Re: [CPEO-BIF] In the wake of Katrina

[lsiegel@cpeo.org]

Submitted by Jerome Ackerman <jerryackerman@sbcglobal.net>

Throwing money at large corporations for cleanup and redevelopment is a
tragic waste of our national resources. Without bringing in the people
who live in Katrina-infested communities to take a proactive role in the
process is like building scores of quasi-remediated sites and buildings
and populating them with mannequins. There's no visceral life to take
ownership and pride in the communities and restore a vision for the
future. The New London community in Connecticut has been likewise
abandoned. I've seen "redevelopment projects" in the picturesque New
London on the Thames River and Long Island Sound since LBJ days, and it
doesn't work.  Projects are imposed, rather than evolved by the people
who live there. Why not compensate the inhabitants of these areas,
waiving the prevailing wage rules for them, to determine their own
destiny and decide their fate? Perhaps the economics of such a proposal
would prove too fruitful to the nation instead of Halliburton.
 
Jerry Ackerman


lsiegel@cpeo.org wrote:
> 
> Judging from news reports, the redevelopment of the Gulf Coast,
> particularly New Orleans, will be the largest redevelopment of a
> contaminated site in U.S. history. By some measures, it may be the
> largest redevelopment, period.
> 
> Smarting from criticism that the evacuation and rescue efforts were too
> little, too late, the Bush Administration is rushing to spend the
> billions of dollars of special appropriations. While aid for evacuees
> and infrastructure restoration require prompt - emergency - action the
> environmental response and neighborhood reconstruction - even the
> decisions what to rebuild, and where - should be done carefully, will
> full participation of the affected public.
> 
> I am concerned, however, that reconstruction will follow the same model
> that the administration and its favored contractors have used in Iraq,
> relying upon large outside organizations. Already the Federal Emergency
> Management Agency is awarding large contracts, and President Bush has
> waived the prevailing wage rules required for federally funded construction.
> 
> All this is happening in an area recognized for many years as ground
> zero for environmental injustice in the United States. Communities of
> color - primarily African-American - have little political or economic
> power, and they have been literally sandwiched among major sources of
> industrial pollution.
> 
> The people who were left behind when Katrina hit should not be left
> behind in the reconstruction. A small fraction of the federal funds
> devoted to recovery should be made available to support community
> participation in cleanup decisions and the design of the future
> industrial landscape. Other money should be set aside to train displaced
> residents to conduct restoration work safely.
> 
> The issues raised by post-Katrina recovery are the same as those we
> normally face revitalizing Brownfields, but on a much grander scale.
> Fortunately, many of the environmental justice advocates and activists
> from the Gulf Coast are safe and functioning, though not in ideal
> circumstances. EPA, NIEHS, HUD, and the other federal agencies that
> normally engage in Brownfields projects should quickly connect with
> those people and organizations to ensure the those left behind before,
> during, and immediately after the hurricane have a chance to rebuild
> their lives.
> 
> Lenny Siegel
> --
> 
> Lenny Siegel
> Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
> c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
> Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
> Fax: 650/961-8918
> <lsiegel@cpeo.org>
> http://www.cpeo.org
> _______________________________________________
> Brownfields mailing list
> Brownfields@list.cpeo.org
> http://www.cpeo.org/mailman/listinfo/brownfields

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
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