Camden, New Jersey, and the Struggle for Environmental Justice

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Communities of color are exposed to a far greater level of environmental hazards in the United States than white communities, and poor people of color bear the greatest burden. A recent environmental justice case unfolding in Camden, New Jersey, illustrates both the high degree of inequality in the distribution of environmental hazards and ways legal services lawyers can help low-income communities fight pollution. However, given the limitations that the federal courts have imposed on such litigation, lawyers also must be aware of the importance of community-based organizing and advocacy in achieving environmental justice.

By Olga D. Pomar and Luke W. Cole From May - June 2002