EcoWatch, August-September 2011 – Cleveland has emerged in recent years as one of the national epicenters for innovations in urban agriculture and local food systems, casting a new national narrative for a city commonly identified with the rapid rise and brutal fall of industry. In a city that has dwindled from a peak population of nearly a million people in the 1950’s to just below 400,000 today, vacant and abandoned land has moved from a liability to an opportunity for thousands of people to access fresh food, learn basic skills of entrepreneurship, and re-build healthy connections to community and nature. Click here to read the full story:http://www.ecowatchohio.org/cleveland-the-new-agrarian-city/
Forbes, 5/2/2011- A Toledo landlord is facing four counts of reckless homicide for providing a portable generator that led to the death of his tenants. The generator was supplied to allow the use of a space heater while utilities weren’t on, but led to the carbon monoxide poisoning of the family renting the space. The landlord had not installed a carbon monoxide detector in the home to warn the tenants of potential danger and knew the generator was dangerous to use in an enclosed space. It is never safe to operate generators in or near garages and houses, even with open windows, as carbon monoxide fumes are odorless, potentially lethal and difficult to notice without detectors.
This month, the EPA issued its first complaint against a renovator who wasn’t following the EPA’s 2010 lead renovation regulation. Colin Wentworth, a renovator based in Rockland, Maine, was recorded violating procedures that are designed to protect young children from lead dust in the home repair process. Although Wentworth was certified for lead RRP (Renovation, Repair and Painting) work, his two employees were neither trained nor supervised during their renovation of a building that houses six children. The EPA’s complaint against Wentworth is the first step of an enforcement process and is the first of its kind to date. To learn more, visit www.greenbuildingadvisor.com.
The state of Ohio hoped to eliminate lead poisoning by 2010, but large numbers of old homes needing renovation have slowed down progress. The state has been successful, however, at reducing childhood lead poisoning cases by 2/3 over the years.
In 2010, in an attempt to further reduce childhood lead poisoning, the EPA issued a regulation that mandates lead removal certification for contractors doing home repairs. However, a recent six-month local investigation by Channel 5 News found that this regulation is not being enforced. As a result, not all contractors are receiving the mandated training, which has created an uneven market for certified contractors (who charge more for their services) and has put exposed children at greater risk for high lead levels.
NY Times, 5/3/2011- The Centers for Disease and Control (CDC) found in a recent study that 1 in 10 children and 1 in 12 Americans (8.2%) now have asthma. Asthma prevalence increased for all demographic groups between 2001 and 2009, with black children having the highest prevalence level in 2009 at 17%. CDC officials are at a loss for why rates have so sharply increased. They have found, however, that while typical asthma prevention entails educating patients on proper use of asthma medications and giving each patient a written asthma management plan, in reality only 1/3 of patients receive asthma plans and only 1/2 are educated about reducing their home asthma triggers. Read the CDC report here.
A report from the Kresge Foundation finds that low-income communities are being disproportionately affected by trade and freight transport in the U.S. Residents living near ports, railroads, freeways and freight distribution centers suffer from much higher levels of noise pollution, air pollution, light pollution, risks of hazardous spills and traffic congestion. The Kresge report finds that aggressive lobbying from the industry has prevented governmental regulation and protection of these communities. Read the report here.
NLEH partner Vel Scott’s Purple Oasis Garden has been selected by Edy’s Fruit Bars as a candidate in winning a complete fruit orchard! If she wins, her garden would produce and distribute fresh fruits in inner-city Cleveland! You can help Vel win by viewing her video, registering your email and then voting for her once a day April 15th-May 30th. Please help Vel win!
A new partnership has formed between Cleveland’s community development corporations and the City of Cleveland Department of Building and Housing. Over the next three years, code enforcement officers from community groups will survey every existing street in Cleveland and work with occupants on home repairs while Building and Housing inspectors target vacant and abandoned properties. The goal is to reduce the level of extreme disrepair found in many of Cleveland’s inner-city neighborhoods. Read the Plain Dealer article to find out more.
Environmentalist Naomi Davis envisions her Chicago community as facing climate change by becoming more self-sustaining with prosperous black-owned businesses and gardens. She is the founder of the nonprofit Blacks in Green and believes that black communities can take global warming as an opportunity to become more powerful and self-reliant. She says “too many people are waiting on the trucks to come to bring groceries, clothing and other necessities. But what happens if they don’t come?..help is not always on the way.” She is also pushing for neighborhood coal-fired power plants to have higher emission standards so fewer members of the community will suffer from asthma. Read more about Naomi Davis here.
Environmental justice and faith based groups have filed complaints against the US Army Corps of Engineers-Savannah Division for its failure to hold a public hearing and prepare an adequate Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for its Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, which will deepen the Savannah River and could pose public health effects to area residents, especially children. Dredging the river to allow bigger ships to come in will result in greater levels of ship pollution and diesel pollution from transporting trucks and trains and thus degraded air quality in the city of Savannah. The project involved no Health Impact Assessment and ignored the concerns of local groups in its EIS. Citizens for Environmental Justice expressed: “Health quality must not be overshadowed by our quest for economic prosperity – they can and should work hand in hand for the benefit of vulnerable and future neighborhoods.” Click here to read the full press release.
