, we start with community engagement. Our efforts to create a more environmentally just and responsive city is about more than one facility - it is about advancing policies that truly promote the health and well-being of people who live near industrial areas."

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Race in Chicago: Organizations Seek Environmental Justice

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Air quality and its impact on the health of Chicago residents differs vastly between neighborhoods, according to a 2020 study published by the city. The study showed air pollution contributes to more chronic health conditions, including asthma, in the west and south sides of the city.

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This video shows a personal account of Gina Ramirez and her family who live blocks away from the S.H Bell Company which has been releasing excessive amount of toxic manganese dust. It can cause developmental disabilities and affect the IQ of small children when inhaled which immediately concerned Ramirez because she has a toddler. So, she came together with other community activist to educate everybody on the issue and try to come up with a resolution. They want help from the government which they are not receiving. Most hazardous sites are being placed in the area because companies think it’s easy to do that instead of finding something else and they are also not following the correct safety protocols. There’s literally manganese dust in their soil and they’re trying to raise awareness about it.

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Chicagoans Battle Manganese Dust Pollution

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People for Community Recovery (PCR) & Southeast Environmental Task Force (SETF)

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People for Community Recovery (PCR) & Southeast Environmental Task Force (SETF)

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These two advocacy programs have been working on filing fair housing complaints, lead abatement training, becoming a solar community, and fighting proposals that further increase the environmental injustice. Black and Latino residents are more likely to live close to industrial pollution and have chronic health conditions and this is due to the racial injustice. This racial injustice is shown by the relocation of a recycling facility from a wealthier area to Altgeld Gardens and these organizations are trying to fight this and show that is unfair. They’ve had to fight against things like outdoor firing ranges, coal gasification plants and a petcoke situation. Companies continue to put their waste and hazardous facilities in the Altgeld Gardens because they figure that it’s normal or that there’s a lot of others out there like them anyway.

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Cheryl Johnson and Peggy Salazar, lifelong residents of Chicago's South Side, grew up in some of the city's most polluted neighborhoods, in the shadow of dirty industries, including steel mills, coal plants, manufacturing plants, and storage facilities.

The women now lead two of Chicago's oldest environmental advocacy groups. Johnson is the executive director of People for Community Recovery (PCR), which was founded in 1979 by her mother, Hazel Johnson. Salazar is the executive director of the Southeast Environmental Task Force (SETF), formed in 1989. Their work includes demanding that city representatives and industry leaders undo-and stop perpetuating-decades of unfair policies and practices that have left communities of color and low-income residents overburdened with toxic air pollution and other environmental health hazards.

In Chicago, Black and Latino residents are more likely to live close to industrial pollution and have chronic health conditions, such as asthma, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health. A recent report issued by the city earlier this year noted that "structural racism and economic hardship" are "making it more likely for certain people to live in polluted communities."

Here, Johnson and Salazar give powerful accounts of what it's like to grow up and live in neighborhoods deeply impacted by environmental racism. Their tireless efforts not only inspire but also help envision a path forward-to right past wrongs and create healthier, more equitable communities across the city.

Cheryl Johnson

A Mother Who Began to Ask Questions

I grew up in Altgeld Gardens, a housing project on the far South Side that was originally built for Black World War II veterans. In 1969, my father died from lung cancer at the age of 41, and my mother, Hazel Johnson, started wondering why so many people in the area have died of cancer.

She started doing research. She learned that the South Side had the highest incidence of cancer than any other area in Chicago. She wanted to know why a lot of people had asthma and other health problems. She learned that our area had 50 documented landfills, hundreds of hazardous waste sites, and leaking underground storage tanks. And, all around us, we had industry that constantly emitted air pollution. My mom called our community "the toxic doughnut" because we were completely surrounded. In 1979, she founded People for Community Recovery to raise environmental awareness and help local people impacted by pollution.

"They Tried to Break Her Spirit"

In the early years, it was very difficult for my mother. She didn't have a science background; she was not educated or trained in this area. She just knew that something was wrong.

A New Generation Is Speaking Out

Oscar Sanchez, cofounder of the Southeast Youth Alliance, is rallying youth in his community to take action on the future of Chicago's South Side.

Tired of the Negative Stigma

The Southeast Youth Alliance came about two years ago when some college students-myself and a few others-started to feel tired of the negative stigma of our community. We were like, "We need to make a difference."

We focus on environmental and social justice. Our biggest success is that we are revitalizing community engagement. We're doing educational events, community cleanups, and we organize and attend protests. We also put together art fairs that promote local artists and their art. We host community envisioning sessions where we ask folks, "What do you want to see here?" It's not just about our vision-it's about the community's vision. One of the things we've been talking about is that you shouldn't have to choose between being able to breathe and being able to have a job or having a good quality of life.

Harmed by Pollution

We're so normalized to living in a dumping ground for the city. People say we exaggerate, but we are one of the few places in Chicago where zoning [policies] allow this to happen. If your zoning [policy] says you can dump all of this here, then we're a dumping site. I think of my family. I think about growing up here. I think of my brothers who have asthma. I think of my brothers who played in the baseball field that had large amounts of contaminants.

A City that Doesn't Care

The Chicago Public Department of Health has failed us. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has failed us. They don't care about community input. They don't even care about the environmental burden. It's not even a requirement when it comes to the permitting process to look at environmental burden or to strongly prioritize community input. We have to look at where the resources are going, and our community is under-resourced. I always emphasize that we are literally fighting for scraps. Lincoln Yards, on the North Side, is getting a $1.3 billion investment, and then you have South Chicago-we're competing with 10 other neighborhoods to get $10 million dollars. That's ridiculous.

Many times, I wanted to fight people for the way they treated my mother. Elected officials would say to her, "Well, the garbage has to go somewhere. Why not your neighborhood?" Or they would claim that the pollutant in the air was not as bad as what she said it was. They treated her so rudely. She would come home crying because someone called her a big-mouthed woman or an ignorant person or told her she didn't know what she was talking about. They tried to break her spirit-that's hard for a child to see. She would call our local Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 office, but they wouldn't work with her because they had no jurisdiction over the impact that industry had on a community. They were only mandated to regulate industry and to work with academic institutions, but not with a community.

Early Victory for Safe Water

One of our first environmental victories was right next to our community in Maryland Manor, a subdivision bordering Altgeld Gardens, in 1984. For 25 years, the residents there were paying taxes on a sewer line and water hookup that they never had. They had well water that was very contaminated with pollution.

The history of pollution there goes all the way back to the 1860s when [industrialist and inventor] George Pullman used to own the land and had a sewage farm in this area. It was used as a dumping ground for a long time. Testing of the well water showed cyanide and other contaminants. We were able to get the city to install water and sewer lines. It's interesting that here we are today, over 100 years later, still here on this land, and we are still talking about environmental justice.

Recognition and a Growing Movement

In the early 1990s, my mother began to travel and meet with other community groups. She received President George Bush's Environment and Conservation Challenge Award in 1992. Being with her at the White House when she received that award is an experience I'll never forget. The previous year, the first National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit took place. It was there that she was first called the " mother of the environmental justice movement." [Delegates from around the county] all joined together [at the summit] and came up with the 17 Principles of Environmental Justice. That meeting helped lead to President Clinton's signing of Executive Order 12898 in 1994, which said federal agencies had to consider environmental impacts on communities of color and low-income communities.

Resistance to Environmental Justice

My mother passed in 2011, and about a year after that, there started to be a little more awareness and recognition of the environmental justice groups in Chicago. For decades, the city has been wholeheartedly resistant to recognizing environmental justice, especially under the Daley administration. [Richard M. Daley was the mayor of Chicago from 1989 to 2011.] In fact, during that period, we learned that the Chicago Housing Authority [CHA] had dumped thousands of gallons of PCB waste right in the heart of my community. We had to fight with the city and CHA to clean it up-and to this day, I don't think it was completed properly.

Current Battles and Planning for the Future

This past year, we joined several local groups and filed a fair housing complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development. We are very concerned about the relocation of a recycling facility, General Iron, from Lincoln Park, a wealthier neighborhood, to our area. We talk about the city of Chicago just using our community as a dumping ground for so many years. Why do we always have to get polluting industries in our area? It's not fair. Land-use practices in Chicago have been discriminatory.

My mother used to say that we know how to dirty up this country, but we don't have the workforce to clean it up. One of the major goals of People for Community Recovery is to create training facilities in the area.

We were the first in the country to bring lead abatement training for workers to the community. We trained nearly 300 residents, and a little more than 80 percent of the folks would get jobs with contractors doing lead abatement. We are also working to promote our community to become a solar community and to have more education about energy efficiency. We are looking at how we can be engaged in the clean energy economy and get residents trained in those opportunities. This is the only place I've ever lived. It's a good community if only the city and the state would invest instead of letting it go.

Peggy Salazar

"We Thought Pollution Was Normal"

I grew up on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s and '60s-literally across the street from U.S. Steel. Back then, you could live that close to the steel mills. We didn't really think about the pollution or how dirty things were, but I remember my mother complaining that when she hung the laundry outside, it would get dirty if she didn't bring it in as soon as it dried.

We thought everybody's neighborhood was as sooty and dusty and drab. It wasn't until I got older and ventured outside of the neighborhood that I realized not everybody lives in an environment like this. It was an interesting awareness, but at the same time, I was still accepting of it because I grew up in it.

A Rude Awakening

In the late '80s, when the steel mills began to close, I started volunteering with a neighborhood group called the Veteran's Park Improvement Association. With the massive loss of jobs [from the steel mill closures], the organization wanted to keep the neighborhood from declining and keep people from moving away. I started to learn more about how the community was treated. Our local gas utility had done a cleanup of an old coal gasification site in our neighborhood. It removed most of the contamination and then filled it in with gravel. I found out later that we could have demanded much more than that-we could have had it cleaned up to a better level, where it was usable by the public. Our alderman didn't tell us we had that option. I felt like we had been totally let down as a community. Our leaders didn't fight for us; instead, they were on the side of industry-that was a rude awakening.

From that point on, I said, "I need to educate myself." I didn't think we could trust anyone. I was convinced that if this had been in a more socioeconomically advantaged community, it wouldn't have happened. Or residents probably would have been more informed or aware. They take advantage of people not knowing or being educated about the facts.

The Formation of the Southside Environmental Task Force

Marian Byrnes started the Southside Environmental Task Force in 1989. She successfully helped fight off a proposal to pave over a large wooded area for a bus storage facility, stopped a new garbage incinerator from being built, and halted efforts to reopen old city dumps in the area. During my volunteer work with the Veteran's Park Improvement Association, I would rub shoulders with the SETF. Even though I wasn't part of it, I became interested in their work because, after all, this was a dirty, polluted area.

I started volunteering with SETF in the mid-2000s. The term "environmental justice" was not something I was aware of until I got involved. I got to know people like Cheryl Johnson from People for Community Recovery-and heard about her mother. I got to know more history. In 2009, when SETF needed an executive director, I took the job. Every year since then, we have had a battle.

"We're Always Being Dumped On"

We opposed a 33-acre outdoor firing range that the city of Chicago wanted to build, near Hegewisch Marsh Park. We had to fight against a coal gasification plant. The biggest eye-opener for people was the petcoke situation-piles of petcoke were blowing toxic dust all through the neighborhood. Then we had a similar crisis with toxic manganese dust blowing all through the community from a storage facility. Every year, it's something. It's like we're always being dumped on.

All along, I have been trying to just make people aware of the industrial corridor and the impact it has on us-and that other communities don't have the same kind of a situation going on. I remember a volunteer telling me that they never realized how dirty our community was until they went to the North Side, where everything looks so much cleaner. And it's the truth. In the 1990s, a huge effort was made to green the Chicago River and push out and relocate industry. At the same time, the city was working to preserve the polluting industrial corridor in my community. I think every neighborhood needs reinvestment. I don't like this piecemeal kind of revitalization approach-and when it's not done equally across the board, that's unacceptable. We need to look at the city and think about how to make all the neighborhoods better.

"They Want to Keep Us a Sacrifice Zone"

We had hoped that our situation would improve when Mayor Lori Lightfoot took office in 2019. I'll never forget that we went to her candidate forums and brought up all these issues. She seemed very sympathetic to us, so we were very hopeful. Then she got into office and decided to move forward to relocate General Iron-a very polluting metal-shredding operation on the North Side in Lincoln Park-to our community. General Iron has violated environmental codes, it's had explosions and fires, and it's been shut down repeatedly for public health violations. The North Side doesn't want it. We don't want it either.

Along with PCR and other local groups, we filed a fair housing complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development about General Iron. We're demanding an end to policies that entrench environmental racism. This is clearly discriminatory and demonstrates environmental racism when the receiving community is already overburdened by industry-and is protesting the relocation. The reason that the city wants to do this is because we have this history. They want to keep us a sacrifice zone.
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Environmental Justice in Chicago: It's Been One Battle After Another

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Cheryl Johnson and Peggy Salazar have been speaking out against pollution and environmental injustice for decades, but the city of Chicago sees their South Side neighborhoods as sacrifice zones. They are demanding change.

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The video begins by showing you a lot of names on a wall which you find out are names of all the people lost in the “Toxic Doughnut.” You also see a pattern with whole families being executed by the same issue which is a development of cancer. They have the highest cancer rate than any other place in Chicago which displays environmental injustice and racial injustice because it’s not the same throughout the city let alone the state. They also discuss a personal experience of a lady named Hazel Johnson who realized all the facts and tried to fight for a change who later became known as “The Mother of Environmental Justice.”

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Poisoned Politics: The ongoing fight to clean up Chicago's 'toxic doughnut'

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Research on residents perception of health risk

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Research on residents perception of health risk

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In this article, there was a study of residents who've lived in Altgeld Gardens for at least two years where they answered questions about environmental health risks and how it affects them. The results displayed that most believed that there were not enough laws to regulate environmental health risks but that it could be solved through everyone working together. This is all important because it shows that they recognize that there is a problem, they know that the government isn’t doing much about it, yet if they work together as a community, they can fix the issue themselves. This helps moving forward because it allows for local organizing efforts and establishes a sense of educational standard in the community. This helps inform program planning.

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Abstract

Keywords: Environmental justice, Risk perceptions, Community assessment

Background

Few communities are surrounded by so many hazardous facilities that they are coined to be in a "toxic doughnut" (see Fig. ). Altgeld Gardens and Phillip Murray Homes (herein referred to as 'Altgeld') is one community that is referred to as such. A public housing development with predominately black residents in the Calumet industrial area in Southeast Chicago, Illinois, Altgeld has a long history of environmental activism through the efforts of People for Community Recovery (PCR), a resident-led social justice organization in the community. Originally built to house black veterans after World War II, Altgeld was one of the first public housing developments in the United States. The development was built on an abandoned waste site and is surrounded by the most landfills per square mile in the United States [ 1]. Residents have voiced their concerns for several years, including concerns regarding soil contamination which is used by many for local gardening [ 2]. In 2011, facilities in the area released over 3.5 million pounds of toxic waste, accounting for almost 30 % of all toxic releases in Cook County, Illinois [ 3].

In addition to the large quantities of hazardous materials released in the area and the resulting potential for population exposures to these materials, the community has high rates of illness, many of which are associated with toxic exposures in the physical environment. The area has some of the highest mortality rates for lung cancer and cerebrovascular disease (stroke) in the city [ 4]. In previous community health surveys, residents have identified concerns about environmental risk factors for lung cancer, such as asbestos, environmental tobacco smoke, and radon. For stroke, proximity to hazardous facilities and exposure to air pollution are both strong contributors to incidence and mortality rates [ 5]. In addition to high rates of environmentally-related diseases, the community has the highest percentage of people living in poverty and the lowest per capita income in the city [ 4].

Thus, this community meets the two criteria defining an environmental justice (EJ) community. First, the community has experienced historical (usually multi-generational) exposures to disproportionately high doses of potentially harmful substances (the environmental part of the definition) [ 6- 9]. Altgeld is home to numerous pollution sources, including heavy industry and pollution control facilities, which may be obvious by their stacks and outfall structures, or which may be more subtle, such as long buried wastes with little evidence on the surface of their existence. These sites increase the likelihood of exposure to dangerous substances. Exposure is preferred to risk, since risk is a function of the hazard and the exposure to that hazard. Even a substance with a very high toxicity (one type of hazard) that is confined to a laboratory of a manufacturing operation may not pose much of a risk due to the potentially low levels of exposure.

Second, EJ communities have a majority representation of low socioeconomic status, racial/ethnic minorities and/or historically disadvantaged people (the justice part of the definition) [ 10- 12]. Altgeld is a public housing development, indicating that this is an economically disadvantaged group, which poses several other public health concerns, i.e. access to healthy food and adequate medical services. Furthermore, it is a predominately African American community (see Table ), which historically have been disproportionately exposed to environmental hazards [ 12].

Table 1

Understanding residents' perceptions of environmental hazards, especially those that are identified as environmental justice communities, is also essential [ 13]. Faith and trust in health agencies and the communication of environmental risks by these agencies influence individual perceptions [ 14, 15]. Race and socioeconomic status also influence perceptions of hazards, especially for African Americans [ 14, 16]. Physical alienation, such as residential segregation, and perceived power among are also powerful determinants of perceptions of hazards among African Americans [ 14, 17].

Because of the multiple environmental, health, and socioeconomic concerns of the Altgeld community, residents and community leaders have recommended conducting a community-based environmental health assessment to inform recommended improvements to environmental conditions in the community, mitigate toxic exposures, and improve health. A community-based environmental health assessment is a strategy to engage community members in improving the physical environment and overall community health [ 18].

The assessment involves identifying community-specific environmental health concerns; prioritizing concerns; empowering community residents to organize and participate in community cleanups; and implementing strategies to mitigate and/or prevent toxic exposures [ 19]. Findings from an assessment are especially important for decision-making and resource allocation [ 20, 21]. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes and beliefs of environmental health risks of Altgeld's residents which would assist community organizing efforts and provide the groundwork for a community-based environmental health assessment.

Methods

The research protocol for this study was approved and monitored by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Minnesota (IRB Study Number: 0812P55541). PCR provided guidance on with the questionnaire, assisted with recruitment, and helped to interpret the findings. The U.S. EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) provided expertise for the post-study analysis of the data and results. ORD reviewed the statistical summary of the questionnaire results and did not have access to personally identifiable information, individual responses, or individual demographic information.

Data collection

This study used a non-probability sample because of convenience and cost. Data collection occurred in March 2009. Participants were recruited using flyers and advertisements at PCR's office, the local convenience store, and the neighborhood health clinic within one week of data collection. To be eligible, participants had to be between the ages of 18 and 64, and a permanent resident of Altgeld for at least two consecutive years. The primary data collection method for the study was qualitative (focus groups); these findings are reported elsewhere [ 2]. Modified questionnaires were administered prior to the focus group. The focus group moderator provided assistance to participants needing support completing the survey. Findings from the focus groups were validated with a follow-up survey with a separate group of residents (respondent validation survey). This ensured that the beliefs of the first group were representative of the community. All participants were compensated for their time. Verbal informed consent was obtained from research participants prior to completion of the questionnaire and start of the focus group. Written consent was obtained from participants who completed the respondent validation survey.

Questionnaire

A close-ended questionnaire collecting information on attitudes and beliefs about environmental health risks and environmental information was modified from a previous questionnaire with input from PCR (see Additional file 1) [ 13, 22]. The questionnaire has not been validated, but it has been used with other low-income, minority communities [ 13, 22]. This questionnaire was pilot tested with Altgeld residents who did not participate as research participants to ensure it was appropriate. The questionnaire included items regarding attitudes about environmental regulations and experts, perceptions of risks from various environmental hazards, and attitudes and beliefs about how to address environmental problems. [ 13, 22] To assess these attitudes and beliefs, participants were asked to read a series of statements and to agree or disagree with each one, using a four-point Likert scale ranging from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree".

The questionnaire also included items regarding sources of environmental information. To assess general perceptions of risk, participants were given a list of hazards, and asked to rate the "riskiness" of each item, both for themselves and for the community as a whole, using a five-point Likert scale ranging from "very high risk" to "almost no risk". Hazard items included physical hazards (e.g. waste incinerators), hazards related to risky health behavior (e.g., HIV/AIDS), and hazards linked to consumer goods (e.g., car accidents). Demographic information included age, gender, marital status, race/ethnicity, and education.

Data analysis

Descriptive statistics were generated for the questionnaire using SAS Software (Version 9.2., Cary, NC). Means, medians, standard deviations, and ranges were used to describe continuous variables including age. Frequencies were used to describe categorical variables such as those in the questionnaire. Chi-square tests were used to determine if the observed demographic characteristics of participants were significantly different from that of the expected community. The level of statistical significance was p < 0.05.

Results

Study participants

All 42 participants who completed a questionnaire were current residents of Altgeld. Data collection for the focus groups and questionnaire ended once saturation was met with the focus group discussions. The mean age of participants was 45.1 (SD ± 13.5) and more than half of participants were female (62 %). All of the participants were racial/ethnic minorities (African American: 97.7 % and Hispanic: 2.3 %). Most were high school graduates (79 %) and over one third were unemployed (36 %). When asked to describe their general health, almost half reported their health as fair or poor (43 %). Table shows demographic information about the sample in this study in comparison to residents in the community. In comparison to the larger community, participants in this study were more likely to be employed and differed in self-reported health status.

Attitudes and beliefs

In general, beliefs towards government agencies were negative (see Table ). More than half of the participants believed there were not enough laws to regulate environmental health risks (60 %). In contrast, most believed in the potential for solving environmental problems (86 %) and that people working together can improve the environment (83 %). In addition, while a majority of the participants somewhat or strongly agreed that "most chemicals cause cancer" (81 %), more than half believed that risks posed by smoking and diet were greater than risks due to chemicals in the environment (55 %).

Risk perceptions

The dumping of hazardous waste, chemicals, and landfills were seen as posing the highest risks to participants and their families respectively at 69 %, 64 %, and 62 % (see Table ). Drinking water, car accidents, and sun exposure were seen as posing the least risk to individuals (26 %, 24 %, and 21 % respectively). Crime, drugs, landfills, and dumping hazardous waste were seen as the highest risks to the community (79 %, 79 %, 74 %, and 74 % respectively). Conversely, sun exposure, car accidents, and bacteria in food were seen as posing the least risk to the community (33 %, 36 %, and 38 % respectively). Risks to the broader community were ranked higher than risks posed to the participant and his/her family.

Source of environmental information

Participants reported getting "a fair amount" to "a lot" of information about the environment from PCR (67 %), the television (60 %), and friends and relatives (45 %) (see Table ). Public agencies were not a major source of information. Forty percent (41 %) received "a fair amount" of information from the U.S. EPA. From the Illinois Department of Health, 36 % reported receiving "a fair amount" to "a lot" of information; 31 % from the Chicago City Health Department; and 24 % from the Chicago Housing Authority. Participants received the least amount of information from private industry (almost no information: 64 %).

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes and beliefs of environmental health risks of a community surrounded by environmental hazards in order to improve local community organizing efforts and provide the foundation for a community-based environmental health assessment. Findings from assessment can be used to design health education campaigns, prioritize environmental health hazards for remediation, and be catalyst for social justice. Our sample reported that they did not feel adequately protected from environmental hazards; however, they had confidence that their community could work together to improve their environment. Study participants identified several physical and social hazards as risks to their family and the larger community; the dumping of hazardous waste, landfills, crime, and drugs were the most hazardous risks cited. In addition, participants indicated that they received a large amount of environmental information from PCR, the community-based organization serving the community.

The methodology employed in this study and its findings are important for several reasons. First, this study engaged PCR, a resident-led, community-based organization, and Altgeld residents in the identification of community-specific environmental health concerns. This approach used a grassroots approach by partnering with PCR in the study design, questionnaire development, and data analysis. These efforts allowed for the community most impacted by environmental hazards to be engaged in the research process and engage with research scientists, thus providing a more realistic view of the community's environmental conditions. This approach demonstrates that residents can contribute in developing intervention strategies focused on mitigating the impact of environmental hazards in their communities and in reducing the number of their environmental health concerns. Furthermore, it is essential to tailoring intervention strategies and programs for communicating clear and relevant environmental health messages.

Previous studies have involved community members in the identification of environmental health issues by engaging residents in the research process and acknowledging the community's concerns [ 23, 24]. One such approach, community-based participatory research (CBPR), has been used to create and inform environmental health education campaigns to communicate environmental health risks. CBPR is a collaborative approach to research that engages community and university partners in all research phases. One CBPR partnership developed a community-specific environmental health campaign for low-income minority communities with environmental justice concerns [ 23]. By tailoring environmental health education material for these communities, the partnership was able to effectively communicate risks, enhance environmental health literacy, and support community organizing efforts around environmental justice. Thus, community engagement and community-based environmental health assessments are critical to improve overall environmental conditions and community health outcomes.

the survey allowed PCR to identify community-specific risks and concerns; thus, it acted as an instrument for community organizations and leaders to use when identifying environmental health concerns. Community-based environmental health assessments begin by noting and understanding perceptions of community-specific environmental health issues [ 18, 25]. The survey provided a list of environmental health risks and issues that PCR identified and participants confirmed as relevant. The risks were limited to those identified by PCR and the existing questionnaire, making data interpretation for community organizing efforts more manageable. This process is similar to the suggested tasks in the Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence in Environmental Health (PACE EH), developed by the National Association of County and City Health Officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [ 25]. PACE EH provides guidance for community organizations and health agencies conducting environmental health assessments by outlining thirteen essential tasks to improve community health.

In addition, the information obtained from the questionnaire could be used in conjunction with environmental justice tools such as the Environmental Justice Screening Methodology (EJSM), developed for use in EPA Region 9 [ 26]. Use of the EJSM tool requires validation ("ground-truthing") of the data used to assess environmental hazards in the community. The data validation activity for EJSM is implemented by community members who are familiar with environmental hazards in the community. Knowledge of the local environmental hazards is a necessary prerequisite to data validation for EJSM. The questionnaire findings indicate that Altgeld residents are extremely aware of the local environmental hazards and would be capable of validating and finding additional environmental hazards if the EJSM tool, or one similar to it, is applied in their area.

, the survey obtained information on the components of the Health Belief Model (HBM) to assist in improving community participation in local organizing efforts. The HBM is a health behavior change model commonly used in community health promotion efforts that weigh the risk and benefits of action [ 27]. The HBM consists of the perceived susceptibility and severity of a health issue, and the perceived benefits of changing a behavior to protect one's health [ 27]. The survey obtained information on participant's perceived susceptibility to environmental hazards; residents believed they were not protected by hazards that could potentially cause cancer. These hazards were especially severe, posing high risks to themselves, their family, and their community based on the survey's rank of a hazard's riskiness (perceived severity). Because of the risks posed by the hazards, participants believed their community could work together to change their environment (perceived benefit), and more specifically that they could make a difference.

Together, the information for each HBM component can assist with developing educational material to mobilize residents to become involved in community organizing efforts. More specifically, educational material would focus on the adverse health impacts of community-specific hazards to residents' families and the broader community. For example, communities that live in close proximity to municipal landfills have poor quality air and residents are at an increased risk for respiratory symptoms and decreased activities because of severe, bad odors [ 28]. Residents armed with this information who experience high rates of respiratory infections and are exposed daily to bad odors would challenge local legislation to prevent the further expansion of existing landfills.

Fourth, after obtaining information about perceptions of environmental hazards, the survey provided an opportunity for participants to rank a select group of community-specific risks. Participants ranked environmental health risks by describing how hazardous the risks were to them, their family, and their community on a Likert scale. Social hazards were ranked highest from the perspective of the participant and his/her family, and physical hazards were ranked the highest from the perspective of the community. This is not surprising as participants most likely saw social hazards as an immediate threat to the well-being of themselves and their families.

For community organizations leading community-based environmental health assessments, such as PCR, this information is especially important when engaging key stakeholders in removing or remediating hazards. For instance, participants identified the dumping of hazardous waste as a high risk to their community. As any dumping of waste in a residential area is illegal, PCR and residents were able to document the location and provide images to regulatory agencies for monitoring and prosecution of violators. Most recently, PCR, Altgeld residents, and other environmental groups organized to protest the expansion of an existing landfill that borders the community. Their organized efforts convinced the governor to sign legislation to ban any expansion of the landfill.

Fifth, the information obtained from the survey has helped considerably in program planning for PCR. PCR is one of the founding members of the Environmental Justice Alliance of the Greater Southeast Chicago, a coalition of local organizations dedicated to improving the environment and health of residents on the Southeast side of Chicago. The information from the questionnaires has been used to determine which areas the community wants to target for investigation and enforcement. The coalition has obtained support from larger environmental groups such as the Sierra Club, which shares common objectives, as well as local businesses that want to invest in the community.

In addition to PCR and other local organizations, the information from the questionnaire can be used by public health agencies and clinics to plan health and wellness campaigns that demonstrate what residents can do with their health and lifestyle choices to mitigate the impact of environmental hazards. Based on the questionnaire, participants understood the importance of lifestyle factors in health; however, most received little to no information from their healthcare provider or local public health agencies. The survey provides an opportunity for providers and agencies to target their resources and deliver community-specific health education material. The information can also be used by local, state, and regional planning agencies to ensure that as new housing, industrial, infrastructure, and other developments are implemented, that community input is included to ensure that there are employment opportunities, 'green spaces,' and urban planning designs that facilitate healthy lifestyles and sustainable communities. In addition, the findings provide an opportunity to apply a more comprehensive tool, such as the EJSM, to further examine local environmental conditions.

What is especially unique about this study is that the findings have been used to engage local residents, assist in community organizing efforts, and inform future directions to improve local conditions in collaborative partnerships. The detailed findings from this study have been used to support PCR's community organizing efforts, and there are opportunities for continued use of the study information in community education and local program planning. Some of the limitations of this study are noted here. These findings cannot be generalized across all African-American public housing residents living near environmental hazards or the residents of Altgeld Gardens because a convenient sample was recruited. The list of environmental health risks were limited to those identified by PCR and the existing questionnaire. Despite the limitations, the findings provide important informative data regarding what can be done to effectively communicate environmental risks to low-income, African-American communities.

Conclusion

This study demonstrated that a community-based questionnaire can inform community educational efforts and assist in local organizing efforts. This study used a community-engaged research approach to address environmental health concerns among public housing residents. These methods and findings can be used to inform program planning for community-based organizations and other public health agencies.

Acknowledgements

This project would not have been possible without the contributions of residents of Altgeld Gardens-Murray Homes and staff/volunteers at PCR. The project was funded by the J.B. Hawley Research Award in the Division of Epidemiology & Community Health at the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health.

Abbreviations

CBPR

Community-based participatory research

EJ

Environmental justice

EJSM

Environmental Justice Screening Methodology

HBM

Health Belief Model

ORD

Office of Research & Development

PCR

People for Community Recovery

PACE EH

Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence in Environmental Health

U.S. EPA

U.S. Environmental Protection Agenc

Footnotes
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors' contributions
BMW conceived of the study, participated in its design, conducted data collection, and performed the analyses. BMW and ESH interpreted the data and drafted the manuscript. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.

References

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Perceptions of environmental health risks among residents in the "Toxic Doughnut": opportunities for risk screening and community mobilization

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Keywords: Environmental justice, Risk perceptions, Community assessment Few communities are surrounded by so many hazardous facilities that they are coined to be in a "toxic doughnut" (see Fig. ). Altgeld Gardens and Phillip Murray Homes (herein referred to as 'Altgeld') is one community that is referred to as such.