Report Outlines ‘Environmental Racism’ In St. Louis
Date Posted: September 6, 2019
Posted In: Ideas, Regionalism,
From St. Louis Public Radio: Environmental hazards in the neighborhoods of many black people in St. Louis put them at a higher risk of health problems than white residents, according to a report released Saturday.
“Black St. Louisans are exposed to considerably greater environmental risks than white residents, contributing to stark racial disparities regarding health, economic, and quality of life burdens,” wrote the authors of “Environmental Racism in St. Louis.”
The report is by the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic at Washington University School of Law and the Environmental Justice Roundtable. The coalition includes Action St. Louis, ArchCity Defenders, Dutchtown South Community Corporation and Sierra Club.
It compiles brief case studies and previously available statistics to highlight a pattern of health indicators in which residents of predominantly black neighborhoods in St. Louis fare worse than residents of other areas.
Black children are more likely than white children to be treated in the emergency room for asthma and to suffer from lead poisoning, according to the report. It also notes that black St. Louisans are more likely to suffer from exposure to dangerous mold and other forms of residential and industrial air pollution.
“It definitely connects some issues that are impacting folks in a framework that is really helpful to understand what’s exactly wrong, so that we can figure out a way forward,” said Kayla Reed, co-director of Action St. Louis.
Of the five city wards with the highest rates of childhood lead poisoning as of 2017, four are majority black.
Black children in St. Louis are 2.4 times more likely than white children to test positive for lead in their blood. Overall, St. Louis children are twice as likely to have lead poisoning than children living elsewhere in Missouri.
As of 2015, black children in St. Louis were making 10.8 times more emergency room visits for asthma than did white children.
“The environment in areas that are predominantly black produce worse outcomes for families and children than other areas,” Reed said. “So if you live by O’Fallon Park in North City, your child is more susceptible to things like asthma versus a child that grows up in the Shaw neighborhood.”