August 18, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS CONTACT: Kathy Phillips, coastkeeper@actforbays.org , 443-235-2014
BERLIN, MD Today, the Assateague Coastal Trust (ACT), joined by a coalition of Maryland organizations and community leaders, sent a letter to Governor Larry Hogan to bring to his attention failures by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) to address environmental justice issues.
Dr. Sacoby Wilson, University of Maryland School of Public Health; Mary Ashanti, Wicomico Chapter NAACP; Leila Borrero Krouse, CATA Farm Workers Support Committee; Monica Brookes, Concerned Citizens Against Industrial CAFOs (CCAIC); Lisa Inzerillo, Sentinels of Eastern Shore Health (SESH); Fred Tutman, Patuxent RIVERKEEPER; Maria Payan, Socially Responsible Agricultural Project (SRAP); and David Reed, Chesapeake Legal Alliance joined ACT in signing the attached letter asking Governor Hogan to take a stand against the systemic racism inherent in current institutions and policies in Maryland, and to enshrine protections in our laws. A suggested first step is to overhaul and restructure the Maryland Commission on Environmental Justice and Sustainable Communities (CEJSC.)
Kathy Phillips, Executive Director of ACT noted, "It has come to our attention that one of only two seats representing impacted communities on the CEJSC is held by Steve Levitsky of Perdue Farms, Inc. while a seat for a representative from the Business community sits empty." "This is unacceptable," Phillips continued, "Maryland must have a newly constituted Commission on Environmental Justice and Sustainable Communities with authentic representation of impacted communities to immediately begin addressing ongoing environmental injustice."
Fred Tutman, Patuxent RIVERKEEPER noted, "Black Americans in Maryland are 79% more likely to live in neighborhoods and cities with industrial pollution compared to other groups. There’s likely a large overlap between the thousands of Marylanders dying of COVID-19 and those who have been more exposed to pollutants caused by burning fossil fuels."
ACT and our partners have provided a list of twenty three solutions to the Governor, including:
“The coronavirus has made visible those populations our policies and laws had made invisible," Dr. Sacoby Wilson stated. "Fixing systemic environmental injustices against African Americans and other overburdened and underserved racial/ethnic groups," Wilson continued, "starts with ensuring they are fully and meaningfully represented on the Maryland Commission for Environmental Justice and Sustainable Communities and ends with new laws to finally ensure that all Marylanders receive equal protection through our environmental laws."
The full letter to Governor Hogan can be read HERE.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS CONTACT: Kathy Phillips, coastkeeper@actforbays.org , 443-235-2014
BERLIN, MD Today, the Assateague Coastal Trust (ACT), joined by a coalition of Maryland organizations and community leaders, sent a letter to Governor Larry Hogan to bring to his attention failures by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) to address environmental justice issues.
Dr. Sacoby Wilson, University of Maryland School of Public Health; Mary Ashanti, Wicomico Chapter NAACP; Leila Borrero Krouse, CATA Farm Workers Support Committee; Monica Brookes, Concerned Citizens Against Industrial CAFOs (CCAIC); Lisa Inzerillo, Sentinels of Eastern Shore Health (SESH); Fred Tutman, Patuxent RIVERKEEPER; Maria Payan, Socially Responsible Agricultural Project (SRAP); and David Reed, Chesapeake Legal Alliance joined ACT in signing the attached letter asking Governor Hogan to take a stand against the systemic racism inherent in current institutions and policies in Maryland, and to enshrine protections in our laws. A suggested first step is to overhaul and restructure the Maryland Commission on Environmental Justice and Sustainable Communities (CEJSC.)
Kathy Phillips, Executive Director of ACT noted, "It has come to our attention that one of only two seats representing impacted communities on the CEJSC is held by Steve Levitsky of Perdue Farms, Inc. while a seat for a representative from the Business community sits empty." "This is unacceptable," Phillips continued, "Maryland must have a newly constituted Commission on Environmental Justice and Sustainable Communities with authentic representation of impacted communities to immediately begin addressing ongoing environmental injustice."
Fred Tutman, Patuxent RIVERKEEPER noted, "Black Americans in Maryland are 79% more likely to live in neighborhoods and cities with industrial pollution compared to other groups. There’s likely a large overlap between the thousands of Marylanders dying of COVID-19 and those who have been more exposed to pollutants caused by burning fossil fuels."
ACT and our partners have provided a list of twenty three solutions to the Governor, including:
- MDE needs to have an Environmental Justice Plan and MDE and other agencies should be required to develop an environmental justice plan that has metrics to track progress and ensure that performance standards are included in the job performance of all staff in implementing the plan.
- Maryland’s Environmental Justice and Sustainability Commission must be re-chartered and a permanent working group must be established within the Commission dedicated to understanding and mitigating the effect of cumulative impacts of pollution faced by low income populations and communities of color.
- The Governor’s Office must show greater commitment to addressing systemic racism and advancing environmental justice by developing and releasing an Executive Order on Environmental Justice and COVID-19 to address disparities, similar to the EO released by North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, while also supporting the passage of a new bill that directs state agencies to examine the effects of proposed regulations on environmental justice and develop policies that advance environmental justice similar to HB704/SB406 recently passed in Virginia.
“The coronavirus has made visible those populations our policies and laws had made invisible," Dr. Sacoby Wilson stated. "Fixing systemic environmental injustices against African Americans and other overburdened and underserved racial/ethnic groups," Wilson continued, "starts with ensuring they are fully and meaningfully represented on the Maryland Commission for Environmental Justice and Sustainable Communities and ends with new laws to finally ensure that all Marylanders receive equal protection through our environmental laws."
The full letter to Governor Hogan can be read HERE.
