Analyze

TS: Kirsch discusses two international networks focused on the mining industry. Looking at these networks, particularly their organizational forms and histories offers comparative perspective on networks that have formed around Formosa Plastics and related industry. The analysis also illuminates how networks fit within Kirsch' framework of the "politics of space" and "politics of time". 

The first organizatin is the US-based Global Mining Campaign, with membership from over 40 countries. Kirsch argues that due to its "top-down" approach, the network didn't last long (2014, 194). The initative was focusing on blocking new mining projects, and is therefore representative of the politics of time (ibid).

The second organization is the Mines and Communities network, which he describes as a horizontal network where participants can contribute information about affected communities. He notes that unlike the top-down approaches, this organizational form seems more in line with the desire of activists. A search for Formosa Plastics on the website turns up newspaper articles about the Formosa Steel disaster in Vietnam.

He further elaborates:

"The signature contribution of the Mines and Communities network has been its ability to track and analyze the strategies of the mining industry, information that is posted on its website (www.minesandcommunities.org). Other mining websites tend to focus on specific mining projects, companies, or countries; technologies such as mountaintop removal; or particular commodities, such as coal, diamonds, or gold. The Mines and Communities website provides a more comprehensive overview of the mining industry by drawing on regional materials submitted and reviewed by its members, who contribute important contextual information and analysis. Participation in the editorial process for the website has been a two-way street for network members, enhancing the content posted on the website while providing the editors with a valuable comparative perspective on the mining industry. Although the original objective of the website was to provide information that could be used by indigenous communities affected by mining projects, it largely failed to reach its target audience" (2014, 196-7).

Kirsch states that the website is mostly frequentd by academics and other researchers, rather than affected communities. Based on my reading, I'm not sure why that is, but it raises questions about the "target audience" of the Formosa Plastics Archive. 

TS: According to Kirsch, an important strategy of a politics of time is centred around distributing information to affected communities. In his words, this includes "accelaration of the learning curve of communities facing the prospect of a new mining project" (2014, 192). He provides terms to characterize different approaches, as well as their shortcomings:

"NGOs have employed a variety of means to reduce the disparity in access to information between mining companies and local communities. The most common strategy for achieving this goal is the vertical transfer of information from metropolitan NGOs to rural communities by sharing materials about comparable mining projects or the track record of the relevant mining company. NGOs also facilitate horizontal information sharing between communities facing similar challenges (Appadurai 2002); this may involve sponsoring visits by local leaders or community representatives to comparable mining sites or attendance at conferences where they can learn about the experiences of other communities affected by mining. [...] NGOs also exploit new opportunities provided by the Internet to share information with people from communities affected by mining, although these efforts are constrained by both the problems of translation and the persistence of the digital divide. Nevertheless, NGO reports are generally more accessible to the public than academic publications, the digital forms of which are ordinarily locked behind expensive paywalls. And the information gap is shrinking as a result of increased attention to mining conflicts by traditional news media, as well as by new social media, including electronic mailing lists, websites, and online video." (Kirsch 2014, 193).

TS: The text "compares two different kinds of political movement. The first example is the politics of space, which makes use of resourcesthat are geographically distributed. It strives to create oppositional power through the development of extensive transnational alliances. The second is the politics of time, which pursues alternative strategies focused on the prevention of industrial activities that are almost certain to cause harm—activities that become very difficult to halt once set in motion given the huge capital investments they entail and the economic resources they provide to the state and other parties. The politics of space was characteristic of much of the environmental activism that emerged in the 1990s, which often addressed problems after the fact. In contrast, the politics of time leads to more hopeful forms of intervention given its potential to prevent harm from occurring" (Kirsch 2014, 226).

Kirsch notes that the recautionary principle is an example of the politics of time as discussed in his ethnography (Kirsch 2014, 260).

St. Louis: Award winning (US Society of Environmental Journalists)  2001 journalism on health hazards in Weldon Springs.

https://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/the-right-to-answers/Content?oi…

I'm interested in better understanding the ongoing geological processes that shape St. Louis and the Mississippi Valley region. So far, I've been looking into the history of seismicity in the region, focusing on the fascinating but little known history of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 and 1812 -- the most devastating earthquakes to have hit the US east of the Rockies. I've also been exploring how St. Louis and surrounding areas are dealing with the possibility of another earthquake occurring in the future. According to one article I read, one of the biggest uncertainties is what would happen to the heavily engineered Mississippi River in the case of another major tremblor. The shaking could break the levees, flooding wide areas along the river and creating cascading effects. The flow of the river might also reverse completely, as occurred during the New Madrid earthquakes.

On these possibilities and the lack of scientific consensus surrounding intraplate seismicity in this zone, see this article in The Atlantic.

On current efforts to create earthquake hazard maps in St. Louis, see this overview on the US Geological Survey site.

For a deeper dive into the history of the New Madrid earthquakes, see this book by historian of science Conevery Bolton Valencius. 

A brief essay about St. Louis' notorious eminent domain history--

--along with 2 recent St. Louis Post-Dispatch articles about "urban renewal" projects that are scheduled to reoccupy the Mill Flats area, which hosted the most notorious episode of displacement of African-American communities: the Chouteau Greenway project (will it serve or displace low-income St. Louisans?); and SLU's Mill Creek Flats high-rise project, which certainly will, and whose name seems to me an especially tone-deaf if gutsy move...

https://humanities.wustl.edu/features/Margaret-Garb-St-Louis-Eminent-Domain

https://www.stltoday.com/business/local/steelcote-developer-plans-more-apartments-brewery-space-in-million-midtown/article_811eaf96-76e1-5c20-a870-1e79abd3f06e.html

https://www.stltoday.com/business/local/chouteau-greenway-project-aims-to-knit-st-louis-neighborhoods-together/article_55fea4e6-6829-5c80-9168-313305b4e3bb.html

Contextual Articles
Landscapes with Purpose
One STL
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District
EPA - Green Infrastructure
Green City Coalition

Green Stormwater Infrastructure
Prior to the 1970's, many US cities managed stormwater through piped conveyance systems. Flooding was once considered the most significant risk associated with rainfall. System builders built water infrastructure to accommodate volume. Most cities in the US have what is called a combined sewer system (CSS). This system pipes stormwater and municipal wastewater together. The water is then treated and then released into receiving bodies. St. Louis is one of the rare cities (Baltimore, where my research is based is another) that has a municipal separated stormwater system (MS4). In a separated system, a system of pipes keeps stormwater separate from other wastewaters. 

In the 1970's ecological research, some of which came from the EPA's National Urban Research Program, began to demonstrate that nutrients in runoff were responsible for environmental pollution. In turn, municipal engineers transitioned to thinking about tools and techniques for decreasing this nutrient load. In St. Louis, the separated system operates under a federal consent decree with the EPA where the city must reduce the overall percentage of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) carried through runoff. The most recent strategy for managing this problem is Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI). Although the problems associated with GSI are of local relevance, they are managed through state and federal governance strategies.

While GSI is difficult to define, many times installations feature landscaped elements that aim to mimic the pre-development hydrological processes of a given site. In urban areas, these projects often utilize vacant lands or reduce existing impervious surface cover. Many planners and community groups also suggest that GSI provides additional social benefits through an increase in community green space, reduction in urban heat island, and improved property values. 

This image from Missouri Coalition for the environment brings together the many suggested benefits of implementing these technologies. The diagram also provokes some questions that may interest us in our project; Does GSI represent a paradigmatic shift in techniques of stormwater management? Does natural or environmental mimicry in engineering projects act as a corrective to the anthropocene, or are these technologies merely a response? How are the social, economic, and technical benefits of GSI calculated and have attendent burdens been considered as well?

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/st-louis-takes-new-look-old-problem-what-do-vacant-land-and-abandoned-buildings#stream/0

This is an article originally aired on STL public radio in 2016 regarding abandoned buildings and vacant lots. The article highlights how the St Louis Land Reutilization Authority came to be the largest landowners in the city and highlights some of the challenges the agency has faced. The main point of the article is to highlight new strategies for using/dealing with vacant land. These strategies include selling lots to adjacent residents for a price of a low dollar amount and 2 years of maintaining the land (like an urban homestead act) and creating tree farms and other green infrastructure projects on vacant lots. Additionally the articles discusses efforts made to manage LRA holdings more effectively, including  increase funding for demolishing abandoned buildings that affect property values, utilize AmeriCorps volunteers to gather better data about the land within the agency’s ownership.

Land banking - the practice of aggregating land parcels for future sale or development and/or converting vacant/abandoned lots into “productive” property. St. Louis has the oldest land bank in the country (created by a Missouri state statute in 1971), with the land acquired when property owners fail to pay taxes for 3 years OR a parcel fails to sell in public tax foreclosure sales. A document on land banking from the Center for Community Progress: https://www.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/LandBankingBasics.pdf

--perhaps interesting to think of this as an urban form of public lands? Seems like it is ripe for all kinds of similar multiple interpretations of what it means for a gov’t entities to own something, whether it is labeled public, whether it viewed as land meant to be for the benefit of all, etc.

People/Entities/Orgs:

Land Reutilization Authority(LRA) - is the largest landowner in the city! Although it is a city-level entity, it was created by the Missouri legislature, so any changes have to be approved by state lawmakers.

Otis Williams, the executive director of the St. Louis Development Corporation, which acts as an umbrella organization for LRA.

Patrick Brown, a deputy chief of staff for Mayor Francis Slay. Brown leads the Vacant Land and Blight Task Force.

Harvard by the Center for Community Progress, a national think tank on vacant land issues

Fresh Coast Capital

ENERGY TECH: In April of 2018, Ameren, a Midwestern based power company, announced a 12 week energy tech incubation program. The incubation program was funded and developed through a partnership between the University of Missouri St. Louis, UMSL Accelerate (a tech incubator), Capital Investors (venture captialists), and Ameren (a Midwest power company). These sorts of partnerships, with their emphasis on innovation in the electric utility energy mark a recent and significant change in the way utilities futures are being structured and imagined. See this Q&A with Brian Dixon, the Chief Operating Officer of Capital Investors.

Dam construction along both the Missippi River, and the Artibonite Rivers have called into question corporate interests, vernacular responses, and the future of the communities that are supported by these ecosystems ( humans and nonhuman alike). Infrastructure for who? becomes a very important question that this project will examine.

Links

https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2010/11/21/a_dam_for_the_people_and_a_people_damned.html

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2018/06/01/critical-mississippi-river-lock-and-dam-system-crumbling/573693002/

https://www.minnehahacreek.org/sites/minnehahacreek.org/files/pdfs/projects/Ecological%20Effects%20of%20Dams%20July2013.pdf