Haudenosaunee Environmental News Report March Vol. 1 #6 2002

Environmental: Injustice, Justice, & Back Again!

by Barbara A. Gray (Kanatiiosh)

what is environmental injustice?

What is environmental injustice? In general, it is described as occurring when specific communities, minority, poor, or Indian nations experience disproportionately high and adverse human health and environmental burdens, due to the unequal and unfair development, implementation, or enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Some scholars in the field like, Dr. Robert Bullard and Bunyan Bryant, define the occurrence as environmental racism.

Some scholars, perhaps those living with blinders on, believe that while racism may have been the original reason for the environmental injustice, such is not the occasion in today’s enlightened society. I believe that this view is somewhat myopic since environmental injustice, of which racism is often a component, is still occurring.

However, I agree with scholars who assert that focusing only on racism may dilute other issues of importance to environmental injustice that need to be equally addressed. In addition, another concern raised about focusing on racism is that if one requires there to be an element of racism, in order for there to be environmental injustice, it may exclude cases where there is environmental injustice, but no racism. I think such concern is valid. In the next section, I discuss the theoretical framework of environmental injustice.

Theoretical Framework of Environmental Injustice

Dr. Robert Bullard, Director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center, writes extensively about environmental injustice. His work is interested in determining why people of color have a greater degree of environmental injustice than society at large. He deduces that lack of money, agency, power, and racism are causes for the disproportionate degree of environmental and health burdens experienced by minority communities. (Bullard, 1996; Bullard and Alston, 1990; Bullard, 1993)

Bullard’s theoretical framework is two-tiered. The first tier concerns race, class, and power. The second tier, which is interrelated to the first, is the disproportionate negative environmental and health consequences resulting from the siting of polluting industries and other commercial operations and the unequal enforcement of federal, state, and local laws and policies experienced by minority communities. In essence, for Bullard, environmental injustice is committed against minority communities because of their race, class, and lack of power. (Bullard, 1993)

Grinde and Johansen write about the environmental destruction of Indian lands and peoples, which they call "ecocide." They, just as Bullard’s findings, also determine race, class, and poverty to be causal factors for the building of these polluting industries on or near the reservations and for the failure to equally enforce federal, state, and local laws. 

These researchers advance the theoretical framework by bringing to light the importance of an Indigenous perspective and the irony that Native people who are the first ecologists now suffer some of the greatest environmental injustice. (Grinde and Johansen, 1995).

Grinde and Johansen also incorporate in their work, an interpretive paradigm as they include testimonies from the Native peoples. This paradigm gives voice to the indigenous people experiencing environmental injustice through the use testimonies. Grinde and Johansen connect Native American traditional teachings and practices with their unique spiritual relationship with the environment. A relationship based on a reciprocal interconnection between humans and the environment.

Luke Cole and Shelia Foster, write about environmental injustice impacting minority communities. They also look at race, class, and power inequity for the causation of environmental injustice. In addition, they write about the rise of grassroots organizations as a way to combat environmental injustice. (Cole and Foster 2001)

The researchers extend the theoretical framework in two ways. They included the importance of the transformation of power, and they bring in Native American Indians, who, because of their unique relationship to the environment, are more impacted by environmental injustice. For these researchers, environmental injustice occurs because of the lack of power and agency. However, power can be transformed from the traditional dominant-dominated model by networking with other grassroots groups and organizing to stand-up against environmental injustice. Thus, grassroots organizations take away power from the dominant (government)and redistributes to the dominated (communities of color).

In addition, their research finds that Native American Indians make up only 1% of the population, yet their reservations and lands adjacent are disproportionately being used as sites for polluting corporations, landfills, and medical waste incinerators. The research points out that Native Americans have a unique relationship with Mother Earth, which is different than minority communities in the United States. This unique relationship is based on their spiritual ties with the environment. As evidence of the unique relationship, the researchers point to Native American Indian Creation stories that reveal an interdependence between humans and the Natural World. (Cole and Foster 2001)

I should also mention that Native American Indians, especially the Haudenosaunee, not only have a special relationship with the environment, they have a unique political relationship with the United States. The Haudenosaunee nations entered into treaties with the United States. As such, the Haudenosaunee nations are not a minority community of the United States, but rather independent sovereign nations. This is a significant difference that is generally overlooked by scholars and policymakers in their pursuit to define and remedy environmental injustice.

Native American Responses to Environmental Injustice

The Native American nations began to see a correlation between the introduction of industrial plants, dumps, incinerators, and other polluting sites within or adjacent to their communities, and an increase of health impacts to their citizens and the environment. Cancer, birth defects, diabetes, and other illnesses began to appear and increase within these communities. (See, LaDuke 1999)

In response, to the need for answers and to protect the people and environment, grassroots organizations formed. The Native American grassroots organizations feared for the health not only of the people and the Natural World (the wild animals, trees, earth, air, and water), but for what the impact of environmental injustice would have on the future generations yet born. These organizations have fought a long hard battle to bring the issues of environmental injustice to the forefront.

In 1992, the Haudenosaunee Grand Council responded to the growing environmental impacts, within each of the Haudenosaunee nations, by establishing the Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force (HETF). HETF was established based on Haudenosaunee traditional teachings, protocol, and principles. HETF is composed of delegates (Haudenosaunee leaders, environmental technicians, and scientists) chosen by each of the Haudenosaunee Nations. These individuals are committed to identifying environmental problems in their communities and working to find solutions to them. In addition, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy continues to send delegations to Geneva to speak of the Good Message and the importance of protecting the environment.

The alliance of indigenous grassroots organizations has created, in unity, a powerful presence that cannot be merely ignored like many single voices were in the past. One influential alliance is the Indigenous Environmental Network, which is an "alliance of grassroots indigenous peoples whose mission is to protect the sacredness of Mother Earth from contamination and exploitation by strengthening maintaining and respecting the traditional teachings and the natural laws." (Indigenous Environmental Network)

The Ship’s Response to Environmental Injustice

The Ship’s approach to addressing environmental injustice is to mandate governmental agencies to address and identify environmental injustice and the effects of their programs, policies, and activities on minority and low income communities. Interestingly, instead of using the term environmental injustice or racism, the federal and state governments use the term environmental justice. The Office of Environmental Justice defines environmental justice as:

Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Fair treatment means that no group of people, including a racial, ethic, or socioeconomic group, should bear a disproportionate share of negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, municipal, and commercial operations or the execution of federal. State, local, and tribal programs and policies.

"No group, should bear a disproportionate share of negative environmental consequences..." What does this mean? If it means that all people should equally experience environmental injustice, then I have a problem with such thinking. This suggests that as long as we are equally experiencing environmental injustice, than that is all right. Instead, environmental justice should mean a reduction in environmental degradation and restoration of the land, water, air, wildlife, and health of the people.

President William Clinton, concerned about environmental injustice, enacted Executive Order 12898 (EO), in 1994. This executive order created federal responsibilities and required that agencies develop strategies to address environmental injustice. Section 1-101 of EO 12898 reads:

To the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law, and consistent with the principles set forth In the report on the National Performance Review, each Federal agency shall make achieving environmental justice part of its mission by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of its programs, policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income populations in the United States and its territories and possessions, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Commonwealth of the Marian islands.

In addition to creating federal responsibilities, the EO 12898, created an Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice to work towards developing strategies, coordinating data, and to provide guidance in addressing environmental justice.

In 1990, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in response to concerns raised by the grassroots organization and other advocates of environmental justice, created an internal working group to address environmental injustice concerns. The working group produced findings that then persuaded the EPA to create the Office of Environmental Justice, which originally was known as the Office of Environmental Equity.

As part of EPA’s effort to ensure environmental justice, each EPA regional office now has an Environmental Justice Coordinator. In 2000, Region 2 of the EPA has gone a step further in attempting to ensuring environmental justice by creating an Interim Environmental Justice Policy. The Interim Environmental Justice Policy for Region 2 states:

EPA Region 2 is committed to providing equal protection to all communities we serve. Accordingly, Region 2 is incorporating Environmental Justice (EJ) in its technical and management decisions and actions. In accordance with the President’s Executive Order 12989 ("EO"), this region 2 Interim Environmental Justice Policy (Interim Policy) has been developed to assist in the achievement of this goal.

It is the Region’s intent to use the interim policy to ensure that we can identify, target, and be responsive to those communities that experience disproportionately high and adverse human heath and environmental burdens. Further, the Region is committed to ensuring that all the communities and stakeholders we serve have environmental protection and livable, sustainable communities.

The Ship’s efforts are not to stop environmental "consequences" (pollution of the environment), but seems to be focused on ways to mitigate and equally distribute the impacts, which is contradictory, in some instances, to having liveable and sustainable communities. Equally distributing pollution and its negative consequences to human communities will not end the environmental injustice perpetrated against Mother Earth. In addition, more concern needs to be made to address remedies for communities that have been and continue to suffer from the impacts of environmental injustice.

  Working Together for Environmental Justice

Understanding and preventing environmental injustice requires that coordination, consultation, and a genuine desire to work together take place between governmental agencies and impacted communities. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) concerned about its environmental permit process and programs be open and responsive to environmental justice concerns, appointed an independent working group, the Environmental Justice Advisory Group, to produce a report.

On January 2002, the NYSDEC announced the completion of the report: Recommendations for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Environmental Justice Program. The report is important because the recommendations and comments are used as a basis for future NYSDEC environmental justice related policies. In addition, the report contains recommendations from Native Americans on how to address environmental justice issues related to Native Americans.

The inclusion of this information, in the report, is a commendable effort by New York State to begin addressing Native American concerns and issues relating to environmental injustice. Page 18 of the report, Recommendations for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Environmental Justice Program, reads as follows:

Additional Recommendations for Strategic Environmental Justice Program Plan

Address Native American Environmental Justice Issues

The Advisory Group recognized that its recommended permitting policy does not fully address the concerns raised by the Indian Nations located within New York’s boundaries. The Indian Nations cannot be treated as one racial or ethnic minority or socioeconomic group. Each individual nation is unique, with its own culture, language, land base, government and history. Their sovereignty is a well-established principle under United States and International law. The Indian Nations are governments and their relationship between them and the state should be as "government-to-government." Consultation between the state and Indian Nation governments should be a collaborative process. The most effective way the state or an agency like the DEC can remedy issues that exist with the Indian Nations is to focus on and improve the government-to-government relationship with the nations.

Representatives of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy met with the Advisory Group on August 24, 2000 at the Onondaga Nation to discuss a wide range of environmental justice related issues in New York State. At the meeting, each nation listed its concerns related to environmental justice and recommendations fro dealing with them. Most involved the failure of the Department or the state to properly contact and consult a nation on matters affecting the nation. The nations also expressed that they expected it to be understood that their geographic scope of concern extends beyond the boundaries of any reservation or territory they live on and includes the watersheds and air-sheds of these communities and their land claim areas.

In recognition of the sovereign, self-governing status of many Native American communities in the state, the Advisory Group makes the following recommendations to the Department, as well as other agencies of the state, for interacting with the Indian Nations:

The Department, in cooperation with the Indian Nations, should develop an Indian policy statement to reflect the State’s government-to-government relationship with the nations.

The Commissioner should meet yearly with Indian Nation leadership to address environmental justice issues.

The Department should establish a cultural awareness training program for its employees.

The Department should develop agency specific contact and consultation guidelines for interaction with the Indian Nations.

The DEC should support the State taking immediate steps to evaluate laws regarding the excavation, disinterment, removal, alteration, impairment, or disturbance of human remains, associated funerary objects or other cultural items at Native American burial sites and strengthen, if necessary.

The Department, the State Historic Preservation Office and the State Museum should establish protocols for State agencies to share archaeological information of importance, including maps and site files, with individuals and organizations designated by the Indian Nations. (See Recommendations for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Environmental Justice Program)

As I mentioned previously, the inclusion of Haudenosaunee concerns and recommendations in the NYSDEC Report is a positive step taken by the independent Environmental Justice Advisory Group to work together with the Haudenosaunee nations on issues of environmental injustice. However, it has come to our attention that the Governor’s office may not support the recommendations to address Native American environmental justice issues.

In fact, the Governor’s office has issued memorandums to all State agencies limiting their contact with Native Americans in the state. It requires that state staff report all contacts to the Governor’s office and "await further instructions from us before engaging in any further contact" including replying to correspondence, returning phone calls, holding meetings or sharing information of any kind. This policy runs counter to the recommendations of the Environmental Justice Advisory Group and is a monumental step backwards to honestly working with Native American Nations.

What else can the Haudenosaunee think, but to see the Governor’s office actions to limit and control interactions with our nations as racist. It provides the most telling example of what the Environmental Justice Advisory Group report is trying to address, the failure of the State of New York to treat the Native American population fairly, meaningfully, and honorably in the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

The Haudenosaunee have always expressed a willingness to work together, as brothers and sisters, as the Canoe and the Ship. We hope the Governor’s Office will reconsider its directive and instead, promote a more meaningful and more fair relationship with the Haudenosaunee. If the Governor’s Office does not reconsider, then what they are doing amounts to the furtherance of environmental injustice, which, ironically, is the very thing the Environmental Justice Advisory Group report is trying to correct.

Bibliography:

Bullard, R. D., D. A. Alston, et al. (1990). We speak for ourselves : social justice, race, and environment. Washington, DC, Panos Institute.

Bullard, R. D. (1993). Confronting environmental racism : voices from the grassroots. Boston, Mass., South End Press.

Bullard, R. D., Ed. (1996). Unequal Protection: Environmental Justice & Communities of Color. San Francisco, Sierra Club Book.

Cole, L. W. and S. R. Foster (2001). From the ground up : environmental racism and the rise of the environmental justice movement. New York, New York University Press.

Grinde, D. A. and B. E. Johansen (1995). Ecocide of Native America : environmental destruction of Indian lands and peoples. Sante Fe, N.M.,        Clear Light.

Indigenous Environmental Network, can be viewed at their Website at: <<http://www.ienearth.org/>>

LaDuke, W. (1999). All our relations : native struggles for land and life. Cambridge, MA, South End Press.

Recommendations for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Environmental Justice Program, can be viewed at: <<www.dec.state.ny.us/website/ej/index.html>>

The Office of Environmental Justice, which can be accessed at: <<http://es.epa.gov/oeca/main/ej/>>

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