Community Mobilization to Address Environmental Racism: The South End Environmental Injustice Society

Authors

  • Louise Delisle Temple University Press
  • Ellen Sweeney

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15367/kf.v5i2.216

Abstract

There is a long history of environmental racism in Nova Scotia, with industrial pollution and other environmental hazards located near communities of color and the working poor. In Shelburne, African Nova Scotian residents live primarily in the south end of town, which is also the site of a landfill that was used for industrial, medical, and residential waste over a period of seventy-five years. The South End Environmental Injustice Society (SEED) is a nonprofit community initiative that represents a direct grassroots response to the siting of the landfill near the African Nova Scotian and working-poor community in Shelburne. Members of this collective organization have developed an approach that allows for the contributions of all members, in an effort that addresses issues of environmental racism and responds in a way that is continually evolving. Ultimately, SEED hopes that evidence-based strategies will be used to improve health outcomes and reduce the prevalence of chronic disease as a result of everyday exposures to toxic substances experienced by Black community members in Shelburne.

Published

2018-11-16