Environmental Racism With Dr. Ingrid Waldron (webinar)

Event Recording

 
 

Event Summary

by Patrick Haddad, NSEN Journalism Volunteer (Environmental Studies student at Saint Mary’s University)

On December 10th, 2020, the Nova Scotia Environmental Network hosted a live virtual coffeehouse event to provide a fundamental understanding of environmental racism and its specific impacts within Nova Scotia and Canada. Co-hosting the event was Autumn Hebb, who is an Environmental Studies student at Saint Mary's University and NSEN volunteer, and Micaila Abboud, a Master of Marine Studies student at Memorial University, as well as NSEN volunteer.

The widely renowned keynote speaker who shed light on the intricate subject matter was Dr. Ingrid Waldron. Dr. Waldron is an Associate professor for the Faculty of Health at Dalhousie University. She is also the Director of the NGO Environmental Noxiousness, Racial Inequities & Community Health Project (The ENRICH Project).

She is currently a part of a proposed national bill that was brought to the House of Commons this past February. Dr. Waldron worked with Nova Scotia MP Lenore Zann, who introduced the National Strategy to Redress Environmental Racism Act (Bill C-230). The debate for whether the bill will be approved is still ongoing, and if you would like to support the bill, Waldron has set up a campaign page on the ENRICH website. There are crafted letters and tweets with the respective email addresses for MP Justin Trudeau, as well as the climate change minister Jonathan Wilkinson, among others. She encourages anyone interested to tweet and send letters in support of the bill.

uch of her work has been beneficial for garnering attention on environmental injustices within racialized communities in Nova Scotia. As she states in the presentation:

"If I'm going to incite people to action around the issue, they need to have empathy around the issue, and in order to have empathy around the issues, they have to have knowledge about the issue."

During the first portion of the discussion, Dr. Waldron began with an overview presentation on environmental racism.

When discussing environmental racism, it is essential to define the term to understand the context better. Dr. Waldron used Dr. Robert Bullard's definition, who is considered by many as the father of the environmental justice movement.

She explained that environmental racism deals with Indigenous and racialized communities because they are disproportionately located near and deal with greater exposure to polluting industries and their pollutants. She also stated that the communities which are being the most affected likely do not have enough political power to resist industrial polluters that may arrive. There also must be an acknowledgment of how environmental policies in place allow for these harmful and, in some cases, life-threatening impacts to continue.

Similarly, there is a lack of effective policy for the cleanup of environmental contaminants in these communities.

Waldron stated that Indigenous and racialized communities have historically been left out of "mainstream environmental groups, decision-making boards, commissions, and regulatory bodies". All these realities are essential to grasp to create corresponding solutions.

When asked about why these injustices still occur, she indicated it deals with "the subtle, systemic ways in which racist ideologies get written into policies created by government and people who have decision-making power, it's extremely subtle".

Dr. Waldron continued by discussing multiple examples of environmental racism with some background context. She described examples including the Alton Gas Project and the Sipekne'katik community, the Northern Pulp mill in Boat Harbour, and the Sydney Tar Ponds in Cape Breton, among many others.

She also mentioned her motivation to develop more research and literature on the issue to counter those who may not be so accepting of the concept. As part of her academic career, she began contributing tangible evidence through her publications, which led to her book There's Something in the Water: Environmental Racism in Indigenous & Black Communities. However, in addition to her academic work, she is trying to communicate the work which transpired in affected communities in the past couple of decades, highlighting this is not a new concept.

The idea of partnerships also comes up in the presentation as Waldron notes the significant importance they have on projects.

One example she mentioned describes the work she undertook with a geologist. Even though the field is distinctly different from her field of sociology, what resulted was a remarkable collaboration. The two worked on a project in Lincolnville, Nova Scotia, in 2016 to test the quality of water and bring forth a report to the community which had expressed concern. The project was a success and led to the formation in 2017 of an NGO called the Rural Water Watch Association. The RWW tests water quality from rural communities around Nova Scotia, creates a report, distributes the findings back to the community, and analyzes the link between disease and water contamination.

When asked about working with affected communities, Dr. Waldron explained that there are a few steps that should be taken:

"Being seen, being on-site, being there, being present, getting to be known, being a familiar face, then people start to trust you, and then you do the work in partnership with others."

Regarding outreach and collaboration, another large project Waldron was associated with was the development of the documentary film There’s Something in the Water, released in 2019. The film is available on Netflix and was another successful method of communication. It was able to draw international attention and inspire action for change.

When asked if she noticed a difference regarding the public's awareness on the issue, Waldron replied, specifically in Nova Scotia. However, there is less awareness outside the province, as work is not done on the same scale. Waldron explains that for this reason, she wants to expand some of her projects onto a national and global scale.

She was also asked what it is like to lead such an important issue and what keeps her motivated. 

She described a reality within the political space of how long things take to change, especially regarding environmental movements like the work done on climate change. She revealed that it can get tiring, but what keeps her motivated is meeting new people and their work or ideas, which allow her to branch off into different paths. These new paths are what led to the many projects she worked on and described throughout the discussion. She also talked about the work younger generations are doing and their potential impact on the future.  

She explained it is crucial "that we come together in unison and we never stop". She clarified by saying environmental issues progress in a cyclical manner. There may be points where media coverage on activism is high, but which ultimately leads to minimal action. That is why it is essential to strive forward in unity with the goals we want to achieve.

To support the National Strategy to Redress Environmental Racism Act (Bill C-230), you can find the campaign page at https://www.enrichproject.org/billc-230/.