Remedies for Environmental Injustice: Addressing the Localized Concentration of Air Pollution and Asthma among Newark’s Poor

Zachary Aboff

10, October 2022

This analysis investigates the available legal remedies for residents of Newark’s Ironbound and similarly positioned communities that could be used to halt or possibly reverse the concentrating of pollution sources in their neighborhoods. After reviewing the myriad health harms concentrated in minority urban neighborhoods and the history of Environmental Justice (EJ) litigation under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, this best-in-class student paper argues for alternative advocacy strategies. Through a combination of policy changes and the use of hybridized legal schemes not typically associated with environmental law, the Ironbound may yet find relief from the asthma epidemic which has so far been unaddressed. These strategies include i) Empowering the EPA’s Office of Civil Rights, ii) Seeking State & Local Protection, iii) Claims under The Takings Clause and iv) Blending Environmental Justice and Disability Law.

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Remedies for Environmental Injustice: Addressing the Localized Concentration of Air Pollution and Asthma among Newark’s Poor