Community Mobilization for Environmental Problems: How a Grassro ...

Chapter 2

Chemical Legacy
and Mobilization

Since World War II, communities have faced the consequences of technological developments associated with the petrochemical industry. Along with jobs and some of the most prosperous times of the 20th century, the petrochemical industry also ushered in chemical waste as a by-product. Facing generally weak or nonexistent regulations for the proper disposal of chemical waste, industry looked for inexpensive means of waste disposal—namely, burying waste off-site on vacant land. This regulatory oversight stemmed from a lack of foresight among industry and municipality officials; apparently no one imagined that these plots of land would one day be bustling with families, children, and pets. The most recent developments in the environmental movement have been largely based on toxics and pollution control within population-based environmental justice struggles (Sigman, 2009).

Historical analysis reveals that in many instances of land development, only minimal effort was made to warn or notify potential investors and developers of any chemical waste present in the areas (Stoll, 2007). In two infamous and eerily similar cases—Love Canal and Hickory Woods—municipal