LULUs: Unfair Land Use Impacts on Environmental Justice - Essay Sample

Introduction

Environmental justice is the fair involvement of all people in matters relating to their environment, equal sharing of environmental hazards as well as equal participation in making and implementing environmental policies (Bullard et al, 2007). Locally Undesirable Land Uses (LULUs) are methods of land use that impose externality costs on the people living close by. These costs include health risks, decrease in value of the property as well as degradation of the general appearance of the environment. My home area, Houston, Texas, has had to deal with some of these LULUs. This paper will cover some of the LULUs around this area.

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While the issue of littering, trash collection and recycling has been a general issue for most of the residents, especially the minority communities (Crawford, 2018). For decades now, the city has used landfills and incinerators to dispose of solid waste. A majority of these structures are located in low-income neighbourhoods such as the McCarty Land Fill along Oates road, owned by Republic Services Inc. While this landfill is a few miles from where I live, its effects are felt far wider. The growing heap of trash has brought benefits to some people and negatively impacted on others. This structure has also been used to provide biogas for neighbouring businesses such as the Anheuser-Busch Brewery and others that could use the product (Will, 2009). In addition to the rates paid by residents for waste disposal, this company is making profits off this venture. The neighbouring communities are however faced by a challenge of these ever-growing mounds of waste. The odour elicited from these sites has been a nuisance to residents, despite having efficient air conditioning systems. Properties around these landfills and incinerators continue to depreciate in value, as more people opt for healthier living environments.

Toxic waste releasing facilities such as oil refineries are another example of LULU eliciting environmental injustice to the residents of Houston. One such neighbourhood is Harrisburg/Manchester which is surrounded by toxic waste discharging facilities. These industries make a fortune at the expense of this minority neighbourhood. Vehicular air pollution is also rampant in the Houston area, affecting many residents. Sewage treatment plants have too inconvenienced residents from time to time. Although these plants have provided a solution to the city's sewerage problem, they have also posed health risks in the past. An example is a spillage that occurred during hurricane Harvey, flooding vast areas in Harris and Fort Bend counties. Being a resident of this area, I witnessed the health risk posed by this flooding (Stuckey, 2017).

References

Bullard, R. D., Mohai, P., Saha, R., & Wright, B. (2007). Toxic wastes and race at twenty 1987-2007: Grassroots struggles to dismantle environmental racism in the United States. United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries. Retrieved from: http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/unitedchurchofchrist/legacy_url/13612/chapter-1.pdf?1418440227/

Will, flower. (2009). Republic Services' McCarty Road Landfill to Begin Sending Biogas to Anheuser-Busch Brewery in Houston. Republic Services, Inc. Retrieved from: http://media.republicservices.com/2009-06-24-Republic-Services-McCarty-Road-Landfill-To-Begin-Sending-Biogas-to-Anheuser-Busch-Brewery-in-Houston/

Crawford, Julianne. (2018). Environmental Racism in Houston's Harrisburg/ Manchester Neighbourhood. Stanford Earth. Retrieved from: http://bay.stanford.edu/blog/2018/3/15/environmental-racism-in-houstons-harrisburgmanchester-neighborhood/

Stuckey, Alex. (2017). Raw Sewage Spilled In Houston Area after Wastewater Plants Damaged By Harvey. Chron. Retrieved From: https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Nearly-a-dozen-wastewater-treatment-facilities-12209605.php/