Cumulative risks may be the result of exposures to single
or multiple contaminants from one or more sources. OSWER and
other Agency programs generally consider site-specific risks
without considering current exposure to other (non
site-specific) pollution sources. Region 3 initiated a major
study of environmental risk potentially affecting the health
of residents of Chester, Pennsylvania. Participants in the
study include the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection (PADER), Delaware County, and Chester County.
Participants from the community were engaged to assist the
Region by providing input to the study.
The Chester City Risk Study resulted in the following
recommendations: (1) The lead paint education and abatement
program in the City of Chester should be aggressively
enhanced; (2) Sources of air emissions which impact the areas
of the City with unacceptably high risk should be targeted
for compliance inspections and any necessary enforcement
action; (3) A voluntary emission reduction program should be
instituted to obtain emissions reductions from facilities
which provide the most emissions in the areas of highest
risk; (4) An enhanced public education program to communicate
the reasons behind the existing State-mandated fishing ban
should be implemented; (5) While fugitive dust emissions have
not shown to be a significant component of risk in the City,
a program to minimize fugitive emissions from dirt piles and
streets should be instituted to alleviate this nuisance; (6)
While noise and odor levels were not shown to be a
significant component of risk in the City, a noise and odor
monitoring program should be instituted in areas most likely
to suffer from these nuisances. If significant levels are
found, a noise and/or odor reduction program should be
implemented in those areas.
A strategy to implement the recommendations and mitigate
the threats to public health and quality of life in Chester
was finalized in January 1997. The Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection, Delaware County, City of Chester,
and Chester citizen environmental groups will be participants
in implementation of the final strategy.
In order to explore cumulative risk issues, Region 3 is
also funding a study of South/Southwest Philadelphia. Funding
for this project became available with the passing of the
Fiscal Year 1995 EPA budget, where $423,000 was allocated to
Region 3 to perform the study. Johns Hopkins University was
awarded the grant in January 1995 to perform the study with
significant involvement from the local community groups.
Chester residents concerned for quality living filed a
lawsuit in the U.S. District Court against the Pennsylvania
Dept. of Environmental Protection (PADEP) on the basis of
alleged Title VI violations. EPA filed an Amicus (Friends of
the Court) Brief in opposition to the defendants (PADEP).
However, the court dismissed the case stating that the
plaintiff did not have standing because there is no private
right of action under the EPA Title VI regulations. The court
dismissed it without prejudice and allowed the plaintiffs to
amend their complaint to allege discriminatory intent.
| 1/95 |
Completed final draft of Chester
study and initiated internal peer review. |
| 1/95 |
Awarded grant to Johns Hopkins
University. |
| Patrick Anderson |
(215) 566-3184 (Chester study) |
| Len Mangiaracina |
(215) 566-2753 (Philadelphia study) |
Region 9 is providing oversight of an Arizona Department
of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) environmental justice pilot
project funded by a grant from Headquarters. The pilot
project will be used to support Agency efforts to develop
scientifically valid standards to measure cumulative risk.
The initial phase of the pilot project is a qualitative
assessment to identify emissions impacting a low-income
minority community in Southwest Phoenix that faces multiple
sources of risk. A future phase of the pilot project will
entail a strategy for addressing the identified hazards. ADEQ
has recruited a project manager and developed a draft
community participation plan, formed a community-based
committee to help guide the project, and has begun gathering
and compiling data. ADEQ also identified the concise project
area and completed data acquisition in December 1995.
| 6/94 |
Awarded grant to ADEQ for
environmental justice pilot project. |
| 10/94 |
Formed community-based committee to
guide project. |
| 12/94 |
Completed community participation
plan. |
| 9/95 |
Identified pilot site for cleanup. |
| 12/95 |
Implemented data gathering for
qualitative assessment. |
| 3/96 |
Began cleanup. |
| 4/96 |
Received draft project report. |
| Karen Scheuermann |
(415) 744-2068 |
The RCRA staff are supporting Region 9's assessment to
analyze cumulative risks. The project will analyze all States
in the Region for demographics, race, and potential measured
sources of pollution. The goal of the project is to locate
those communities impacted by numerous sources of pollution,
but receiving insufficient attention from agencies to address
these hazards. The Region chose two pilot communities and
developed an outreach plan.
| 2/95 |
Selected pilot communities and
developed outreach plan. |
| 3/96 |
Completed compilation of demographic
information and composed preliminary maps. |
| 3/96 |
Project and Community Relations
officers for West Oakland addressed additional
emitters. |
| Nancy Nadel |
(415) 744-2041 |
| Karen Scheuermann |
(415) 744-2068 |
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