PROJECT: A Safe Way Back Home
is the product of an unusual partnership between labor,
environmental and
community organizations.
It offers neighborhood residents whose homes were flooded by Hurricane
Katrina an opportunity to join forces with local Steelworkers and
environmentalists to take a proactive approach to cleaning up their
neighborhoods. At the event, contaminated sediment, soil, grass and other
tainted items will be removed from yards, streets, and sidewalks located on
the block.
"This demonstration project serves as a catalyst for a series of activities
that will attempt to reclaim the New Orleans East community following the
devastation caused by hurricane Katrina. Ultimately, it is the government’s
responsibility to provide the resources required to address areas of
environmental concern and to assure that the workforce is protected," says
Dr. Beverly Wright, DSCEJ’s executive director.
A Safe Way Home
For more information, please contact Mary
Williams, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, (225)
201-1662 or Jim Young, The Public Health Institute, (917) 597-9129.
Environmental Justice
Community Outreach
Displaced Minority Population
Much of the work of this project will focus on the research,
policy, and community outreach and assistance and education of
the displaced minority population of New Orleans.
Coming
Home
Determined to Rebuild
Despite many obstacles, residents are determine to return and
rebuild their homes, their lives and their communities.
Federal
Resources Needed
Massive Undertaking
“FEMA should replicate this demonstration
project on thousands of blocks in hundreds of
neighborhoods across the City of New Orleans and
the Gulf Coast region,” adds United Steelworkers
President Leo W. Gerard.
All
Hands Together
Unity
All races, nationalities and ethnicities coming together -
simply good people doing good things, the right things - for the
good of many.
Topsoil Removal
Several inches of grass and top soil will be removed from each yard
and staged in a vacant lot for removal by FEMA. Sidewalks, curbs,
and streets will be pressure washed until all accumulated sediment
is removed. Each lot will be re-landscaped with graded river sand
and fresh sod.
Safety Training and
Equipment
Health and Safety training and equipment is
being provided to all volunteers before starting the Safe Way Back
Home project. The training is supported by grants from the National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) to Dillard
University, home of DSCEJ, and to the Steelworkers’ Tony Mazzocchi
Center for Safety, Health & Environmental Education.
Volunteers
Volunteer partners for the clean-up effort includes the Common
Ground, Moving Forward Gulf Coast, Advocates for Environmental Human
Rights, the National Resource Defense Council, Clark Atlanta
University Environmental Justice Resource Center, Detroiters Working
for Environmental Justice, National Black Environmental Justice
Network, and Rebuild Hope Now.
Rebuilding Lives
The
broader goal of A Safe Way Back Home is to provide a sustained
effort over the next several months as hundreds of thousands of
survivors of this disaster-- many of whom are poor, disenfranchised
and African American -- begin the long, painful task of rebuilding
their lives.
Major Sponsors
United Steel Workers of America
Dillard University
Deep South Center for Environmental Justice · 440 N.
Foster Drive · Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806
office: (225) 201-1604 · fax: (225) 201-1699 Email:
mail@dscej.org
