In Defense Of The Environmental Ethic Bullard

Bullard (2012) provides a valid discussion on how unequal environmental protection undermines procedural, geographic, and social equity. In efforts to defend this environmental ethic that Bullard addresses in his essay, I will discuss how penalties are calculated and a brief history my work area and the hazardous waste sites near its location. In addition, I will provide statistics on the demographics of this Metro-Atlanta area. Furthermore, my examples are in defense of the environmental ethic Bullard discusses in his essay.
The quality of procedural equity is undermined when unequal environmental protection exists. When regulation, evaluation criteria, and enforcement is not fairly being exercised across the board families, children, and

In addition there are 25 violations in the area (). Located on the west side of Atlanta, from Vine City to the West End, there are three hazardous waste inventory sites that are in a three mile radius of my place of employment and undergraduate dormitory. These facilities are listed as Bumper Distributors of Atlanta, Whitehall Street Wire, and Simmons Plating Works. All of these sites have contributes to lead in sol and two out of the three include lead in the ground water. Other pollutants include, chromium, arsenic, and cyanide. In addition, Bumper Distributors of Atlanta has been listed since 1994 and has been listed as class I for corrective action. Whitehall Street Wire has been listed since 1995 and is listed as pending corrective action with class II cleanup priority. Simmons Plating Works has been listed since 2002 and is still pending action. Two out of the three sites effect as little as 300ft to 1000ft surrounding the site. These sites are all located in an area that was once segregated and occupied by blacks. Across the street from Bumper Distributers is the Atlanta University Center which houses four historically black colleges and university. In addition, Booker T. Washington High School, a federally listed historical building, is within the same vicinity. This area was once a prominent, successful, and wealthy all-black community due to segregation and Jim Crow laws. If the penalties actually do reflect the accurate costs of potential harm, duration of time for a violation, special circumstances, and economic benefits, then I would assume that, in areas like I just described, penalties are just as high as in white communities. Unfortunately, studies and what I have seen show that there is a racial divide in the cleanup and punishment of polluters in minority