Fumes Across the Fence-Line examines the environmental justice impacts of the petroleum industry Air pollution is equal opportunity when it comes to impacting human health. But when much of the infrastructure of the U.S. petroleum industry is concentrated near low-income communities, its effect on these communities and their residents becomes outsized.
A new report released today, Fumes Across the Fence-Line, for the first time directly quantifies the elevated health risk that million of African-Americans face due to this threat. Released as a joint project of the NAACP, Clean Air Task Force (CATF), and National Medical Association (NMA), the report chronicles the health and environmental justice issues that come as a result of a concentration of refineries and other facilities in lower-income neighborhoods, and also offers case studies and suggestions for community action. The results suggest that oil and gas pollution are taking a serious toll on the African-American community. More than 1 million African-Americans live within a half-mile of existing natural gas facilities, more than 6.7 million African Americans live in the 91 counties with oil refineries, and more than 1 million live in counties that ?face a cancer risk above EPA?s level of concern from toxics emitted by natural gas facilities.?
Due to heightened exposure to pollution, the report concluded that African-American children suffer from 138,000 asthma attacks and 101,000 lost school days each year....