Search

Cudahy elementary school’s struggle for environmental justice foregrounds how sites of industrialization connect to organization of schools and other public institutions. I am curious about the work of organizations involved in the struggle–Cudahy Alliance for Justice, East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice (EYCEJ). I am also curious about the tactics and strategies used by these individuals and organizations to attain recognitional justice (being heard and listened to): how did they get DTSC and the school district to get them to listen? Further, the latter half of the story focuses on the proposed construction of a charter school nearby the elementary school: How do environmental governance and education restructuring shape each other?

The podcast episode tells the story of the Park View Elementary School in Cudahy, LA County. Located on a former toxic dump, parents and educators have been involved in decades’ long fight to remediate and clean up the school land. That fight has not been easy. They have encountered an apathetic school district and a slowly-moving Dept. of Toxic Substances Control.  The coalition of parents, educators, and activists gained traction by collaborating with Spanish language media productions. The school closed down for a cleanup and reopened in 2001, but students and educators still reported feeling sick. They later found out that the cleanup had been planned to be short-term and a longer remediation plan was underway. Many parents shifted schools. The story continued with the proposal to build a charter school just a few miles away from the elementary school and from a former Exide battery recycling plant. The podcast offers a narrative-style discussion of cumulative impacts, mapping tools that make it possible to visualize different datasets to display disproportionate burdens, and structural and recognitional injustices that the parents and educators faced.

FEMA is Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. This organization aim to prepare for, response to, recover from disaster.

There are 27 federal agencies that FEMA absorbed included, The Federal Insurance Administration, The National Fire Prevention and Control Administration, The national Weather Service Community Preparedness Program and so on. Besides, it cooperate with non-government organization such as Red Cross.

FEMA has involved in fire grants, preparedness, mitigation and individual assistance in different emergency response. FEMA aim to recover after disaster in short term, and also rebuild and finance support for local government in long term.

However, from some research shows that FEMA seems is not good to approach disaster or emergency response. For the Hurricane Katrina in 2005, FEMA received negative criticism because of the slow response, un-effective assistance. Besides, FEMA also has intense criticism in others disaster, such as Buffalo snowstorm (2006) and California wildfires (2007).

FEMA has a new mission which is help to ensure that the nation’s first responders were trained to deal with weapons of mass destruction, and help communities face the threat of terrorism. Especially, it more influenced when 911 happened.

The terrorist attacks of Sept.11th have motivated FEMA more think about the homeland security and set a new department to approach to national security from both natural and man-made emergency.

The law has signed for emergency triggers financial and physical assistance through the FEMA. It is also funding for training as agency’s preparedness effort. It shapes the way of prepare for hazards, and make a better intergovernmental coordination.

There is an interactive tool which can search some grant data by location and disaster. They apply diagram to show the data and easy to analyse. For example, Summary of Disaster Declarations and Grants which can see the Federal declared disaster occurred in each state, and also summary of FEMA’s support for fire, preparedness, mitigation, and assistance. There are also other graphics show different data of disaster and FEMA assistance.

There are many equipment and tool that FEMA authorized. There are respirator which is a positive-pressure respiratory protective device and deliver air, CBRN SCBA which is self-contained breathing apparatus certified, Respirator that is Powered Air-Purifying (PARP) and so on.