Standing Rock is in Your Backyard

Author's Note:
Last Sunday I attended New Community Covenant Church in Bronzeville. The Associate Pastor Michelle Dodson gave a sermon on a subject that I'd never heard discussed in church: Creation and our call to care for it. This was basically a sermon about Christians as environmentalist. Whoa, that's new; still it actually made a lot of sense. In her sermon she talked about a community on the south side of Chicago that had fallen victim to the city's gross neglect of their wellbeing, their land, their water and air quality. This post is a response to that sermon and my way of shedding light on a subject that is seldom discussed but greatly impacts the health and welfare of communities of color.

Altgeld Gardens: Look pretty? Looks can be deceiving.

If you live in Chicago or the surrounding suburbs, you don't have to go to very far to learn about how environmental racism and lax laws on waste management have completely devastated a community. You don't have to go to Flint, Michigan or Standing Rock to witness the inhumane treatment of people sentenced to suffer great harm for the sake of money. In Chicago's own backyard dwells a prime example, Altgeld Gardens (AG).

Welcome to the Gardens

Map of AG

Altgeld Gardens is a public housing project on the South Side of Chicago in the community of Riverdale. Just west of the Bishop Ford Freeway, it's nestled between 130th and the Little Calumet River. It was built in 1945 to house black veterans returning from WWII. It was also built atop an abandoned waste site. Yes, you read that right. The Pullman Factory, which was used as a sewage farm, inhabited the space from 1881 to 1907. AG is also surrounded by landfills. According to a Tribune article, "the 190-acre Altgeld was surrounded by about 50 documented landfills, and......more than 250 leaking underground storage tanks."

But wait there's more. For years nearby steel mills and industrial factories also filled the land, air and water with waste. A 2008 report on pollution in Chicago by the Tribune states, "Nearly two dozen of the region's [Cook County] top polluters are within 8 miles of the Altgeld Gardens." This pollution has affected generations of families in AG. Unsurprisingly, AG has some of the highest rates of environmentally-related diseases. An article by Jet states Altgeld Gardens community residents "had excessive rates of lung cancer, prostate, and bladder cancer, along with high rates of children born with brain tumors, asthma, and ringworms."

Environmental Racism

Why was the government allowed to build a housing project on top of a waste site, surrounded by an abundance of high polluting factories, landfills and sewage centers? Why has no one done anything to either remove residents from the area or work to restore the polluted land, air and water? Well the community of Riverdale, which includes Altgeld Gardens, is nearly 100% African American. It also has the highest percentage of people living in poverty and the lowest per capita income in the city. Go figure. We live in a country with a history of polluting and rerouting filth to poor communities of color, while protecting those of white folk. According to Illinois EPA, as of 2016, there aren't any landfills on the north side of Chicago. All 12 landfills are located on the south side, the area with the highest concentration of black people. Some of these landfills are closed or in the process of being closed but even if a landfill "closes" (read: buried) the waste/toxins/sewage lingers on contaminating the land, air and water for years to come.

Effects

A 1974 gas leak forces AG residents from homes. SUN-TIMES MEDIA

What pollutants trouble the Altgeld Gardens community?

Well, their soil has been contaminated with insecticides DDT and DDD. DDE, a breakdown product of DDT, was also found in the soil. According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) DDT, DDE, and DDD are "reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens." They affect multiple systems within the body including the nervous and the reproductive systems. They also affect the development of organs in young children. Both DDT and DDE have been banned from use. However, in a public health statement by ATSDR they noted that "DDT, DDE, and DDD last in the soil for a very long time, potentially for hundreds of years.....These chemicals may also evaporate into the air and be deposited in other places." AG has also been plagued with asbestos and lead. Asbestos is known to be a human carcinogen and affects organs in the respiratory system. Lead may also be a human carcinogen, but what is certain: lead affects cardiovascular, developmental, musculoskeletal, neurological and reproductive organs. Since 1945, 72 years, black families in AG have been living in an extremely toxic environment. Who can say how these chemicals have impacted residents over the years. Toxins and the diseases associated with their exposure will continue to haunt the community unless steps in to help these families.

Stewards of Creation or Nawl?

I want to critique what's happening through the lens of Christianity for a moment. Come with me to Genesis:

Genesis 1:28 - And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Let's focus on "replenish the earth, and subdue it." That was a command. We were blessed with the resources of the Earth but also commanded to replenish them. We were given the authority to subdue the land but with that power came accountability and responsibility. God didn't give us authority over the Earth for us to exhaust its resources and/or destroy it. Embarrassingly enough, that is exactly what we have done thus far.

We were called to be protectors of the Earth. Instead we have forgotten our call and forsaken that great appointment, all for the sake of technology and advancement, science, jobs, oil and of course money. Now I'm not against any of the above mentioned but when we compromise the very land we live on, the water we drink, the air we breath, the animals we eat, we compromise our own lives. You don't have to be Christian to know that; its common sense. Let's be real: If you poison one area, you're poisoning the whole. You think the pollution in Altgeld Gardens has magically remained within the boundaries of the community. Uh, no. How far do you think the toxins in that part of the city have spread since 1945? (And you know AG isn't the only community in Chicago living in waste and toxins) For the love of money we are literally killing ourselves, our children, our grandchildren and our Earth. We fail to realize that when we take care of the Earth we take care of ourselves. But when we poison the Earth we poison ourselves.

It's time to seek out the Lord and pray for discernment, to pray for ways that he can use us to fulfill this command. It's time to take up the call again.

Update: It appears the current administration has proposed a severe budget cut at the EPA that would hit communities of color, who as we know suffer from toxic pollution the most, the hardest.

Donald Trump’s administration is proposing a 25% reduction in the EPA’s $8.1bn budget, eliminating nearly 3,000 jobs and several programs including the agency’s environmental justice office. Funding for the cleanup of lead, marine pollution, tribal lands and the Great Lakes region faces severe cuts, while climate initiatives are earmarked for a 70% budget reduction.  

Environmental racism is alive and well in 2017 ya'll. They're saying the budget won't pass in Congress but if Agent Orange can be 45 and Ditzy DeVos can head the Dept of Ed I won't be holding my breath.