{"id":94860,"date":"2021-02-18T17:27:55","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T23:27:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=94860"},"modified":"2021-02-19T16:00:10","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T22:00:10","slug":"bar-association-group-links-environmental-racism-to-higher-pandemic-rates-lead-poisoning-and-lasting-tolls-for-tribal-nations-and-communities-of-color","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/bar-association-group-links-environmental-racism-to-higher-pandemic-rates-lead-poisoning-and-lasting-tolls-for-tribal-nations-and-communities-of-color\/","title":{"rendered":"Bar association group links environmental racism to higher pandemic rates, lead poisoning, and lasting tolls for tribal nations and communities of color"},"content":{"rendered":"<link href='https:\/\/cdn.knightlab.com\/libs\/soundcite\/latest\/css\/player.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text\/css'><script type='text\/javascript' src='https:\/\/cdn.knightlab.com\/libs\/soundcite\/latest\/js\/soundcite.min.js'><\/script><br \/>\nBy Leonna McAfee<br \/>\n<em><strong>Medill Reports<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The civil rights arm of the American Bar Association is calling for legal reforms to prevent pollution threats and other environmental injustices linking tribal communities and communities of color to everything from higher COVID-19 contagion to increased lead poisoning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The ABA\u2019s Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice held a virtual teach-in Feb. 3 that addressed the impact of systemic racism on environmental injustice, citing roots in ethnocide and needs for stronger regulations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The panel stressed the connection between higher pollution levels in many areas with higher COVID-19 infection rates among people of color. They pointed to the crisis in Flint, Michigan, where thousands of residents (mostly Black and poor) were exposed to lead when drinking the city water source.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cLead poisoning is often referred to as a silent epidemic, but the people in Flint were not silent, they raised their voices,\u201d said panelist Lindsay Heck, an associate at White and Case LLP, an international law firm with offices in New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. \u201cAfter the water switch, there was public outcry about the brown, smelly water,\u201d with the color and smell linked to lead contamination.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThere was a question of what to do about the people who had already been exposed for months. Lead is a potent neurotoxin that when ingested affects every organ system in the body but most significantly, the brain,\u201d Heck said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cLead leads to irreversible brain damage, it strikes at the very foundations of cognition. It has profound effects on learning, memory, and behavior,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_94862\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-94862\" style=\"width: 615px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/C79E2946-5DF6-41B4-9F45-CEC2F8D8EF3D_1_102_o.jpeg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-94862\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/C79E2946-5DF6-41B4-9F45-CEC2F8D8EF3D_1_102_o-1024x473.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"615\" height=\"284\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/C79E2946-5DF6-41B4-9F45-CEC2F8D8EF3D_1_102_o-1024x473.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/C79E2946-5DF6-41B4-9F45-CEC2F8D8EF3D_1_102_o-300x139.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/C79E2946-5DF6-41B4-9F45-CEC2F8D8EF3D_1_102_o-768x355.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/C79E2946-5DF6-41B4-9F45-CEC2F8D8EF3D_1_102_o-1536x709.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/C79E2946-5DF6-41B4-9F45-CEC2F8D8EF3D_1_102_o.jpeg 1624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 615px) 100vw, 615px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-94862\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lindsay Heck, an associate in the commercial litigation practice group for White &amp; Case LLP, demonstrates the impact of lead on a child\u2019s memory capacity. The first picture was shown to children and withdrawn. The second depiction is what a child who has not been exposed to lead can draw from memory. The third picture is the drawing of the same scene by a child with memory impairment due to lead exposure. (Leonna McAfee\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Two years ago during Black History Month in February, the Environmental Protection Agency published a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/archive\/2018\/02\/the-trump-administration-finds-that-environmental-racism-is-real\/554315\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">report<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> documenting the degree to which Black communities face dangerously high levels of pollution. African Americans are more likely to live near landfills and industrial plants that pollute water and air and erode quality of life.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cPeople are allowed to pollute; we are giving polluters a permit to pollute and that\u2019s a problem,\u201d said Jeremy Orr of the Safe Water Initiative at the National Resources Defense Council. \u201cThe rules and laws aren\u2019t fashioned in a way that allow us to hold polluters accountable in a meaningful way and that needs to change.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The call for stronger regulations and challenging polluters has been a priority of community groups in cities such as Chicago. On Chicago\u2019s South Side, neighborhoods have been battling environmental injustice and speaking out against pollution for decades through environmental groups such as People for Community Recovery (PCR) and Southeast Environmental Task Force (SETF).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The watchdog groups continue to demand that lawmakers and industry leaders undo\u2014and stop perpetuating\u2014decades of unethical policies that have left communities of color, immigrants and low-income residents disproportionately battling air pollution and other health hazards.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Black and Latino residents are more likely to live in industrial corridors where they are exposed to industrial pollution and have a higher incidence of chronic health conditions, such as asthma,\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicago.gov\/content\/dam\/city\/depts\/cdph\/statistics_and_reports\/Air_Quality_Health_doc_FINALv4.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">according to the Chicago Department of Public Health<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicago.gov\/content\/dam\/city\/depts\/cdph\/statistics_and_reports\/Air_Quality_Health_doc_FINALv4.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A recent report<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0issued by the city earlier this year noted that \u201cstructural racism and economic hardship\u201d are \u201cmaking it more likely for certain people to live in polluted communities.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Panelists addressed tribal environmental issues, including the Dakota Access Pipeline from North Dakota to Illinois that was routed through Native American territories over tribal objections. In 2017, President Donald Trump reversed his predecessor Barack Obama\u2019s order to halt pipeline construction. The panelists demanded closure of Enbridge Corporation\u2019s Line 3, an old 1,097-mile crude oil pipeline extending from Alberta, Canada to Superior, Wisconsin, that the company proposes partially replacing on a new route that includes tribal lands.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Panelist Tara Houska, a tribal attorney and founder of the Giniw Collective, introduced this Indigenous movement led by women who are protecting sacred tribal values and battling against fossil fuels and systemic racism. She briefed the audience regarding the proposed reconstruction project of the Minnesota segment of Enbridge\u2019s Line 3, an old, corroding oil pipeline that she said has hundreds of structural anomalies such as leaks and cracks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Enbridge wants to abandon Line 3 and build the brand new portion right in the heart of native lakes with wild rice watersheds through treaty territories in Minnesota. Native American tribes, in addition to the Giniw Collective, continue to protest against this pipeline and recently <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mprnews.org\/story\/2021\/02\/02\/appeals-court-refuses-to-stop-construction-of-line-3-oil-pipeline\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">petitioned<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> the Minnesota Court of Appeals to stop the construction, saying it would destroy sacred lands protected by treaty agreements, but the request was denied.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWe have seen a number of police officers carrying around assault rifles and all the things intended to suppress and oppress our people,\u201d Houska said. \u201cWe simply cannot continue to progress without clean water and clean air and soil to grow our food.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cIt is a cultural genocide that is happening. The Indigenous peoples of this planet are telling the larger world that our actions are unsustainable,&#8221; Houska said.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In a profoundly touching moment, Houska shared what it meant to her to be from a <span class=\"soundcite\" data-id=\"978774970\" data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"24424\" data-plays=\"1\">&#8220;place.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">She also cited the Enbridge&#8217;s track record. Enbridge Pipeline 6B resulted in the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/kalamazooriver.org\/learn\/what-are-the-problems\/oil-spill-2\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kalamazoo oil spill<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in Michigan in 2010.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The pipe burst and flowed into Talmadge Creek, a tributary that flows into the Kalamazoo River. Cleanup took five years and an estimated excess of 1 million gallons of oil was spilled, according to the EPA.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_94935\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-94935\" style=\"width: 550px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-94935\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-11-at-10.31.56-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"550\" height=\"207\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-11-at-10.31.56-AM.png 2181w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-11-at-10.31.56-AM-300x113.png 300w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-11-at-10.31.56-AM-1024x386.png 1024w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-11-at-10.31.56-AM-768x289.png 768w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-11-at-10.31.56-AM-1536x579.png 1536w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-11-at-10.31.56-AM-2048x772.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-94935\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">From top left: Lindsay Heck, associate at White &amp; Case LLP; Barrett Pitner, founder and philosopher-In-chief at The Sustainable Culture Lab; Scott Badenoch, co-chair of the Environmental Justice Committee on the ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice; (lower left)Jeremy Orr, staff attorney with the Safe Water Initiative at NRDC; Nadia Ahmad, associate law professor at Barry University School of Law; Tara Houska, founder of Giniw Collective. (Leonna McAfee\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The virtual event included a Q&amp;A conversation where panelists and attendees could interact and share information in a chat format. Jared Hautamaki, a Native American attendee and an attorney with the EPA, commented that a big part of the issue in the battle for the preservation of native lands is a \u201clack of brown voices\u201d in federal agencies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cAt EPA in the Office of International and Tribal Affairs, there have been zero American Indian\/Alaskan Native employees since at least 2011, as far back as employee data is available,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWe won&#8217;t get environmental justice when we don&#8217;t have a voice at the table.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In December, then President-elect Joe Biden announced the nomination of Rep. Deb Haaland (D-New Mexico) as the first Native American secretary of Interior. Her appointment is as yet unconfirmed by Congress.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Scott Badenoch, moderator of the virtual panel and co-chair of the Environmental Justice Committee at the ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice, brought the event to a close by scrutinizing the \u201ccapitalist system that profits off of what they think are disposable people.\u201d He highlighted the concept of ethnocide, the deliberate destruction of an ethnic culture.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cIf you don\u2019t recognize that ethnocide is the model around us, you can\u2019t possibly begin to cure these problems,\u201d Badenoch said. \u201cThat system needs to be exposed and changed so that we can create a model where equity is the default rather than profit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Leonna McAfee is a social justice reporter at Medill. You can follow her on Twitter <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/leemcafe\">@leemcafe<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Leonna McAfee Medill Reports The civil rights arm of the American Bar Association is calling for legal reforms to prevent pollution threats and other environmental injustices linking tribal communities and communities of color to everything from higher COVID-19 contagion to increased lead poisoning.\u00a0 The ABA\u2019s Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice held a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":733,"featured_media":95056,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,675,5092],"tags":[1848,1165,61,4999,3112,5063,3192],"class_list":["post-94860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-and-science","category-social-justice","category-spring-2021","tag-african-americans","tag-air-pollution","tag-chicago","tag-covid-19","tag-dakota-access-pipeline","tag-environmental-justice","tag-native-americans"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Bar association group links environmental racism to higher pandemic rates, lead poisoning, and lasting tolls for tribal nations and communities of color - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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