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Journalists at @EENewsUpdates and @irworkshop spent a year examining the health of people living around U.S. oil refineries. These communities are sicker and poorer, and often disproportionately Black or Hispanic. See our 5-part series and a thread https://www.eenews.net/special_reports/toxic_zones
6 million Americans living in “fenceline” communities were at greater risk of catching and dying from covid-19. CDC data shows higher rates of lung, heart and kidney diseases. This took us to Tuscaloosa, Shreveport, Bakersfield, Artesia, N.M., and Philadelphia.
Even before a catastrophic explosion, a refinery in South Philly had been releasing cancer-causing benzene at 21 times the limit. Nobody told residents of Grays Ferry, a largely Black neighborhood nearby. Co-reported with @NBCNews: https://www.eenews.net/special_reports/toxic_zones/stories/1062097771
"Poor people don't get information," said Charles Reeves, 61, a grandfather and prostate cancer survivor. "Whichever way that blows, we're going to be affected."
At an oil refinery in a small New Mexico town, state officials allowed toxic leaks, including benzene, to go on for a decade. https://www.eenews.net/special_reports/toxic_zones/stories/1062744005
Near a refinery in Bakersfield, Calif., in communities of low-wage agricultural workers, residents complained that elected officials ignore calls for closer monitoring of air emissions. https://www.eenews.net/special_reports/toxic_zones/stories/1062998341
We found segregation and entrenched poverty in neighborhoods bordering refineries in Shreveport and Tuscaloosa. Covid-19 swept the South, bringing new fears and anxieties to these communities https://www.eenews.net/special_reports/toxic_zones/stories/1063476217 https://www.eenews.net/special_reports/toxic_zones/stories/1063720623
None of it is new. Wage stagnation over decades, lower educational achievement and high rates of chronic illnesses are rooted in Jim Crow and redlining. The Great Recession cemented disinvestment. The virus has made it all harder for the Americans living in these places.
