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May 1, 2006
 Chapter in Brief
Foreword by Keith
Kloor(download in PDF: 27
KB)
Country Map (download in PDF: 401KB)
Supplementary Information
Related Links
Acronyms & Timeline (download in PDF:
16 KB)
This chapter is based upon a research report prepared by
the Bureau of the Applied Research in Anthropology (BARA) entitled, Exploring
Environmental Values and Policy in the United States: Case Studies in Arizona
and Louisiana 2001. (PDF)
Case #1: The small town of Grand Bois, Louisiana, which was
sickened by the oilfield waste deposited in a nearby pit.
Case #2: Civano, on the outskirts of Tucson, Arizona, which was
originally conceived as a solar village demonstration project, a vision that
evolved over time first into a model of sustainable development and then into a
model of traditional urban design known as "new urbanism." The evolution of this
desert community and its eventual realization takes place over several decades
amidst widespread concern and public debate over urban sprawl and resource
scarcity, and environmental sensitivity.
As the title of the chapter indicates, the United States cases represent the
principle cleavage within environmentalism in the United States: the
environmental justice movement and its concern with fair distribution of
resources and toxic burdens, and the mainstream environmental agenda's concern
with resource preservation. The cases are thematically linked by the country's
addiction to cheap energy supplies. The struggle of the Houma Indian and Cajun
community to make sense of their allegiances to their fellow community members,
their long commitment to the land sustained over generations, and to the
industry that has come to sustain them, is representative of many instances of
environmental injustice in resource-dependent rural areas in the United States.
The situation of the residents of Grand Bois contrasts with the affluent and
mobile families who moved to Civano, a high profile state- and city-financed
housing experiment that aimed to be a national model of sustainable development.
A growth area of the United States, the region had to contend with the multiple
threats that population growth and urban sprawl brought to a water scarce and
ecologically sensitive region. While Civano residents were originally drawn to
the development for its promise of community and energy efficiency, they soon
became aware of and committed to the conservation goals of the project.
U.S. Liquids of
Louisiana, Ltd. Facility in Grand Bois, Louisiana. Photo by Diane Austin
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NOTE: Unless otherwise indicated, the following notes and suggested
resources were supplied by the chapter authors or the editor.
Three Aspects of the American Context: Private Property, States'
Rights, and Environmental Justice (download
in PDF) This description of the American context draws heavily from the BARA Report.
Environmental Justice in Grand Bois
- For a detailed account of the Grand Bois residents' fight for environmental
justice, including court testimony, see Chapter Five, "Media Savvy Cajuns and
Houma Indians: Fighting an Oilfield Waste Dump in Grand Bois," in J. Timmons
Roberts and Melissa M. Toffolon-Weiss, Chronicles from the Environmental
Justice Frontline. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
- For a personal account of the Grand Bois community’s fight against the oil
industry, see the interview with Clarice Friloux, chair, Grand Bois Citizens’
Committee in Human Rights Dialogue at http://www.cceia.org/resources/publications/dialogue/2_02/articles/617.html.
- For a cross-sectional analysis of the 50 US states, which concludes that
greater power inequality leads to greater environmental degradation, see J. K.
Boyce, A. R. Klemer, P. H. Templet, and C.E. Willis "Power Distribution, the
Environment and Public Health: A State Level Analysis," Ecological Economics
29.1. (1999): 127-140.
- For a convincing argument about the importance of citizens and experts
cooperation in the fight for environmental justice, based on case studies in
Louisiana, see Barbara L. Allen, Uneasy Alchemy: Citizens and Experts in the
Louisiana Chemical Corridor Disputes. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003.
- In 1997 CBS televised an investigative report "Ed Bradley on Assignment:
Town Under Siege," which brought national attention to Grand Bois and the
dangers of oilfield waste. A transcript is available through CBS.
Louisiana Oilfield Waste Exclusion
For discussions on oilfield waste exclusion see
- Michael M. Gibson and David P. Young, "Oil and Gas Exemptions under RCRA and
CERCLA: Are They Still 'Safe Harbors' Eleven Years Later?" South Texas Law
Review 32 (1991): 361-395
- Daniel L. McKay, "RCRA's Oil Field Wastes Exemption and CERCLA's Petroleum
Exclusion: Are They Justified?" Journal of Energy, Natural Resources, &
Environmental Law 15 (1995).
- U.S. EPA Archive [NRFRAP] Sites, EPA IDLAD980501522.
Power Distribution among Environmental Jurisdiction agencies within the
Louisiana State Government
For an analysis of the environmental politics in Louisiana see J K Boyce, A.
R. Klemer, and P. H. Templet, "Power Distribution, the Environment and Public
Health: A State Level Analysis," Ecological Economics 29: 127-140.
Environmental Groups represented at the National Audubon Society Meeting,
Washington D.C., October 1990
Oil and gas waste regulation has escaped the classification as a hazardous
material, despite scientific evidence of its harm to the environment. Oilfield
waste's non-hazardous status also kept it off the radar screen of environmental
justice groups for many years. The incident at Grand Bois helped to change that.
When in 1990 twenty groups convened in Washington D.C. to create the National
Citizens' network on Oil and Gas Wastes, it was an extremely important step in
getting corporations to be accountable for the oilfield waste they produce.Those
groups included:
- Environmental Defense Fund
- Louisiana Attorney General's Office
- Mineral Policy Center
- Wyoming Outdoor Council
- Western Colorado Congress
- National Audubon Society
- Oklahoma Audubon Council
- Citizens Concerned About Injection Wells/Friends of Cache Creek (California)
- National Wildlife Federation
- Ohioans for Safe Water
- Friends Insist Stop Toxic wastes (Texas)
- Alaska Center for the Environment
- Southwest Research and Information Center (New Mexico)
- Perry (Ohio) Area Neighborhood Association
- Friends of the Earth
- Subra Company (Louisiana)
- San Juan (Colorado) Citizens Alliance
Water Problems and Debates in Central Arizona
The reclaimed water system in Tucson is a shadow system to the potable water
piped through the city, capturing used water, re-treating it, and piping it back
to different locations around Tucson. This differs from gray water systems that
practice on-site collection and reutilization of wastewater. Private gray water
systems are governed by city health ordinances because improperly maintained
gray water systems can foster mosquitoes and harmful bacteria.
- For more on Arizona's struggle to supply water to the desert see Water
Transfers in the West: Efficiency, Equity, and the Environment, Committee on
Western Water Management, Water Science and Technology Board, Commission on
Engineering and Technical Systems, Board on Agriculture (Washington, D.C.:
National Academy Press, 1992), especially chapter 9, "Central Arizona: The
Endless Search for New Supplies to Water the Desert."
The Arizona Navajo and Hopi Water Dispute
The 1966 coal lease with Peabody Coal included a stipulation that if the
company's slurry endangered underground water supplies, Peabody would have to
find an alternative water source. The Navajo and Hopi have been claiming that
more than 4,400 acre-feet per year 1.3 billion gallons per year of water drawn
by Peabody Coal is causing the Navajo aquifer to drop precipitously and that,
therefore, Peabody should find an alternative water source. Their case rests on
the 1908 decision in Winters v. United States (207 US 64), where the Supreme
Court recognized Indian water rights.
- For more on the Native American's water conflicts see Bill Weinberg, "Water
Wars," Native Americans: Hemispheric Journal of Indigenous Issues xvii,
no. 2 (2002): 1619.
The Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan
The concept for a Sonoran
Desert Conservation Plan emerged in1992 when Pima County attempted to codify
conservation goals in its land use planning. The first significant steps to
implement the plan were taken only in 1998, when the controversies over the
inclusion of the pygmy owl on the Endangered Species List made clear the need
for a plan for the county that would balance the interests of conservation and
development.
Over the next several years Pima county developed an ambitious land use and
conservation plan, covering nearly two million acres, that brings together
various separate natural resource planning and protection activities. In May
2004, voters approved a $174.3 million “open space” bond with two thirds to be
spent on implementing the plan. The Multiple Species Conservation Plan, which
covers the conservation goals of the overall SDCP, will be submitted to the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service in 2006 as part of an application for a federal permit
under Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act. Under the plan a proposed 35
species and their habitats will receive federal protection.
- For more on the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan controversy in 2001, when a
regional land-use plan for Pima proposed to incorporate the environmental goals
of SDCP, see Tony Davis, "State, county at odds over desert plan," Arizona Daily
Star, 22 April 2001.
- The draft plan and various reports can be accessed through the Pima county’s
website and through the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection website.
- For an overview of the SDCP and a look at the politics of the planning
process, see Keith
Kloor’s article “Score One for the Desert,” Audubon Magazine, May
2005
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Louisiana
Hazardous
Substance Research Center (HSRC): Oilfield Waste Site Communities in
Louisiana
The HSRC, a research consortium led by Louisiana State
University, addresses critical hazardous substance problems, especially as they
relate to contaminated sediments. The site contains a resource-rich bibliography
and downloadable research briefs and reports on topics related to environmental
contaminants.
Arizona
The Sonoran
Desert Conservation Plan (SDCP)
This comprehensive site, maintained
by Pima County, provides detailed information about the SDCP, including draft
versions of the plan, maps, reports, and an education center where visitors can
learn about the plants, animals and history of the Sonoran Desert.
The Coalition for Sonoran
Desert Protection
The Coalition promotes the adoption of the Multiple
Species Conservation Plan as an integral part of the SDCP. It works to “advance
an innovative and multi-faceted regional planning effort that protects the
natural resources and biological diversity of the Sonoran Desert.” The site
offers information on the SDCP progress, special reports on various topics under
the SDCP, access to the organization’s e-newsletter archives, and links to
further resources on the SDCP.
Civano Neighbors
The Civano residents’ self-governing organization, Civano Neighbors,
maintains an active Web presence, hence is a good resource for tracking
developments in the community. See especially the Civano
Guiding Documents for access to Civano development agreements and documents
outlining sustainability goals. See also the annual reports on energy/water use in Civano for an evaluation of the town’s
progress in meeting the 1998 sustainability standards.
Central Arizona Project
The CAP is the largest single resource of renewable water supplies
in the state of Arizona. The Project maintains a remarkably complete and
up-to-date Web presence with information on the project's history and
environmental impact as well as press releases and an e-newsletter sign-up.
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