Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. This goal will be achieved when everyone enjoys:  

Since 1980, EPA's Superfund program has helped protect human health and the environment by managing the cleanup of the nation's worst hazardous waste sites and responding to local and nationally significant environmental emergencies.Thousands of contaminated sites exist nationally due to hazardous waste being dumped, left out in the open, or otherwise improperly managed. These sites include manufacturing facilities, processing plants, landfills and mining sites.

Image: Workers collecting soil samples.

If radioactive materials are manufactured, used, stored, or disposed of improperly, it’s possible for them to contaminate buildings and the environment. Sites contaminated with radioactive material require cleanup. Every site cleanup is different. The actions needed for cleanup depend on a number of factors including the radioactive elements involved, the amount of the material, and the potential for human exposure.

Source:https://www.epa.gov/radtown/radioactively-contaminated-sites

In addition to the ability to stream this title, a DVD copy with public performance rights is available in the Jefferson College Library.

                           Front page of Knoxville News-Sentinel on August 6, 1945.

Manhattan Project: Oakridge, TN. The rolling hills and narrow valleys of East Tennessee proved to be the ideal location for the top-secret atomic weapons program developed here beginning in 1942. Oak Ridge, Tennessee was home to several massive Manhattan Project facilities employing thousands of workers during and after World War II and was the headquarters for the project after relocating from New York City. These facilities in Oak Ridge operated with one goal in mind: enriching uranium for use in the world’s first atomic bombs.

Radioactive waste is generated as a by-product of producing or using radioactive materials by industries such as mining, nuclear power generation, defense, medicine, and certain types of scientific research. Source:https://www.epa.gov/radtown/radioactive-waste

The Poisoned Dream

Access Restricted: On-Campus or Jefferson College users only for off-campus

In 1980, three frustrated mothers made American history by taking federal officials hostage in the community built on the site of New York’s toxic Love Canal. In this riveting exposé, the three activists—Lois Gibbs, Barbara Quimby, and Patti Grenzy—and research scientist Dr. Beverly Paigen, who staunchly stood by the residents, discuss their volatile four-year political battle to have the entire community evacuated. Archival footage of President Jimmy Carter, Jane Fonda, government officials, and residents who were on the scene convey the urgency of America’s first headline eco-disaster. (48 minutes)

Records reveal 75 years of government downplaying, ignoring risks of St. Louis radioactive waste

The Missouri Independent, MuckRock and The Associated Press spent months combing through thousands of pages of previously-unreleased government records that show radioactive waste was known to pose a threat to people living near Coldwater Creek as early as 1949. But federal officials repeatedly wrote potential risks off as ‘slight,’ ‘minimal’ or ‘low-level.’

Illustration by:Illustration by Tyler Gross

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