Toxic Cycles of Development: Brownfield Redevelopment and Environmental Justice Implications

Abstract

Toxicity, simply defined, indicates the presence of harmful, poisonous, or contaminant substances. The concepts of harm, poison, and contamination, however, are useless if we do not recognize how they interact with humans, the environment, and our social systems. From a human perspective, our concern with toxicity relates to the exposure and dosages of harmful substances that have detrimental effects on human health. Environmentally, the concept evokes processes of toxic waste dumping and air pollution and subsequent ecological degradation. Industrial polluters and landfill waste transfers environmental toxicity to humans in the form of adverse health outcomes. When this process of toxicity intersects with existing unequal social systems, historically under-resourced and systemically marginalized communities endure the brunt of toxic harm.

Meanwhile, proponents of urban renewal have espoused the advantages of promoting green development and the cleanup of post-industrial blight. At face value, the reclamation of contaminated land and the greening of urban spaces seems like a worthwhile project. Especially, considering that many of these toxic sites have been forsaken by government regulation and public financing for decades. However, the advantages of urban revitalization projects such as brownfield redevelopment are far from unconditional. If developers, planners, and policymakers carefully construct remediation and development projects, brownfield cleanup and renewal could be a step towards rectifying years of discrimination and cumulative toxic exposure in poor communities and communities of color.