When envisioning environmental issues, things like global warming, ocean pollution, and unclean air come to mind. The focus is rarely on the people most affected by environmental issues. Historically, communities of color have been impacted most by environmental issues. Everything from the lead in Flint, Michigan's Water to the toxic plants in Louisiana's "Cancer Alley" have affected colored communities disproportionately. These events are the well-known examples of a widespread and systemic issue: environmental racism.
Environmental racism is defined as the intentional siting of polluting and waste facilities in communities primarily populated by African Americans, Latines, Indigenous People, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, migrant farmworkers, and low-income workers. These communities often lack the resources and influence to challenge harmful policies. For this reason, communities of color are treated as city dumping grounds. Environmental racism negatively affects the mental and physical health of its victims.
Among the most harmful and prominent types of environmental racism relate to the contamination of water due to PFAs. Water contamination is often hard to detect, but has devastating mental and physical effects. A variety of people are affected by a lack of access to clean water, but clear patterns emerge in the communities affected most.
Watered Down Justice, a report co-authored by the National Resources Defense Council, is an analysis of EPA data that reveals there is unequal access to safe drinking water, based most strongly on race. The NRDC conducted an analysis of approximately 50,000 active community water systems in the country and compared trends with sociodemographic factors such as race and income. The report supports the idea that water contamination in communities of color is the result of discrimination and community disinvestment. Data from the report identified almost 200,000 violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act, the federal law regarding the cleanliness of water systems. According to the report, drinking water systems that violated the law were 40 percent more likely to occur in places with higher percentages of residents who were people of color.
Water plays a significant role in environmental racism. Major problems are experienced by communities of color nationwide. However, there are initiatives dedicated to improving water quality and access for communities throughout the nation. DigDeep's Navajo Water Project is an initiative that delivers clean running water to the people of the Navajo Tribal Nation. On the Navajo Nation, 30% of families live without clean running water, often driving miles to collect water for their families. The Navajo Water Project installs water systems near family homes for free.
The US government has also implemented policies to increase access to safe drinking water. In 2021, the US passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which allocates 50 billion dollars to improve water infrastructure. Funds are specifically targeted towards replacing lead service lines and upgrading aging water systems in low-income areas. This was the largest federal investment in clean water in US History, and is monumental for advancing environmental justice in historically neglected communities.
Access to clean water is a basic human right. Despite this, millions of Americans are forced to use old and dirty water systems every day. A history of segregation and disinvestment has made communities of color and low-income families particularly vulnerable to this issue. The issues with clean water access are only a small facet of the much more systemic and widespread issue of environmental racism.