ABSTRACT
Discussed in this chapter is the emergence in the U.S. of what is most commonly called environmental justice, although other terms have been used to describe the alleged imposition of environmental hazards on communities of color and low income. As noted in this chapter, the history of environmental justice in the U.S. is intertwined with issues of hazardous waste management. The origin of environmental justice in the U.S. is attributed to community protests in Warren County, North Carolina, where it was proposed for a landfill to receive PCB-laden waste. This project led to a series of national conferences that brought forth concerns and principles of environmental justice. These allegations of injustice stimulated a series of demographic investigations during the 1990s of persons residing near hazardous waste sites. Findings from these studies are described, with a synthesis of their findings. The relationship between poverty and environmental justice is discussed, as are Native American issues of environmental justice.
