Abstract
Abstract
This article examines environmental justice lessons from the Eastwick community, a group of 11 racially diverse urban neighborhoods in industrial Southwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Although suffering from high unemployment and poverty and seeking more commercial businesses, Eastwick residents must constantly field proposals for waste disposal and other polluting businesses due to its industrial zoning and its proximity to major transportation routes. Eastwick's long history of dedicated, racially unified neighborhood activism has won residents the right to partner with Philadelphia authories in making land-use decisions in the community. With this power, residents have successfully resisted many attempts to cite unwanted polluting facilities in the community, while striving to enhance safety, economic development, and quality of life. Despite many important successes, environmental justice in Eastwick has been undermined by flawed local, state, and federal policies that fail to take into consideration the cumulative impact of the citing of new environmental hazards. Suggestions for policy interventions that would improve environmental justice in Eastwick and elsewhere are discussed.
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