Just sustainability is the insurance of our environment’s compatibility with quality of life and wellbeing for every person. Income and exposure to environmental burdens must be equalized across all races, so that a safe and just space for all humanity can be created. Quality of life depends on the living conditions of residents and their capabilities within their area. We must improve the quality of life and wellbeing for all citizens in order to alleviate the burden of unjust sustainability. (Agyeman 2013) At the edge of Limerick Township, PA, there is a nuclear power plant called the Limerick Generating Station. The Limerick Generating Station has had multiple instances of spills and pollution that gets into the Schuylkill River (Brandt 2012). Additionally, radioactive isotopes such as tritium and strontium-90 are consistently detected in surface water and groundwater surrounding LGS, sometimes in high concentrations. These isotopes are linked to thyroid cancer, of which Pottstown and Montgomery County in general have a disproportionately high rate and risk (CDC 2020). Pottstown, located adjacent to the power plant, has a cluster of high black population that identifies as low-income. Part of Pottstown’s cancer risk comes from the Limerick Generating Station’s release of radiation into the surrounding surface water and groundwater: specifically, tritium and strontium-90. This is an un-just sustainability because the black population of Pottstown has a disproportionately high rate of thyroid cancer, as found through CDC cancer case reports, which is linked to the detections of radioactive isotopes in the waterways released by Limerick Generating Station.
MR
May 1, 2020 — 5:37 pm
It’s super eye opening to find out how close to home some of these environmental bads are in proximity to where you live and how often times you may not even know the extent of what they are doing to the environment.
Anonymous
May 1, 2020 — 5:58 pm
Its a scary thought considering how the effects of exposure to these toxins are well known yet people are living so close to a plant that does not seem to be held responsible for the dangers it poses to the community. Your exhibit note and visual worked well together and I thought your explanation of Just sustainabilities was well thought out.
RM
May 1, 2020 — 5:58 pm
Its a scary thought considering how the effects of exposure to these toxins are well known yet people are living so close to a plant that does not seem to be held responsible for the dangers it poses to the community. Your exhibit note and visual worked well together and I thought your explanation of Just sustainabilities was well thought out.
Prof. Michael Heiman (Emeritus)
May 1, 2020 — 5:58 pm
You note that “exposure to environmental burdens must be equalized across all races…” This has actually been promoted in the past by the polluters themselves–looking for a place to dump their wastes. They also embrace NIMBY–Not in My Backyard, as that suggests it is OK for your yard, just not mine. So go ahead and continue to produce the environmental insult. The more progressive stand taken now by EJ groups across the nation, and especially anti-nuclear groups, is NIABY or Not in Anybody’s Backyard. This suggests that is not OK to just spread (equalize) the waste around but rather to not produce it in the first place–Reduce It, Don’t Produce It!
gontareg
May 1, 2020 — 6:12 pm
That is a very good point! Sheds light on how certain concepts can be twisted to favor & encourage corporations to continue to produce pollution in these areas. I completely agree that this shouldn’t happen in the first place. Unfortunately, since the LGS has recently been approved for a License Renewal, (thanks to the NRC’s lenient regulations) it would be hard to immediately adopt a “NIABY” effort. Hopefully in the future, we can transition towards eradicating all waste instead of focusing on the equal distribution of such. But for now, it seems that the most immediate, plausible, solution is to equalize.
Kathryn
May 1, 2020 — 5:59 pm
It’s really concerning to hear about how impactful pollution from these sites can and has been! Do you know about any efforts to clean up groundwater or other forms of contamination from this site?
gontareg
May 1, 2020 — 6:07 pm
I don’t know of any physical efforts, but there is a local environmental group, Alliance for a Clean Environment, that has sent a letter to the NRC demanding that they control the nuclear products more aggressively! https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML0703/ML070300663.pdf