The film Dark Waters is a compelling story about an environmental justice case in which chemical giant Dupont poisoned hundreds of thousands of people with no regard for human life. This movie appeals to viewers of all demographics by detailing the story of how this problem came to light form start to finish in the form of a drama/thriller. The components needed to make a strong film about an EJ problem generally include a problem, some form of corruption, and a mistreated party. This film checks all of those boxes.

I feel this film was very successful in delivering a message to its audience. After doing some additional research, I found that the majority of events that took place in this film were true. But why is it that I had never heard about this EJ problem before? It clearly effects a large group of people. Could Dupont have played a role in limiting the national media coverage of this problem? The goal of this film was to let the people know what the chemical giants operating in our world today are up to, and just how far they will go to make profit.

To drive home the message that these companies care more about profits than people, the producers of this film included some shocking real life events that took place. During the testing trial of teflon, Dupont gave its employees cigarettes laced with the chemical C8 to conduct a real life human experiment to find out how hazardous it really was. All of these employees wound up in the hospital. They also conducted tests on pregnant women to see if C8 caused birth defects, and found out that it did indeed. After conducting these experiments the results did not fit there agenda of profiting $1 Billion per year so they swept it all under the rug. Furthermore, they began disposing of the chemical waste in unsafe manors that eventually led to the contamination of the drinking water of thousands, leading to wide spread health defects.

Unfortunately, it seems that all of us have been exposed to this chemical at some point due to its wide spread use in many products. At the end of the film it was revealed that 99% of humans are believed to have this chemical within our blood stream. The bad news is, we likely will never get rid of it because it cannot break down biologically for our bodies to dispose of it. So, if you’ve used teflon products in your lifetime (you have,) this is likely your EJ problem as well.

Basically, all of the events portrayed in this film were eye opening to say the least. This is not something I would have expected to be actively going on in our country. Due to these unbelievable events, I would say that this is the most powerful EJ film that I have ever viewed.

If stories and memory are intimately connected to a sense of place, how does this apply to what happens in the film?

The memories we create are deeply linked to the stories we share and they help shape the person we are. It may take a lifetime to become the person you are and through this development you likely will find a sense of place. Most of us can think of a place that we have memories about that make it deeply special to us. For some within the Democratic Republic of Congo, that place is Virunga National park.

The people that live near Virunga National park have deep ties to it and a deep respect for it. To them, it’s not just some park sitting on top of a pocket of oil. To them, it’s a sense of place; a way of life. Because most of their lives are built around it, seeing it destroyed would crush them. We see this depicted in the film by those who live near it protecting it. Those who live in other areas of the country are easily bribed in order to allow the oil companies to move in and destroy the park.

The central thing that connects these people to this sense of place is the mountain gorillas. The mountain gorillas are a symbol to the survival of the park for them. You could even say they are the heart of the park. Unfortunately, the outsiders who want in see this and will slaughter them or anyone who gets in their way. Virunga is truly a special place, I hope for the citizens sake that they survive the corruption.

Reserve, Louisiana otherwise know as “Cancer Alley” is located just outside of New Orleans. According to the Guardian, residents here have a cancer risk of 50 times the national average. This is because they are constantly exposed to carcinogenic chemicals in the air that originate in a large chemical plant nearby. Large corporations simply do not care about human life, just profit.

In reserve Louisiana, the average person is exposed to 50 toxic chemicals in the air on a daily basis. These chemicals originate from a neoprene factory located just outside of reserve. This factory was formerly owned by chemical giant Dupont, but was recently sold to Denka, a Japanese corporation. Government agencies have done studies on the risk associated with some of the chemicals that Denka releases into the air and found serious hazards to those who are forced to breathe these chemicals in. Denka’s response is to the accuse the government of using selective science to get these results. Denka has even gone farther to fund their own studies that conveniently come out with vastly different outcomes. This allows them to constantly criticize the government and accuse them of attempting to put the company out of business.

Up until recently, the residents of these communities had no idea how much risk they were taking by living there. Unfortunately, most of the families that live in these communities don’t have a choice to leave. That’s where this becomes an environmental justice issue. These residents have to live in this dangerous environment and are effectively being poisoned by industry. This sparked outrage, and the residents took to Tokyo to protest at a shareholder meeting. Of course, Denka refused to meet with the activists and refuted any scientific evidence provided that their chemicals cause cancer. So, we ask ourselves, at what cost do Denka or other corporations like it value human life?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/18/louisiana-pollution-petrochemical-site-sunshine-project

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/06/cancertown-chemicals-reserve-louisiana-science

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/24/reserve-louisiana-elementary-school-air-pollution

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/19/denka-lobbied-likely-cancer-causing-toxin-undermine-science

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/26/cancer-town-denka-pontchartrain-works-reserve-louisiana

When I was growing up in Northern New York, getting out and immersing yourself into nature was fairly common. With that being said, one place in particular comes to mind when I think of my sense of place. It was this small creek that was tucked away into the woods in a town called Parishville. It was truly a phenomenal place, it was like stepping out of New York and entering a rainforest in the Pacific northwest. The creek itself was riddled with waterfalls and moss covered rocks. I regularly hiked back to this creek to fish for brook trout as a kid. It was a great way to just disconnect from the rest of the world and feel at peace.

Solastalgia is a term used to describe the pain experiences when there is recognition that the place where one resides and that one loves is under immediate assault. I currently experience Solastalgia when thinking about this magical place that I once cherished. The last time I had hiked back into this area, I was surprised to find that moonshiners had set up camp on the creek. It was now littered with PVC piping and trash left behind from those who had other intentions for this area. When you see an area that you once loved be negatively impacted in this manor, it truly does give you a sense of uneasiness.

Solastalga has not altered my mental health in any way, but it did make me uncomfortable for a short time. I think it is imperative that those who are experiencing mental health issues should address them as they arise. As our climate and our world begins to change, Solastalgia is going to become more common place. This may have lasting mental impacts for some. The best thing that most can do is to just be kind to one another.

Thanks for reading!

.

After scouring the internet, I found that blog posts may be difficult to come across. I believe the search engine I used automatically weeded them out, but after some digging I unearthed an environmental justice blog post called lets rap about flint.

After reading this blog written by Jade Pearce, I have come to the conclusion that her intended audience was the modern youth living in Flint. I say this because most of the rappers she references are rappers that I believe a younger crowd may listen to. I also believe that most people who don’t live in Flint have forgotten about the water crisis all together. With all of this being said, I don’t believe she will reach her target audience, blogs have become a dated tool that few rarely stumble upon. Blogs are the walkman as compared to the shiny new I-pod, or in our case podcast. Moving on, Jade appeals to her intended readers by peddling a message of hope. A message of hope may be what her readers actually need. Overall, this blog post hasn’t increased my awareness of environmental justice. There was no justice served within this blog, it was a simple message about the problem and a potential solution. I think if you want to see real justice you need to physically make a change in person.

The definition of environmental justice may seem like a complicated one to most. Even to me it is a fairly complicated topic to understand. But simply put, environmental justice is the enforcement of environmental regulations and policies as to not negatively effect one class, group, or race more than another. Unfortunately, environmental justice goes hand in hand with other issues such as poverty, racism and sexism. The environmental justice movement strives to make the world a better, more inhabitable place for everyone.

If you are still struggling to grasp the concept of environmental justice, let me give you an example. Air pollution is a very real and relevant topic in our current society. However, where exactly is air pollution is the highest? Well, generally you’ll find this type of pollution coming from industrial plants, which you happen to find near low income residential communities. People in these low income communities outside of industrial plants are generally exposed to more air pollution that will lead to serious health issues. The unfortunate truth is that they can’t afford to move anywhere else to escape this crutch. The environmental justice movement is one that strives to increase these peoples quality of life.

To reiterate, environmental justice is about improving the quality of life of those who are affected by man made environmental problems. My personal opinion is that I don’t believe this movement is big enough to make a difference. With temperatures and sea levels rising, I think we will have more problems than we can physically deal with.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.