Environmental groups are pushing for changes to North Carolina's industry-permitting process, which they say does not account for the cumulative impacts of environmental pollution.

People exposed to multiple chemical and environmental stressors tend to have higher rates of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other health problems.

Sherri White-Williamson, environmental justice policy director for the North Carolina Conservation Network, said currently, the state Department of Environmental Protection does not consider cumulative impacts when approving or denying permits for facilities often located in vulnerable communities.

"Within a five-mile range of a particular community in Sampson County, there are two facilities now that have been permitted to convert hog waste into biogas," White-Williamson observed. "There are active concentrated feeding operations, they are within very close proximity to an interstate highway."

Earlier this year North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued an executive order to create an Environmental Justice Lead position at each state agency tasked with collecting feedback on pollution from residents living in underserved communities. The order also directed state agencies to use federal and state funding to clean up impacted communities.

Daisha Williams, environmental justice manager for CleanAire NC, said while fostering conversations with impacted residents is important, state officials should be working toward implementing policies to incorporate and measure cumulative impacts when deciding where to site new polluting sources.

"Communities are still suffering, and we need to have tools and solutions," Williams argued. "Not just something that is kind of there to check off a box in the permitting or remediation process."

Accruing stressors from air pollution and climate change can also affect mental health. Research in the New England Journal of Medicine shows natural disasters and climate-related displacement can increase the risk of mental health disorders, anxiety and depression.

Members of a Detroit-area community are intervening in an Environmental Protection Agency lawsuit against a DTE Energy subsidiary charged with dumping harmful pollutants into their community.

Residents of River Rouge want the court to stop EES Coke from emitting sulfur dioxide and other toxic substances from its plant, and compensate local residents for the harm it has caused.

Theresa Landrum, a community organizer in River Rouge, said EES Coke has profited for decades while making people sick.

"We have suffered egregiously from the emissions from surrounding factories," Landrum contended. "Our community is overburdened with asthma, cancer, diabetes, heart disease. Anything that's connected to health issues can be traced back to industries in my community."

The motion was filed by the Sierra Club and joined by Earthjustice and the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center. When the original suit was filed in June, DTE Energy responded, claiming EES Coke complies with all relevant regulations governing its operations.

Landrum pointed out the community has seen antipollution lawsuits before, but the victims are usually left out of the settlement.

"When industries have been fined for a violation, they either get to have a consent agreement or negotiate the fine down," Landrum noted. "And when the fine is negotiated, it is split between regulatory agencies like EGLE and EPA. Nothing comes back to the community."

EGLE is the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.

Landrum added it is frustrating even when polluters are caught and prosecuted, they are often let off with a "slap on the wrist."

"They need to take charge and use the power that they have to be more protective of human life," Landrum asserted. "They have the power. What are they using with it? They're siding with business many, many times. We need that loophole stopped, and we need to look at who's being impacted by the egregious acts of these companies."

The EPA wants the court to force the plant to bring its emissions within legal limits, offset the health and environmental harm it has caused, and pay fines for each day it is out of compliance.

Residents of Adel, a predominantly Black and Hispanic town in South Georgia, are fighting plans to build the world's largest wood-pellet plant in their backyard, citing serious health risks.

The group Concerned Citizens of Cook County ("4-C") opposes plans by Georgia-based Spectrum Energy, the latest company to propose a plant capable of producing 1.3 million tons of wood pellets annually.

Dr. Treva Gear, a founding member of 4-C, said she's appalled that Georgia's Environmental Protection Division approved a permit without studying the health and environmental effects on local residents.

"When they over-emit or over-pollute the community, who's there to know that they've done it? And nobody's listening," she said. "And so, it's going to be a constant issue that we have to watch while we watch our community get sicker. We don't even have an emergency room in our community."

About a mile from the Spectrum site, Georgia EPD, which hasn't responded to a request for comment, approved another air-quality permit to Renewable Biomass Group, which plans to produce 450,000 tons of wood pellets annually.

Gear shared her views of the situation in a documentary called "Abandoned: Greed, Neglect and Environmental Injustice in Adel."

In its petition, 4-C and the Southern Environmental Law Center outline a list of grievances, including admissions by Georgia EPD of not having enough information about Spectrum's plans and its failure to comply with state and federal law that protects historically harmed communities from disproportionate environmental burden.

"We want an administrative law judge to hear our concerns that EPD doesn't really understand how much these wood-pellet mills are polluting the air, how much they are disturbing the environment and the individuals in the neighborhoods where they operate," said Jennifer Whitfield, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center.

Whitfield said they're asking the judge to invalidate the permit. This would force Spectrum to refile its request under stricter guidelines that Georgia EPD would have to follow. It means taking the nearby population into consideration, which EPD currently has said it doesn't have to do. All parties are waiting on the next steps from the Georgia Office of State Administrative Hearings.

A single bee can help produce more than 125 pounds of food every year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Some Oregon groups are working to get more colorful plants into local gardens to attract these critical pollinators.

The nonprofit Huerto De La Familia manages organic gardens that provide space for more than 120 Latino families to plant fruits and vegetables. Esmeralda Manzo, organic-garden program assistant with the group, said they're working on making a more bee-friendly environment at two gardens where they have beehives, Churchill and Gamebird. She explained that the flowers bring the bees for pollination.

"We also try to voice to our members, 'Hey, if you plant different varieties of flowers in your garden, it's going to benefit you, because the bees are going to come along, want to be around the flowers, and then pollinate your vegetables - like tomatoes and your squash that have the little flower that needs to be pollinated,'" she said.

Manzo said members volunteer at the Churchill location and it's one of their biggest gardens, serving more than 50 families. She also noted that they partner with local organizations and farms that provide essential gardening supplies and improvements.

Manzo said Huerto De La Familia has been supporting Latino families for more than 20 years. They provide space at six garden locations throughout Lane County, with 15-by-20-foot plots for garden members.

"There's a $15 yearly fee," she said, "which then we provide the seeds, organic fertilizer, the tools if they need to use any tools, all there in each one of the gardens."

In addition to garden plots, she said the Garden Program offers free classes in Spanish about medicinal and native plants, cover crops, how to improve soil quality and more.

Bees like purple, yellow, blue and white flowers, but Kristina Lefever, president of Pollinator Project Rogue Valley in southern Oregon, said she wants people to understand that a native pollinator garden goes beyond just beautiful blooms. In her project, she said, they focus on the overall ecosystem.

"What we're wanting to do is help encourage people to see the importance of plants," she said, "from bulbs to grasses, native grasses, to shrubs, the flowering plants that are called 'forbs.' Oregon Sunshine is one of the important native plants down here."

Oregon Sunshine is a daisy-like perennial. Lefever said it serves so many insects and the seeds feed the birds. She added that flies and wasps are among the thousands of pollinator species. Bumblebees are major pollinators of tomatoes, cranberries and blueberries. Pollinators face lots of challenges, from urban development and the use of pesticides to the effects of climate change, and people who garden can help.


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