Undesirable land uses and equity : the relationship between the environmental justice movement and NIMBY syndrome

In 1992, a protest arose within Warren County, North Carolina involving the siting of a hazardous waste landfill in the town of Afton. At that time, the town was the poorest in the state and contained the highest percentage of minorities (Geiser 1993, 50). This protest can be attributed as the event which set in motion what is known as the environmental racism movement (Bullard 1994; Godsil 1991; Rees 1992; Russell 1989; Satchell 1992). This movement addresses the disproportionate siting of toxic waste facilities near minorities and low-income people who, in the end, have had to bear a large proportion of the negative effects of pollution.In an attempt to provide support, or lack thereof, for the environmental justice movement, many articles and studies have tried to address the disproportion and the economic, racial, and political ramifications that can be associated with the location of undesirable land uses and the negative environmental impacts they bring (Bullard 1983; Burke 1993; Godsil 1991; Mohai and Bryant 1992). Many of the prevalent studies such as the United Church of Christ Commission on Racial Justice (U CC) Study, the General Accounting Office (GAO) Study, the Bullard Study, and the Been Study, to name a few, claim environmental racism, equity, or justice in their conclusions. However, the question remains ... do the methods and definitions employed in these studies accurately represent the changes or outcomes within a community that has had an environmentally hazardous facility or undesirable land use. The studies noted above examine two premises that are widely claimed within the environmental justice research: the disproportionate siting process and market dynamics. They focus on the causation of environmental justice rather than the outcomes that are produced within a community.The purpose of this thesis is to provide a framework to examine the issues and effects related to the environmental justice movement. This thesis is intended to present a literature review which compares the prevalent case studies concerning this movement and its relationship to that of the NIMBY syndrome. An attempt will be made to provide insight to planners as to the issues surrounding the environmental justice movement and how these issues relate to those of the NIMBY syndrome. This framework provides a better way for planners to examine and understand the issues associated with these two movements. With this understanding, planners will be able to provide the much needed insight and can begin to study in-depth-depth the siting issues and market dynamics, therefore offering viable alternatives that will mitigate the impacts of LULUs.