Michael Finewood and Michelle Luebke on Environmental Justice and the Bronx River Watershed
Michael Finewood is a human geographer and political ecologist, and Chairperson at Pace University's Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences; Michelle Luebke is part of the Stormwater Infrastructure Matters (SWIM) Coalition NYC’s Steering Committee, and former Director of Environmental Stewardship for the Bronx River Alliance. Together with co-authors Diamond Ebanks Holloman and Sierra Leach they wrote “The Bronx River and Environmental Justice Through the Lens of a Watershed” in UC Press’s journal Case Studies in the Environment, where Jennifer Bernstein serves as Editor-in-Chief.
JB: First of all, congratulations are in order. Your manuscript, “The Bronx River and Environmental Justice Through the Lens of a Watershed,” is one of our most read papers, and was featured in a geography special collection. Why do you think it has resonated with readers?
ML: That's very exciting, what an honor, and I'm thrilled that others are interested in understanding that waterways flowing downstream are often overlooked as a source of additional burdens to vulnerable environmental justice communities. Hopefully it will improve the conversation about how to address air- and water-borne pollutants.
MF: Thank you! I think it resonates because environmental injustice has become much more visible in recent years, thankfully, and people are looking for ways to incorporate environmental justice frameworks more explicitly into their research and teaching. Parts of the Bronx have always been considered justice communities, but this case in particular shows the connections that other people and places have to the Bronx. This sort of ‘systems thinking’ is what we need to really understand environmental justice.
JB: Tell us a little about the background behind the project, and what you hope readers take away from your manuscript.
ML: When I first began at the Bronx River Alliance I was told that the reason the Bronx River was dirty was because people in The Bronx threw their garbage into the water, so I set out to scientifically examine whether this was a racist trope or the underlying cause of the trash, since either one would require a different type of education. It didn't take long to understand that it was far more pernicious and wide-spread than anticipated, but that Westchester County officials were aware and chose to pay a fine for water quality violations rather than abide by laws and regulations. In my outreach to others who could help address and/or shine light on these issues, I found an ally in Dr. Finewood, who proposed that we spread this message to a wider audience through this manuscript. We have found that this is not the only example of prosperous upstream communities negligently abusing their local waterways, creating additional burdens on vulnerable downstream communities, and hope that readers incorporate these types of considerations in their own research and that they pressure agencies and elected officials to be more responsive about continued violations of the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and subsequent laws intended to regulate environmental pollutants.
MF: That about sums it up! This is work straight out of the community and the Alliance, and I wanted to help elevate this work.
JB: What is your relationship with Case Studies in the Environment, and what drew you to submit your manuscript there?
MF: I am familiar with the journal and use some cases in my classes. I’ve also cited the journal a few times. But mainly, I was looking for something that wouldn’t get buried in an academic journal, only accessible to university libraries. CSE provided an interesting venue to show the research.
JB: What do you see as the role of case studies for both educators and practitioners?
MF: The ability to apply academic frameworks to case studies. It makes what we talk about in the classroom more real, especially when it is close to home.
JB: This manuscript included academics, but also involved local stakeholders. What do you see as the benefit of these types of collaborations?
ML: From the community-based organization perspective, our successful community science programs are contributing to a growing dataset of environmental data that we encourage partners to use in their work, whether they're doing analyses, graphical visualizations, background research, or making recommendations to be shared, all of which are beyond our ability to undertake given time and funding constraints. This also ensures increased visibility in the issues being faced by many environmental justice communities, hopefully boosting support for and research of serious societal issues. Additionally, there is no incentive for many nonprofit employees to publish in journals; this undertaking I pursued in my own time, not paid by the Bronx River Alliance.
MF: For professors, these collaborations provide us opportunities to do research with impact. We get students and community members involved and ideally everyone benefits.
JB: How do you think educators could use this case study in the classroom? Do you have any reflections on what is most effective? What resonates most with students, and what do they take away from the lesson?
MF: I think this case helps deepen our conversations about environmental justice. When we talk about this case in class, we often discuss the different forms of injustice (e.g., distributional or procedural) and how they apply to a place that is nearby. A place we could literally visit in a short train ride.
JB: Thank you again for your contribution to the journal. Will we see more from your team in the future?
MF: Depends on how nice the editor is!
Case Studies in the Environment is a journal of peer-reviewed case study articles and case study pedagogy articles. The journal informs faculty, students, researchers, educators, professionals, and policymakers on case studies and best practices in the environmental sciences and studies.