Passing of Colandus ‘Kelly’ Francis

Dear community,

We hope all is well with you all. We have some sad news.

Longtime community advocate Colandus “Kelly” Francis, former Camden NAACP President, community leader, education & housing advocate, passed away this past Saturday. 

Kelly was one of the first leaders in New Jersey that supported the work of NJEJA in Camden. 

Kelly was a progressive political leader in Camden, often at odds with the political bosses in Camden and the surrounding communities. 

In the early years, Kelly helped to shape the Environmental Justice movement in New Jersey and was a staunch supporter of the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance. He opened the door for NJEJA to meet and work with community leaders. Kelly provided insight into the environmental degradation that had devastated his beloved community. 

Kelly was a civil servant; he delivered the mail to the community. He knew every nook and cranny in Camden. As a mail carrier, he developed relationships with many of the citizens in Camden and the surrounding communities as well. 

His kind of activism will be missed.

“They don’t build them that way anymore”

 

In love and care, 

NJEJA

Colandus “Kelly” Francis (2015). Photo Credit: Mel Evans, AP.

Press Release: Coalition for Healthy Ports call for action on scrapyard fire at Eastern Metal Recycling Terminal at Port Newark

Coalition for Healthy Ports

Ironbound Community Corporation      

New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance    

Clean Water Action    

South Ward Environmental Alliance

Immediate Release: Tuesday January 25, 2022

Contact:  Kim Gaddy, Clean Water Action and South Ward resident  973-914-2449

                 Maria Lopez-Nunez, Ironbound Community Corporation    201-978-6660    

                 Melissa Miles, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance  347-553-3338

TODAY, Newark – The Coalition for Healthy Ports (CHP)* issued a call for action regarding the scrap yard fire at Eastern Metal Recycling Terminal at Port Newark, the second large fire at this site since September 2021.

 Current policies, regulations and emergency response procedures leave communities and workers vulnerable to unknown chemical exposures and other harms of this facility and others like it during routine operations, only made worse during crisis management.

Community notification procedures and air monitoring systems are inadequate, leaving residents clueless as to what to do to protect themselves and their families. The only information residents are getting is from news reports. Agencies will have limited information to assess the situation, pollution impacts, and/or consider remedies to put in place in the future. 

It is also alarmingly unclear who has jurisdiction for permits, operations, emergency response and enforcement at Port Newark – Port Authority of NY&NJ (PANYNJ), NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Office of Emergency Management (OEM), Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for port, on-site and emergency responders just to name a few. The PANYNJ fire team deemed themselves ill equipped so the City of Newark Fire Department was called in to respond. Additionally, NJDEP’s oversight is currently limited, but we anticipate that the long awaited environment justice rules will include scrap yards – facilities that have long eluded regulatory controls and tools for community accountability.

The Coalition for Healthy Ports calls on the Governor and other responsible agencies to: 

  • take immediate action to protect residents and workers, properly and regularly inform them of developments related to the fire 
  • install emergency and permanent air/water monitors to assess pollution and health impacts
  • evaluate reasons for current fire and take immediate steps to prevent future fires
  • exercise enforcement powers where they may currently exist 
  • formally propose and adopt cumulative impact regulations as soon as possible, including scrap yards and other previously un/underregulated facilities of concern
  • resolve chronic jurisdictional issues and enforcement powers at the port 
  • hold a community meeting to both inform and receive public input on their concerns and demands for action

Below are quotes from impacted community leaders and Coalition for Healthy Ports members:

“ We often have to worry not just about fires but what is burning in those fires. No one should go to bed with nausea or headaches from the smells outside but our residents know the feeling all too well. This fire joins a long list of situations that remind us how close we are to potential catastrophe in our communities because of the concentration of toxic reactive chemicals. We need more than lip service, we need real protection. It is exhausting to keep asking for protection from our state but there are decades of historic injustice that must be addressed.” – Maria Lopez-Nuñez, Deputy Director, Organizing and Advocacy, Ironbound Community Corporation

“Longshoreman and Newark residents deserve to be protected from fires at Port Newark.  Our health must be a priority of Gov. Murphy and the PANYNJ. As a South Ward resident living in a Port community, we demand mandatory air monitoring and environmental enforcement at the Port today.” – Kim Gaddy, Executive Director, South Ward Environmental Alliance and New Jersey Environmental Justice Director, Clean Water Action

“Leadership at the Port of Newark has consistently denied their responsibility for air pollution beyond their fence line. This is a clear incidence of serious impacts as far away as New York City. We need fence line air monitoring and community accountability from the Port and its tenants.” – Melissa Miles, Executive Director,  New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance

“This fire is a reminder of the threats that port related waste facilities pose to community and worker health. In times of emergency, we must have clear lines of communication and a coordinated response to protect people. We call on state and local agencies together with the PANYNJ to ensure effective monitoring and enforcement to prevent future fires.” – Ana Baptista, P.h.D. Co-Director, Tishman Environment & Design Center, The New School University and Coalition for Healthy Ports Member

“The frequency of chemical fires occurring in New Jersey is on the rise – sounding the alarm for immediate action. The state must step up enforcement of existing laws and adopt long awaited cumulative impact protections including strict oversight of polluting facilities and scrap yards in already grossly overburdened communities and port region. Anything less than this is an environmental and public health injustice to residents and workers.” – Amy  Goldsmith, NJ State Director, Clean Water Action and Steering Committee Member, Coalition for Healthy Ports

“The New Jersey Governor’s Office, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and all relevant governmental agencies need to work together to address this alarming fire and to prevent this type of incident from happening again in the future.” – Nicky Sheats, Esq., Ph.D., Director, Center for the Urban Environment, John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University, and New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance Member

###

* Coalition for Healthy Ports (CHP) is a bi-state alliance founded in 2007 by environmental and environmental justice activists, truck drivers, faith leaders, labor unions, and community advocates fighting for zero emissions, clean air, good jobs, healthy communities, environmental and economic justice at the Ports of New York and New Jersey and throughout the logistics industry. Particular emphasis is given to port-adjacent communities that are disproportionately overburdened by port pollution and operations. www.coalitionforhealthyports.org

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Press Release: FAQ on S. 232 A 2212: NJ’s Cumulative Impacts and Environmental Justice Bill.

Stop Environmental Racism, Pass S232/A2212 - July 2020

Why is it so important to pass S232 now without any changes? This bill begins to prevent future environmental injustices as well as right the injustices of the past. Communities Of Color and low income communities have been disproportionately poisoned by pollution for far too long, and are suffering more than other communities under the COVID pandemic. DEP does not currently have a policy in place to consider cumulative, disproportionate pollution or its public health effects when issuing permits for highly polluting facilities. This bill has been 12 years in the making. People of Color lives matter and we can’t afford more delay.

What does S232/A2212 do? It requires DEP to: 1) evaluate environmental and public health stressors in overburdened communities when reviewing permit applications for highly polluting facilities; and 2) approve, condition or deny a permit after meaningful consultation with the applicant and overburdened community.

Who supports the bill? The Senate passed it June 29th with bi-partisan support led by NJ Sens. Singleton, Weinberg and Ruiz. The Assembly bill has 16 sponsors led by Asm. McKeon. Gov. Murphy, US Sen. Booker, the NJ Urban Mayors Assoc. led by Mayors Kelly and Baraka, Lt. Gov. Oliver, DEP Commissioner McCabe, and NJ’s environmental justice and environmental communities all have publicly endorsed the bill.

What is an “overburdened community” as defined in the bill? Any census block (the smallest unit of analysis possible) where at least: 35% of households are low income; 40% of residents are Of Color; OR 40% percent of households have limited English proficiency. These thresholds are based on our NJ state averages and conforms with the definitions in other states like NY, CT, MN, and CA…

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Press Release: New Jersey Sets National Precedent with Environmental Justice Bill Signing Today

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, September 18, 2020

CONTACTS:

Kim Gaddy, Clean Water Action, 973-914-2449

Maria Lopez-Nuñez, Ironbound Community Corporation, 201-978-6660

Ana Baptista, Ironbound Community Corporation, 973-342-6056

Melissa Miles, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, 347-553-3338

Nicky Sheats, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, 609-558-4987

(Trenton) – After decades of local struggle and grassroots advocacy, New Jersey made history today when Governor Murphy signed into law a first of its kind Environmental Justice Bill (S232 – Singleton/McKeon/Weinberg/Ruiz). The law will direct the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to deny or condition certain permits due to cumulative, disproportionate impacts of pollution in environmental justice communities. This bill is the realization of countless efforts by environmental justice communities from Camden to Newark that have long called on the state to protect already overburdened communities. It is a beacon for environmental justice communities across every state and can pave the way for comprehensive national legislation.

“This new law gives the state the power to ‘just say no more’ pollution in my neighborhood. My children can look forward to breathing cleaner air as they recreate in Weequahic Park. Thanks to Senator Singleton, Assemblyman McKeon and Governor Murphy, New Jersey now has the strongest EJ law in the nation and demonstrates that Black Lives Matter,” said Newark resident Kim Gaddy, Environmental Justice Organizer, Clean Water Action. “Environmental justice communities like mine have suffered far too long.After more than 10 years of fighting for this legislation, our voices have finally been heard. Our communities will receive the right environmental protection for our complexion.”

“S232 gives us hope. Hope that our pleas for the right to breathe will be heard next time we face off with polluters who have been targeting Black and brown neighborhoods for decades. We can’t end environmental racism with one bill but we’ve now taken this historical first step,” said Maria Lopez-Nuñez, Deputy Director, Organizing and Advocacy, Ironbound Community Corp. “Newark has a fighting chance to breathe easier thanks to this law”…

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Press Release: White House Announces Environmental Justice Advisory Council Members

The White House

Today, the White House announced the members of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. The advisory council will provide advice and recommendations to the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council on how to address current and historic environmental injustices, including recommendations for updating Executive Order 12898.

The White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) was established by President Biden’s Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad to fulfill his and Vice President Harris’s commitment to confronting longstanding environmental injustices and to ensuring that historically marginalized and polluted, overburdened communities have greater input on federal policies and decisions.

“We know that we cannot achieve health justice, economic justice, racial justice, or educational justice without environmental justice. That is why President Biden and I are committed to addressing environmental injustice,” said Vice President Harris. “This historic White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council will ensure that our administration’s work is informed by the insights, expertise, and lived experience of environmental justice leaders from across the nation”…

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Press Release: Governor Murphy Signs Historic Environmental Justice Legislation

Nation’s Strongest Measure to Protect Overburdened Communities from Pollutants

Fulfilling a commitment to enact sweeping protections for environmental justice communities, Governor Phil Murphy today, alongside U.S. Senator Cory Booker, Mayor Ras Baraka, Senator Troy Singleton, Assemblyman John McKeon, and environmental advocates, signed legislation (S232), which requires the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to evaluate the environmental and public health impacts of certain facilities on overburdened communities when reviewing certain permit applications. New Jersey is the first state in the nation to require mandatory permit denials if an environmental justice analysis determines a new facility will have a disproportionately negative impact on overburdened communities.

The bill defines an overburdened community as any community where 35 percent of the households qualify as low-income according to the U.S. Census, 40 percent of households are minority, or 40 percent of households have limited English proficiency. There are approximately 310 municipalities with populations totaling approximately 4,489,000 that have overburdened communities within their municipalities…

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Unequal Access to Local News Undermines Democracy

Truthout, Sept. 1, 2015

By Peter Montague

A new report on community access to local news in New Jersey has revealed one more way democracy is being undermined by economic inequality: Judging by access to critical local news and information, poor communities are “dramatically under-served” compared to wealthier ones, the report concludes.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has described “critical information” that community residents must have for democracy to work – and this study reveals how low income communities and communities of color are being shut out.

The new report, from Rutgers University, compares access to local news and information in three cities in New Jersey:

Newark: Population 281,000; 26 percent white; median household income, $34,000 per year;

New Brunswick: Population 57,000; 45 percent white; median household income, $40,000; and

Morristown: Population 19,000; 62 percent white; median household income, $71,000.

Among these typical New Jersey cities, economic disparity correlates with an astonishing gap in access to essential news and information.

For example, relatively wealthy Morristown supports six journalism sources per 10,000 residents; New Brunswick has 3.5 and Newark has 0.6. In other words, the wealthiest (and smallest) of the three cities supports 10 times as many sources of news and information (per 10,000 residents) as the poorest of the three.

Not surprisingly, this disparity in number of news sources translates directly into disparities in journalistic “output” (total combined stories on the web, plus postings on Twitter and Facebook).

During the seven days that the Rutgers group analyzed, news sources in Morristown produced 541 stories per 10,000 residents, compared to 181 in New Brunswick, and only 26 in Newark. Of these, in Morristown, 461 stories were deemed “original” (not rehashed from other sources), compared to 145 in New Brunswick and only 20 in Newark.

The situation looks even worse when examining journalism that focused on local issues. In Morristown, 42 percent of stories had a local focus; in New Brunswick, 28 percent, and in Newark, only 15 percent.

Members of the New Measures Research Project at Rutgers used “content analysis” to examine the routine output (plus social media posts) of standard news outlets – radio, TV, online and print – in the three cities. All together, they analyzed 2,679 stories (1,028 on the web and 1,651 on social media) during seven non-consecutive days selected at random during the month of January, 2015.

As we have seen, the Rutgers group analyzed the defining aspects of the “local journalism ecosystem” in each city: (1) how many local news sources exist; (2) the quantity of journalistic output by these sources, plus the extent to which their output is (a) original and (b) about local issues.

Importantly, the Rutgers group also analyzed the quality of local journalism, to judge how well local sources are meeting the “critical information needs” of residents.

“Critical information needs” comprise the information that is essential for citizens of a functioning democracy, as defined by the Federal Communications Commission. For details, see Table 1.

These “critical needs” include news and information about:

(1) policing, public safety and public health hazards;

(2) local conditions of health and health care (comparing different neighborhoods);

(3) quality of education and educational opportunities (again, comparing city districts);

(4) local transportation systems – who is served and how well;

(5) environmental conditions (air and water) plus land-use and planning issues (in various parts of the city, compared);

(6) economic development, employment data, employment and training opportunities;

(7) civic information: local service organizations and their services; and

(8) political life – who’s who, what’s what and opportunities for residents to find out what’s going on and participate.

From the viewpoint of generally meeting a community’s critical information needs, in Morristown, 329 stories per 10,000 residents (61 percent of all stories) measured up; in New Brunswick, it was 104 stories (58 percent of total); and in Newark, 10 stories (38 percent of total).

Analyzing for stories that met critical information needs about local conditions, Morristown had 187 stories (35 percent of total) per 10,000 residents; New Brunswick had 35 stories (19 percent); and Newark had 3 stories (12 percent).

Although this study examined only three cities, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that, if you are a person of color or of low income in New Jersey, you are likely being deprived of the critical information you need to participate effectively in a democracy. Is New Jersey unique? It seems unlikely, but no one can say for sure. One of the main purposes of the Rutgers report was to develop and describe a standard way of analyzing a “local news ecosystem,” which could then be applied anywhere. Other college journalism departments could take up the challenge and replicate this study in their own locales. Then we could know whether New Jersey’s distorted “news ecosystem” and degraded democracy are typical of communities across the US.

Copyright, Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.

 

The videos that are putting race and policing into sharp relief

On July 30, 2015 the New York Times published ten videos, some taken by police cameras, some taken by bystanders, documenting recent interactions between citizens and police.   One has to wonder how much of this kind of violence has not been caught on camera.
Warning to readers: These videos include graphic scenes of violence.
Click on this link to the New York Times and then scroll down slowly to see each of the ten videos: http://goo.gl/JB7HmQ