In 2009 CLEAN Focuses on Environmental Justice
by Vicki Wolf July 2009

The past six months have found CLEAN busy conducting Toxic Tours, environmental justice awareness projects and an educational campaign related to important climate legislation.

 

We are excited to report that Juan Parras, CLEAN’s community outreach and environmental justice director, is serving on the MD Anderson Community Advisory Board. The medical center is conducting research on health disparities in the Latino community in the East End. Asthma and bronchitis, prevalent in the community, are known to be exacerbated by the air pollution. The study is part of an effort to get more people involved in improving the health of the community.CLEAN also is partnering with Texans Together to conduct surveys in the Aldine-Mail Route and Manchester neighborhoods for a biomarker study. The study, funded by the University of Texas School of Public Health and University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, involves obtaining urine and blood samples from 50 people as a control group for comparison with people in a Corpus Christi study.

 

Parras served on an environmental justice (EJ) panel at Rice University and pointed out, among other things, the close proximity of superfund sites to downtown. Other EJ issues discussed were displacement of minorities when sites are cleaned up: New urban dwellings are being built, which causes taxes to go up. Minorities cannot afford to live in their homes or rent in the area. Other issues discussed included high rail traffic, wastewater plants and chemical plants located in minority areas; the PM 2.5 pollution from ships coming into the Ship Channel and idling while they are being unloaded; and security issues in the Ship Channel.

 

In June, CLEAN participated in the Free Minds Free People Conference with 500 students from across the country at the George R. Brown Convention Center. The conference included workshops on diminishing racism and hate crimes against minorities. CLEAN conducted a workshop on environmental justice and took 18 students on an EJ tour of the East End.

 

Parras made a presentation at Houston Community College and was interviewed on Green Watch, a public broadcasting station. He also spoke about environmental justice to 30 Austin High School students who were visiting Houston. He also gave a talk to children from the Tijerina Elementary School on environmental justice in the East End.

CLEAN facilitated speaking engagements for two young women from Bhopal who are children of survivors of the Union Carbide accident that killed 22,000 people. They also received a tour of the Ship Channel. CLEAN also met with visitors from China, and took them on a Toxic Tour. They were in Houston to learn about the impact of President Obama’s stimulus package on minority communities.

 

Before the U.S. House of Representatives passed the climate change bill, CLEAN was involved in efforts to educate the public about the need for strong, comprehensive climate legislation. We co-sponsored several press conferences and other events to bring awareness to the issue. CLEAN participated in the Town Hall Meeting on Climate Change on June 17, hosted by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and its Commission to Engage African Americans on Climate Change.