Over the years, OEC has worked to address pollution that puts people's health at risk, from reducing pesticide impacts to shutting down hospital incinerators in urban neighborhoods. Now, OEC is making a new commitment to environmental justice. Home of the largest minority population in the city, Albina also has some of the worst environmental problems, including hundreds of abandoned industrial and commercial sites, many active industrial facilities, and air pollution from freeways that snake through the community. Working with local residents, OEC and EJAG plan to create a community-based computerized map to provide a clearer picture of the Albina area's environmental health. The map will help identify priorities and set the stage for an action plan and pilot projects that emphasize pollution prevention.
Pollution prevention is a pro-active approach to creating a clean, healthy environment.
By focusing on pollution prevention, OEC hopes to promote greater cooperation and communication among at-risk communities, industries impacting community health, traditional environmental organizations, and government agencies. It's about building bridges of understanding with low-income, minority and immigrant people, and infusing everything we do with a keener sense of its impacts on disadvantaged populations. Many Oregonians long accustomed to a legacy of pure, clean drinking water received a rude awakening in January. If successful, the agency could ultimately serve Willamette River water to hundreds of thousands of Oregonians in the fast-growing suburbs of Portland, and perhaps city residents. An earlier study noted that ten of the 25 most frequently detected pesticides in the Willamette are chemicals that have been identified by the World Wildlife Fund and others as potential human hormone disrupters.