Environmental Justice Self-Study Guide

Environmental racism is the disproportionate impact of environmental hazards on people of color. Environmental Justice is the movement's response to environmental racism. Environmental justice advocates and researchers have provided clear evidence that communities of color are often targeted for siting facilities that have negative environmental impacts.

While these communities have been battling environmental racism for decades, if not centuries,1982 is the year credited with the birth of the Environmental Justice Movement. In that year, residents from Warren County, North Carolina, a predominantly black community, protested the siting of a toxic waste landfill in their community. The landfill was built to bury 6,000 truckloads of soil that had been conaminated with PCBs after the Ward Transformer Company illegally dumped 31,000 gallons of transformer oil along 240 miles of North Carolina highways. The protests lasted six weeks and received national media attention, helping to catalize the Environmental Justice Movement.

Use the resources below to explore more about environmental racism and environmental justice.