Connecting the Dots: Poverty, Illness and Toxic Operations in Poor Neighborhoods
by Joe Tyrell, JERSEY NEWSROOM, January 17,2010
Camden residents are suffering from health problems likely caused by their environment, and a new initiative will try to pull together the available information and use it to find solutions.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a $20,000 "environmental justice" grant to a community group, the Heart of Camden, to develop an online database of health and environmental information by area.
Focusing on the impoverished Waterfront South and South-Central neighborhoods, "this project will go a long way toward helping the people of Camden identify specific environmental and health risks," said Judith Enck, EPA regional administrator, at a Jan. 15 press conference with Mayor Dana Redd.
Past studies have suggested problems but have been limited, according to Helene Pierson, Heart of Camden executive director. The new project "will provide a comprehensive evaluation of all exiting data… so that we can get to work on the most pressing issues," she said.
According to a local group, the South Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, Camden has the highest concentration of polluting facilities, Superfund sites and diesel emissions of any city its size in New Jersey.
As a result, the group says, local residents are exposed to widespread soil contamination and dumping, scrap metal and hazardous waste businesses, heavy truck traffic to port facilities and factories, chemical contamination of city drinking water sources, and numerous examples of lead paint in older homes. [Read rest of story]