[CPEO-BIF] EJ Caucus report on hurricane recovery

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

[A formatted version of this report may be downloaded from 
http://www.cpeo.org/pubs/CaucusReport.doc. Those of you on the Caucus
e-mail list: Please excuse the duplicate posting. - LS]

REPORT OF THE NATIONAL BROWNFIELDS EJ/COMMUNITY CAUCUS
SPECIAL SESSIONS ON THE RESPONSE TO HURRICANES KATRINA AND RITA
NOVEMBER, 2005

by Lenny Siegel, Center for Public Environmental Oversight

On the evenings of November 2 and 3, 2005, the National Brownfields
Environmental Justice/Community Caucus, met in room 109/111 of the
Colorado Convention Center. Wednesday, November 2, 2005, between 80 and
100 people listened to a series of speakers who discussed plans for
rebuilding New Orleans and other communities along the Gulf Coast. On
Thursday, November 3 about 40 people informally developed finding and
recommendations to address some of the issues raised by the previous
night's speakers.

COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVES

First, Dr. Beverly Wright of Dillard University's Deep South Center for
Environmental Justice, now housed at Southern University in Baton Rouge,
showed a slide show of her virtually destroyed neighborhood in New
Orleans East. Photos included a series of shots of the interior of
Wright's own home.

Wright called the destruction of large sections of New Orleans a
man-made (through negligence) disaster, and she called for the
government to fix the levees. She warned that officials are making lots
of plans without the participation of the people who made the city what
it was. Those people are organizing, however. She mentioned a recent
Baton Rouge meeting of 700 displaced people. She reported that people
from predominantly African-American sections, such as the Lower Ninth
Ward and New Orleans East, are not getting the information they need to
decide when and how to return to their homes, temporarily or
permanently. People want to salvage their keepsakes, such as family
photos, and structures. They want to return to their homes because the
New Orleans culture - music, food, etc. - grows out of the
neighborhoods, and because they want to recoup the enormous personal
wealth lost (even by "poor" people) to the flooding. She said New
Orleans should be rebuilt in its own image, except with better wages for
the people who work in hotels and restaurants. She said whites and
blacks in New Orleans never had the same agenda, and she asked why
whites don't understand that making life better for the poor will make
life better for everyone.

Next, Mayor Johnny Dupree of Hattiesburg, Mississippi explained that his
city was the first major stop on the highway out of New Orleans. As
Katrina approached, Hattiesburg grew from 55,000 to 75,000. Many people
weathered the storm in their cars. By the time the federal government
started to offer help, a week after the hurricane, it wasn't needed
much. Faith-based organizations provided more timely help, and at one
point the local Sheriff seized two trucks of ice and water that were
staged - with no release to the public - at the Camp Shelby National
Guard facility. 3,000 local people had their homes destroyed, but they
remain in Hattiesburg. He said that providing housing is most important,
and that will drive the creation or recovery of small businesses. In the
immediate cleanup and restoration of infrastructure, big outside
contractors were getting most of the work and local/small businesses
were getting the crumbs.

The third speaker was Larry Charles, a community developer and activist
based in Hartford, Connecticut. He is a New Orleans native, and most of
his family lives in Houma, Louisiana. Though impacted by both hurricane
Katrina and Hurricane Rita, Houma, he said, is the only fully
functioning city in that part of Louisiana. Charles began by quoting
from President Bush, who said that state and local leaders have the
primary role in recovery, poverty has roots in discrimination, and the
government should promote minority business and home ownership. He said
to the government officials in the audience: "You have your marching orders."

Charles said that one shouldn't underestimate the ability of informed
communities. He laid out three central principles: community ownership,
community control, and community accountability. He promoted assistance
through adopted cities programs. And he noted how ordinary people in the
Houma area overcame their legacy of racism to open their churches to
3,000 outsiders and their homes to 27,000 more. Charles presented
detailed strategies for recovery in a PowerPoint presentation. Those
slides may be downloaded from CPEO's web site at
http://www.cpeo.org/pubs/RebuildingGulfCoast.ppt.

FEDERAL RESPONSE

Four federal officials spoke in response at the November 2 session, and
one more spoke November 3. Sam Coleman of EPA Region 6 documented EPA's
immediate and continuing response. EPA's missions included sampling,
assessment of environmental infrastructure (such as water and sewage
treatment plants), collection of wastes, and disseminating environmental
information.  But first it rescued 800 people.

Don Mains, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Department of Housing and
Urban Development, stated that democracy means fair housing, affordable
housing, and a safe environment. Though he reminded those present that
federal recovery programs are primarily designed to support state and
local efforts, he described in detail a number of grant programs, loan
programs, and particularly tax credits that are being targeted toward recovery.

Patricia Rivers, head of the environmental branch of the Army Corps of
Engineers, briefly explained the Corps' leading role in the removal of
"public" debris - that is debris located on or moved to public property,
including streets. She said that Corps contracts require the use of
local subcontractors and that workers be properly equipped for personal
safety. She said that the government prefers to extract value from
debris, mentioning burning to create energy and the preservation of
downed trees until they can be milled to be used as building materials.

Finally, Jonathan Markley of the Economic Development Administration, at
the Commerce Department, described a number of federal programs that are
available to support recovery efforts.

The Thursday session began with a brief presentation by Sharon Beard,
from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Worker
Training Program. Immediately after hurricane Katrina, it prepared a
pocket-sized safety handbook for rescue and recovery workers. It is
using its existing programs in the region to target recovery workers,
but its primary hurricane-related funding is to provide training for
federally deployed workers - federal employees as well as workers hired
by federal contractors. NIEHS has been working with the Army Corps to
ensure that such workers receive appropriate training.

DISCUSSION

At the Thursday, November 3, 2005 session, there was time for
interactive discussion. Though a few participants were from New Orleans
or had connections to the affected areas of the Gulf Coast, this report
does NOT purport to represent people from affected communities.

Because the caucus has no formal membership or decision-making process,
this report represents a PERCEIVED CONSENSUS. CPEO invites those who
participated, as well as those who didn't, to comment on the findings
and recommendations below.

Thus far, the federal response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita has
followed the National Response Plan. Under this plan, environmental
agencies, such as EPA and the National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences, conduct operations at the request of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA). In most cases, these activities are carried
out under the guidance of state and local government.

FINDINGS

Caucus members concluded, based upon both personal testimony and
information gleaned from the mass media, that communications between
government officials and displaced residents are inadequate. This is
particularly true for people from those areas of New Orleans that were
catastrophically impacted by flooding.

First, residents are not receiving the information they need to
determine if they should return to their homes to salvage their
structures and belongings, and if so how. They lack the knowledge to
help them recover and clean precious belongings, and they have neither
the training nor equipment to visit their homes safely. There have been
some efforts to provide written information to temporary returnees, and
electronic communications - TV, the Internet, and especially RADIO -
have proven valuable. But the information appears not to be specific
enough to answer many of the questions of the displaced population.

Second, their views are largely being ignored by the government agencies
that are making decisions on their behalf. Local and state governments
do not have the resources to conduct public involvement activities, and
federal agencies say they cannot carry out such activities unless
requested by FEMA or local/state officials.

Caucus members agreed that agencies should move beyond the initial
perception that displaced residents are simply victims. They are an
enormous RESOURCE that can lead recovery operations, influence key
decisions, and conduct salvage and/or initial site cleanup activities.
In fact, in the absence of official support, many are already doing just
that, but they need more resources and better technical information.

Third, federal programs are essential to recovery, but bureaucratic
procedures continue to hamper the timely delivery of assistance.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Federal agencies should be tasked to support DIRECTLY two-way
communications between government agencies and displaced people, not
just as they return - permanently or temporarily - to their
neighborhoods. That is, they should not have to wait for local and state
agencies to figure out exactly what needs to be done. 

However, the actual networking should not be carried out primarily by
federal employees and outside "expert" contractors. Rather, they should
fund people from the affected constituency to build networks themselves,
not just in areas like Baton Rouge and Houston, where large numbers are
currently staying, but across the country. There are numerous community
organizations, university institutes, and neighborhood associations that
could provide such services.

Two-way communications networks among displaced persons should make it
easier for officials to determine what type of information people need,
particularly as it relates to their affected property, and to provide
specific information. It should also give these people a democratic
voice in government agency decisions with long-term implications.

2. Agencies should support the creation of neighborhood or even
block-level service centers. Operated by paid residents of impacted
areas, these centers should develop, with the assistance of technical
experts, site-specific advice on both safety and recovery/salvage
techniques. They should provide supplies, including appropriate personal
protective equipment, for people who are returning to their homes. And
they should either be equipped to provide first aid or send injured
people to facilities that can provide appropriate medical services.
These local outposts should be connected to larger service centers, such
as federal relief centers, fire stations, and any remaining health clinics.

3. Though participants agreed that regular (non-disaster) Brownfields
programs are not a priority in most of the hurricane-ravaged region,
they agreed that EPA should be flexible in its grant application
procedures and requirements to allow local governments and other
entities that have been incapacitated by the disasters to obtain needed
funding in a timely fashion.

THE BIG PICTURE

The Caucus did not attempt to formulate positions on all the
environmental justice issues associated with hurricane recovery, and
participants recognized that environment and safety are just one part of
the reconstruction picture.

In fact, one participant from New Orleans reminded the caucus that the
primary concern of most displaced residents - people who have lost their
homes and/or jobs as the result of the hurricanes and/or flood - is
economic survival, not environmental safety or protection. Still,
environmental issues remain important, not only as they directly affect
people, but as they affect their ability to salvage their keepsakes and
personal economic positions. 

-- 


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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