Environmental Justice

MQVN CDC has a strong history of collaborating with other community groups to address the environmental health and safety of eastern New Orleans, Louisiana. New Orleans East, and the Gulf Coast region as a whole, are deeply entrenched in environmental injustice, ranging from toxic exposures from industry and illegal dumping, to siting of landfills in communities of color.

Our work is built on community organizing to address and prevent the dumping of toxic wastes in our community and to create a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable community.

Our Environmental Justice efforts originated with the successful wide-spread community movement to close the Chef Menteur landfill in 2006. Efforts for comprehensive groundwater monitoring and a clean-closure of the site—which still holds 200,000yd³ of potentially hazardous waste—are on-going as of 2010.

We focus on four strategic areas:

(1)  Building grassroots power to advocate for the health of the people and the physical environment;

(2)  Research and analysis of local government environmental policies;

(3)  Developing capacity in residents to serve on city planning committees;

(4)  Civic/policy engagement for the protection of the ecological health of our communities at the local, state, and federal levels.  

Some of our Environmental Justice accomplishments to date include:

(1)  Direct actions and community forums resulting in the closure of the controversial Chef Menteur landfill (August 2006)

(2)  Creation of Citizens for  a Strong New Orleans East

(3)  Collaboration with other community groups to build strong partnerships

(4)  Water quality testing of Michoud Lagoon

(5)  Bi-annual community clean-ups

(6)  Research actions with city leaders

(7)  Press conferences

(8)  Hosting a bi-lingual city council candidate roundtable (January 2010)

(9) Hosting the New Orleans East Environmental Tour and Public Action (April 2010) (click here for article)

(10) Formation of the New Orleans East Environmental Group

Some of our partners include concerned community members from Melia subdivision and Village de l’Est subdivision; the Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association of New Orleans; the Micah Project; Eastern New Orleans Neighborhood Association; Sierra Club; Louisiana Environmental Action Network; MQVN Church.

 

 

 

 

 

 Rev. Luke Nguyen speaks of environmental justice as community members of eastern New Orleans listen during the community environmental tour and public action (April 2010).

 

 

  

  

 A Village de l'Est community member asks a question in Vietnamese of city council candidates (the question was interpreted by trained MQVN CDC staff) as community leaders and co-chairs of the event from the Melia subdivision observe (January 2010).