Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-vvkck Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-29T23:48:53.438Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

COMMENTARY: Seeking Environmental Justice through Public Participation: A Community-Based Water Quality Assessment in Bayview Hunters Point

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 August 2006

Eliot S. Metzger  and
John M. Lendvay
Eliot S. Metzger
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Science, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, California
John M. Lendvay
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Science, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, California
Get access

Abstract

Low-income, minority residents of the Bayview Hunters Point (BVHP) community in San Francisco, California, face considerable environmental hazards. There are strong beliefs within the community that BVHP is a victim of environmental injustice, based on perceived political neglect concerning potential links between environmental hazards and disproportionately high rates of cancer and asthma. The Yosemite Watershed Restoration Project seeks to apply the well-demonstrated benefits of community-based monitoring to a struggle for environmental justice in BVHP. Community members participated in a water quality assessment at Yosemite Slough, gathering a baseline data set to be used as a reference for watershed restoration and identifying potential pollutant sources and health hazards that had otherwise been ignored. The effort highlighted key opportunities for inspiring action among disaffected community members as well as key obstacles in engaging the broader community. It has laid a foundation for future efforts that will continue to build the community's capacity to play an active role in achieving environmental justice in BVHP.

Type
FEATURES & REVIEWS
Information
Environmental Practice , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , June 2006 , pp. 104 - 114
Copyright
© 2006 National Association of Environmental Professionals

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bell, D. 2004. Environmental Justice and Rawls' Difference Principle. Environmental Ethics 26(3):287–306.Google Scholar
Bullard, R. D. 1990. Ecological Inequities and the New South: Black Communities under Siege. Journal of Ethnic Studies 17(4):101–115.Google Scholar
Bullard, R. D., and G. S. Johnson. 2000. Environmental Justice: Grassroots Activism and Its Impact on Public Policy Decision Making. Journal of Social Issues 56(3):555–578.Google Scholar
Bullock, S. 2001. Polluting the Poor. The Ecologist 31(3):56–57.Google Scholar
California Integrated Waste Management Board. 1999. Waste Board Targets Illegal Dump Sites. Report 99-103. Sacramento, CA, 3 pp.
Chess, C. 2000. Evaluating Environmental Public Participation: Methodological Questions. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 43(6):769–785.Google Scholar
Chess, C., B. J. Hance, and G. Gibson. 2000. Adaptive Participation in Watershed Management. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 55(3):248–252.Google Scholar
Clarke, G. P. A., P. H. Lehner, D. M. Cameron, and A. G. Frank. 2000. Community Responses to Stormwater Pollution: Case Study Findings with Examples for the Midwest. Proceedings of the National Conference on Tools for Urban Water Resource Management and Protection, Chicago, IL.
Clesceri, L. S., A. E. Greenberg, and A. D. Eaton, eds. 1998. Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 20th Edition. American Public Health Association, American Water Works Association, and Water Environment Federation, Washington, DC, 1,262 pp.
Dang, H. 2005. Personal communication. Maintenance Manager for the Wastewater Enterprise, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, San Francisco, CA, March 22.
Elliott, M., and S. Kaufman. 2003. Building Civic Capacity to Resolve Environmental Conflicts. Environmental Practice 5(3):265–272.Google Scholar
Fleming, B., and D. Henkel. 2001. Community-Based Ecological Monitoring: A Rapid Appraisal Approach. Journal of the American Planning Association 67(4):456–465.Google Scholar
Freeman, J. S., and R. D. Godsil. 1994. The Question of Risk: Incorporating Community Perceptions into Environmental Risk Assessments. Fordham Urban Law Journal 21(3):547–576.Google Scholar
Ghosh, U., J. R. Zimmerman, and R. G. Luthy. 2003. PCB and PAH Speciation among Particle Types in Contaminated Harbor Sediments and Effects on PAH Bioavailability. Environmental Science and Technology 37(10):2209–2217.Google Scholar
Hudson, M., and S. Wilson. 2004. Pushing Another Envelope. Public Management 86(5):11.Google Scholar
Kraft, S. E., and J. Penberthy. 2000. Conservation Policy for the Future: What Lessons Have We Learned from Watershed Planning and Research? Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 55(3):327–333.Google Scholar
Lendvay, J. M. 2004. Yosemite Slough Watershed Restoration Project: Water Quality Assessment of Yosemite Slough and South Basin, November 2002–April 2004. Department of Environmental Science, University of San Francisco, CA, 52 pp.
Middleton, J. V. 2001. The Stream Doctor Project: Community-Driven Stream Restoration. Bioscience 51(4):293–296.Google Scholar
Millward, R. N., T. S. Bridges, U. Ghosh, J. R. Zimmerman, and R. G. Luthy. 2005. Addition of Activated Carbon to Sediments to Reduce PCB Bioaccumulation by a Polychaete (Neanthes arenaceodentata) and an Amphipod (Leptocheirus plumulosus). Environmental Science and Technology 39(8):2880–2887.Google Scholar
Mori, S. O. 1997. Resolution: Endorsing the Activities and Direction of the Bayview Hunters Point Health and Environmental Assessment Task Force, July 15, 1997. San Francisco Department of Public Health, San Francisco, CA, 2 pp.
Peeples, J. A. 2003. Trashing South-Central: Place and Identity in a Community-Level Environmental Justice Dispute. The Southern Communication Journal 69(1):82–95.Google Scholar
Pinho, O. S. 2000. Community Involvement in Projects to Reduce Nonpoint Source Pollution. Journal of Shellfish Research 19(1):445–447.Google Scholar
Powell, J., Z. Ball, and K. Reaume. 2000. Public Involvement Programs That Support Water Quality Management. Proceedings of the National Conference on Tools for Urban Water Resource Management and Protection, Chicago, IL.
Public Research Institute. 2002. The Spatial Distribution of Family Income and Poverty in San Francisco, 2000. Public Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, 14 pp.
Roberts, R. G. 1998. Environmental Justice and Community Empowerment: Learning from the Civil Rights Movement. American University Law Review 48(1):229–267.Google Scholar
Sharpe, T., B. Savan, and N. Amott. 2000. Testing the Waters. Alternatives Journal 26(4):30–33.Google Scholar
Shepard, P. M. 1994. Issues of Community Empowerment. Fordham Urban Law Journal 21(3):739–755.Google Scholar
Stephens, S. 1996. Reflections on Environmental Justice: Children as Victims and Actors. Social Justice 23(4):62–86.Google Scholar
United States Census Bureau. 2000. Zip Code Tabulation Area 94124. Zip code query (94124) at http://factfinder.census.gov. Accessed April 9, 2006.
United States Environmental Protection Agency. 1996. The Volunteer Monitor's Guide to Quality Assurance Project Plans. EPA 841-B-96-003. USEPA Office of Water, Washington, DC.
United States Environmental Protection Agency. 2005. Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. http://yosemite.epa.gov/r9/sfund/overview.nsf/0/f8cdc641e5183f068825660b007ee684!OpenDocument&ExpandSection=-2. Accessed April 9, 2006.
United States Geological Survey. 2006. SF Bay Images. http://www.sfbayquakes.org. Accessed April 13, 2006.
United States Geological Survey. 2003. Digital Orthophotoquad of Yosemite Slough. Washington, DC.
Zaimi, O., A. C. Blizzard, and G. J. Sorger. 1994. Teaching Water Quality Analysis with Community Collaboration. Journal of College Science Teaching November:105–110.Google Scholar