Environmental Justice Organizations

Oceane Mercadal

Activity #10

I had to search for environmental justice organizations and find out what there goals where and what they where doing to help their area of focus. In my search I came across and organization called EPA (United States Environmental protection agency). The headquarters of this organization are located in Washington DC so I unfortunately was not able to meet up with a member of the organization to talk about their mission which is to protect human life and to safeguard the natural environment. In order to find out more information about the association I tried to call them, which, was harder than I thought it would. At first the office was constantly busy and no one had enough time to talk to me. I tried calling another day and I kept being transferred from one person to the next. By this point I wanted to abandon my quest but decided to give it a last shot and call the Public Information Office in Buffalo. The woman I talked to was very nice and took the time to explain to me in an understandable manner what the possible effects of polluted water and air. She explained how it effects our environment and how the climate will keep deteriorating in the long run.

Another environmental justice organization I found is called NIEHS (National Institute of Environmental Health Science). I didn’t find a phone number I could reach someone at while I was searching the website but I was able to find their calendar of events and their goals. All of the events are open to the public but I was not able to go to any because none took place in Manhattan or nearby. This association focuses on the toxicological wastes and how they are harmful to the environment. NIEHS, located in North Carolina, is one of the 27 research institutes and centers that comprise the National institutes of Health. The mission of the NIEHS is to diminish the amount of human illnesses and disability by understanding how the environment influences the development and progression of human disease.

The last organization I found was the Department of Environmental Conservation. This organization is located around New York City and other major cities of the US. Its aim is to improve environment in communities, and specifically low-income communities, minorities and address disproportionate adverse environmental impacts that may exist in these communities. It was interesting to see that a note on the website stated: “Please Note: The purpose of this office is to serve the environmental needs of minority and low-income communities. It is not intended for general environmental inquiries unrelated to the issues of Environmental Justice. Please consult the list of phone numbers and addresses for other DEC programs to determine appropriate DEC contacts.” Right from the front page of the organizations website you are basically told to back off unless you are interested in improving the environment of low-income communities. This organization is good because not only does it help the environment but it targets the people who cannot afford or don’t have the availability to do something about it.

All three of these organizations have their own focus but contribute to a common interest being the well being of the environment. It was interesting to see how the first blog was so hard to get in touch with but was happy I managed to after I realized I wasn’t able to get in touch with any one from the other two blogs. It was nice to research these associations because it allowed me to be more aware of what is going on and how some people try their best to improve the environment.