Sacrifice Zoning: The Deadly Cost of Environmental Injustice
Every city relies on industry to fuel its economic engines. Yet we rarely pause to consider the public health costs incurred by communities situated dangerously close to dense clusters of industrial activity. What about the residents forced to bear constantly elevated pollution and strange smells in the air?
Now imagine an entire industrial sector condensed within a single neighbourhood — and not just any neighbourhood, but one predominantly inhabited by minorities with limited political sway and socioeconomic means. Welcome to the reality faced by countless marginalized communities across North America's sacrificial zones!
Sacrifice zones are areas where residents are exposed to high levels of pollution and environmental hazards, often without their consent or knowledge. These zones are usually located near industrial facilities, such as refineries, power plants, chemical plants, landfills, and mines, that emit toxic substances into the air, water, and soil. Sacrifice zones are also characterized by poverty, racial discrimination, and a lack of political representation, making the residents more vulnerable to the negative impacts of pollution.
Sacrifice zones are not new, but they have become more visible and widespread in recent years due to the increasing demand for fossil fuels, the expansion of extractive industries, and the deregulation of environmental protections. According to a report by the United Nations Special Rapporteur; or independent expert, on human rights and the environment, millions of people around the world are suffering in deadly pollution-sacrifice zones, where their health and human rights are violated daily. The report also warns that sacrifice zones are contributing to the global climate crisis, as they emit large amounts of greenhouse gases and reduce the capacity of natural ecosystems to sequester carbon.
Worse Health Outcomes
One of the most obvious and alarming consequences of living in a sacrifice zone is the deterioration of physical and mental health. Numerous studies have shown that exposure to air pollution, water contamination, and soil pollution can cause a variety of diseases and disorders, such as cancer, asthma, respiratory infections, cardiovascular problems, neurological damage, birth defects, and premature death. Moreover, living in a sacrifice zone can also affect the psychological well-being of the residents, as they experience stress, anxiety, depression, fear, anger, and hopelessness.
Some examples of sacrifice zones where residents suffer from worse health outcomes are:
Cancer Alley:
Cancer Alley is an 80-mile stretch of the Mississippi River in Louisiana between Baton Rouge and New Orleans that has been designated a sacrifice zone. Over 150 petrochemical plants and oil refineries operate near predominantly African American communities, accounting for 25% of the petrochemical production in the United States.
Residents of these neighbourhoods have taken the brunt of unchecked industrial pollution for decades. Studies show the cancer risk in Cancer Alley is 95 times the national average, In some Louisiana districts, the EPA has identified cancer risks more than 700 times!! The mortality rates in the area are 50% higher than in the state, and residents have reported skin conditions, shortness of breath, and other breathing problems.
Not only do African American communities disproportionately reside nearer these emission sources, but they also have less access to healthcare and legal aid to fight for their causes.
By concentrating numerous pollution sources among residents of colour through exclusionary zoning and relaxed regulations, systemic injustice has sacrificed the health of Cancer Alley families. Their multi-generational struggles illustrate the inequitable impacts of relegating marginalized groups to industrial sacrifice zones.
Chemical Valley:
Chemical Valley, near Sarnia, Ontario, exemplifies how indigenous peoples have been disproportionately burdened by industrial pollution. Home to over 60 chemical plants and oil refineries producing 40% of Canada’s petrochemicals, the area surrounds the Aamjiwnaang First Nation reserve.
Members of this indigenous community have suffered elevated rates of cancer, respiratory illness, miscarriages, and endocrine disruption for generations due to their proximity to industrial emissions in what has effectively been designated a sacrifice zone. Studies have also documented concerning declines in male birth ratio potentially attributable to chemical exposures.
A UN report criticized the Canadian government’s failure to protect the rights and health of the Aamjiwnaang people. By concentrating numerous pollution sources near this indigenous population through environmental racism, their multi-generational well-being has been systematically jeopardized.
Both Chemical Valley and Cancer Alley illustrate how marginalized communities of colour and Aboriginal groups tend to disproportionately bear the toxic burden of heavy industry clustered within their ancestral lands, facing cumulative impacts on health. Strong political action is required to remedy such injustices.
Superfunds:
Even after a polluting industrial plant has been shut down, it can still negatively impact the surrounding community through the existence of superfund sites — sites that have been contaminated by hazardous waste dumped or improperly managed at manufacturing, processing facilities, or landfills over time.
While regulations prohibit constructing new buildings on Superfund sites until cleanup is complete, contaminated land may surround these locations. This poses risks for those residing near Superfund sites.
According to an investigation by ProPublica and APM Reports, over 70,000 public housing residents live within a mile of a Superfund location in the U.S. Most residents are predominantly low-income communities and people of colour. However, many are unaware of the health hazards they face in such proximity to pollution. Residents often suffer from health issues like lead poisoning, kidney disease, skin rashes, and even cancer.
West Calumet Housing Complex:
In the heart of East Chicago, Indiana, stood the West Calumet Housing Complex, a 346-unit public housing project that was home to hundreds of families. But beneath the surface of this seemingly ordinary community lay a toxic legacy that would threaten the health and well-being of its residents.
The complex was built in 1972 atop the site of a former lead smelter, which had operated since 1906. For decades, the Anaconda Lead Products site and the International Lead Refining Company had polluted the area, leaving a toxic footprint that would go unnoticed for years. The area was eventually designated as part of the U.S.S. Lead Superfund site, a federal program to clean up the country’s most contaminated areas.
But the danger was far from over. From 2005 to 2015, a child living at the West Calumet Housing Complex was three times more likely to have elevated blood levels of lead than anywhere else in East Chicago. The EPA found lead contamination 100 times above legal limits.
The problem was wider than just the housing complex. The surrounding neighbourhood was also contaminated, and officials had known about the hazards left behind by the old factories for decades. Yet, little was done to address the issue, and the residents of West Calumet continued to live in harm’s way.
The situation came to a head in July 2016 when the East Chicago Mayor issued an order telling more than 1,100 people, including 680 children, living at the complex to leave immediately. The U.S. But the damage was already done; lead poisoning can cause irreversible brain damage, kidney disease, and heart damage and may affect fertility. It can permanently affect growing kids' attention span, school achievement and drop IQ points.
Today, the West Calumet Housing Complex remains empty, a stark reminder of the dangers that lurk beneath the surface of seemingly ordinary communities. The story serves as a call to action for officials to look closer at the land they are building on and prioritize their residents' health and safety.
Environmental Racism in Action
Sacrifice zones are not randomly scattered throughout the land but rather deliberately situated in or near communities of colour, indigenous peoples, and low-income groups. This example highlights the ongoing problem of systemic environmental racism, which regrettably remains a significant issue.
This is a form of environmental racism, which is defined as “any policy, practice, or directive that differentially affects or disadvantages (whether intended or unintended) individuals, groups, or communities based on race or colour.” Environmental racism is a result of structural and systemic racism, where power, resources, and opportunities are distributed unequally among various groups in society.
Historical and ongoing practices such as redlining, zoning, and permitting have contributed to environmental racism, which is evident in the segregation and marginalization of specific communities. These practices have also led to the increased exposure of these communities to environmental hazards.
Redlining refers to a discriminatory practice that targets people of colour, specifically African Americans, by limiting their access to certain areas labelled “hazardous” or “undesirable” by the federal government and private lenders. As a result, they were denied mortgages and loans. These areas were frequently situated near industrial zones, highways, landfills, and other sources of pollution. Zoning refers to the regulation of land use and development. It is commonly employed to separate residential and industrial areas.
However, it can also be used to restrict certain groups from accessing environmental amenities like parks, green spaces, and clean water. Permitting involves granting or denying authorization to operate or construct a facility that emits pollutants or produces waste. Political and economic factors can impact the granting of permits, frequently prioritizing the interests of large industries over the health and well-being of the affected communities.
Some examples of environmental racism in action are:
Redlining and Asthma:
Flint:
Flint, Michigan, has disproportionately harmed its predominantly African American residents due to its history of industrial sacrifice zoning and being the bedrock of the automotive manufacturing industry in America.
As the factories closed, their toxic legacies persisted without much remediation for strained residents due to the city's decline in manufacturing.
Switching the municipal water supply source from the Detroit-supplied Lake Huron water to the Flint River as a cost-saving measure in 2014 worsened this environmental injustice. The Flint River exposed families to contaminated water, poisoning many with lead due to inadequate treatment. Local and state officials ignored complaints in the low-income community of colour for months.
This public health emergency revealed negligence rooted in structural racism. Communities near industrial operations suffer from disproportionate asthma and other afflictions due to sacrificing zoning for generations. Redlining limits housing options for Flint residents near superfunds.
Understanding how environmental racism affects places like Flint through unfair zoning, prioritizing cost over people in privatization policies, and political disenfranchisement highlights immediate needs. To remediate toxic legacies and protect overburdened communities, we must rectify the inequities that originated from historic decisions that sacrificed certain neighbourhoods to the harms of pollution.
Fort McMurray:
From Flint, Michigan, to Fort McMurray, Alberta, the inequitable siting of sacrifice zones systematically impacts marginalized communities through environmental racism.
Like Flint, Fort McMurray emerged as an industrial boomtown in the 1900s due to extensive tar sands extraction and was designated as a sacrifice zone for surrounding oil operations. For decades, the predominantly working-class and indigenous communities have suffered disproportionate health impacts from air and water pollution, with inadequate support and remediation.
When wildfires ravaged Fort McMurray in 2016, the inadequate infrastructure in low-income indigenous neighbourhoods faced the greatest risks. Evacuation delays stranded some residents in the flames’ path as highways were clogged, exposing deep inequities.
As in Flint, political decisions prioritizing private profits over community health and safety sacrificed zones like Fort McMurray near extractive industries. Discriminatory zoning and land-use policies compounded these injustices, concentrating pollution’s harms on marginalized groups for generations.
Understanding these intersecting determinants reveals why some neighborhoods disproportionately bear pollution’s highest costs, from health impacts to inefficient emergency supports. Addressing such historic injustices demands reparative solutions.
“Ok, why don’t they just move?”
Oh, you summer, sweet child. Let's hear from John Oliver’s video on Environmental Racism:
Action Against This Practice
Sacrifice zones are not inevitable or natural but result from human decisions and actions prioritizing profit and power over people and the planet. Therefore, collective action and resistance from the affected communities and their allies can challenge and change them. Across the world, many examples of movements and campaigns are fighting against sacrifice zones and environmental injustice and demanding a transition to a more sustainable and equitable society.
Some examples of action against this practice are:
- Climate Reality Project, a global network of activists, leaders, and experts, founded by former US Vice President Al Gore, aims to educate and mobilize people to take action on the climate crisis. The project advocates for a just and inclusive transition to a clean energy economy that respects the rights and needs of all people to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, one of the biggest contributors to sacrifice zones.
- The Green New Deal is a proposed set of policies and programs by the Biden Administration that address climate change, economic inequality, and social injustice. The Green New Deal calls for a large investment in renewable energy, green infrastructure, public transportation, health care, education, and social welfare. It is based on principles of environmental justice and human dignity and addresses the wrongs In history who where affected by the sacrifice zones and climate change.
- Bill C226 is a house bill introduced by the Green Party of Canada. The bill aims to create a national strategy for assessing, preventing, and addressing environmental racism and advancing environmental justice. Environmental racism is the unequal exposure of Indigenous, racialized, or marginalized communities to environmental hazards like pollution, waste, and climate change. The bill also aims to end sacrificial zoning and ensure equal access to a healthy and safe environment for all Canadians.
What Now?
The current system of production and consumption is unsustainable and unjust, as evidenced by sacrifice zones, which put the lives and well-being of millions of people at risk. Sacrifice zones remind us that the environmental crisis is not just a technical or scientific issue but also a social and political one. It calls for a deep transformation of our societal values and systems. We must prioritize the well-being of people and the planet over the interests of corporations and the wealthy. The concept of sacrifice zones emphasizes the need for a more equitable and sustainable future.
Let’s rethink our values and practices and strive for a world where no one has to sacrifice their health, safety, and livelihood for profit and progress.
Also, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I hope I didn't ruin your mood.
By Devesh Vaswani, Content Strategist for 1UP Youth City Builders
Sources:
· Environmental Racism: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
· One reason why coronavirus hits Black people the hardest
https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S2542-5196%2819%2930241-4
https://www.epa.gov/superfund/what-superfund
