Environmental Justice Case Study in St. Clair Township, Michigan

Abstract

In St. Clair Township, Michigan, residents have filed a lawsuit against fossil fuel companies for negligence and unlawful contamination of their community. Our master's capstone team worked to support St. Clair Township residents in their fight for a healthier community in partnership with Freshwater Future and Families Reclaiming Our Environment. We sought to re-engage community members exhausted by a 40-year struggle and organize existing data detailing incidents from the 1980s to present day. These project objectives were met through hosting a community engagement event, conducting a survey to understand residents’ sentiments towards the facilities, and synthesizing records into a comprehensive timeline. The community engagement event acted as an opportunity to meet residents and learn about their concerns, shaping the survey. Survey results revealed that although almost all respondents are aware they live near these facilities, only slightly more than half had prior knowledge of the facilities before moving into their current residence. Results also showed that a majority of residents have been or are concerned about water and air quality near their homes. About 48% of respondents have or are experiencing health issues that might be correlated with the air quality near their home. Residents also described long-standing frustration with the companies and government agencies, who they feel have failed to address the pollution from these facilities. At the same time, our archival process has begun telling the four decades long story of St. Clair Township and its relationship with these local fossil fuel facilities. While still a work in progress, the timeline has begun to piece together evidence showing how residents have been and still are overlooked in the decision-making processes of these harmful facilities. The timeline has also begun teasing apart the complicated relationships between regulators and jurisdictional complexities that have perpetuated this problem for far too long. Through this report, we provide multifaceted evidence that the petrochemical facilities in St. Clair Township harm a rural frontline community’s health and quality of life and that government actors have failed to intervene. We make the case that environmental justice movements fighting petrochemical pollution must pay increased attention to previously overlooked sites within a massive geography of fossil fuel infrastructure.