Abstract
Abstract
For the last six years, a community-university partnership between the Low Country Alliance for Model Communities (LAMC), the Charleston Community Research to Action Board (CCRAB), the University of South Carolina (USC), the University of Maryland-College Park (UMD), and other partners and stakeholders have worked to perform a baseline assessment of environmental pollution, exposure disparities, and health in underserved and economically distressed communities in the Charleston region before the Port of Charleston expands. In an effort to provide a showcase for current environmental health and justice efforts in the Charleston area and the state of South Carolina, while also providing a forum for discussions of solutions to mitigate and eliminate environmental health threats, the Charleston Area Prevention Partnership (CAPs) team hosted an “Environmental Health and Justice Conference and Community Summit” in September 2013. The goal of the conference was to educate conference participants about research on environmental public health issues related to social justice, increase collaborations between community groups, health professionals, and academicians, and provide a forum for dissemination of results about research in social justice, environmental justice, and environmental health. The conference included two workshops, keynote addresses by Omega Wilson and Representative Harold Mitchell, concurrent sessions, and roundtable discussions. The conference resulted in innovative and creative ideas for community-university partnerships, as well as ways in which community members can rally around environmental health concerns to raise funds and generate solutions to address environmental injustice and health disparities in Metropolitan Charleston and the state of South Carolina.
Introduction
I
The partnership received funding through a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) research to action R21 grant (2009–present) and a National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) funded supplement grant to the University of South Carolina's Institute for Partnerships to Eliminate Health Disparities (IPEHD) led by Dr. Saundra Glover (2011–present). In an effort to provide a showcase for current environmental health and justice efforts in the Charleston area and the state of South Carolina, while also providing a forum for discussions of solutions to mitigate and eliminate environmental health threats, the CAPs team hosted the “Environmental Health and Justice Conference and Community Summit.”
The conference organizers aimed to: 1) educate conference participants about research on environmental public health issues related to social justice; 2) increase collaborations between community groups, health professionals, and academicians through its program activities, especially sessions in which scientists and community members can share ideas and discuss common goals; 3) educate students, especially those from underserved and minority communities about social justice, environmental justice, and environmental health, while encouraging them to pursue careers in public health research and practice; and 4) provide a forum for dissemination of results about research in social justice, environmental justice, and environmental health.
This article outlines the two-day conference including workshops held on day one and traditional poster session, concurrent and plenary sessions, and round table discussions held on day two. The article also describes the challenges and lessons learned, and how this event was used as a venue to discuss sustainability of efforts by the CAPs and the IPEHD to address environmental health issues including environmental health disparities in metropolitan Charleston and the state of South Carolina.
Methods
The CAPs conference was held on September 6–7, 2013. The logistics were organized by a planning committee that met bi-weekly in preparation for the conference from August 2012 to September 2013. Committee members included the Program on Community Engagement, Environmental Justice, and Health (CEEJH) staff, the University of South Carolina team, and community research team including leadership from the Charleston Area Research to Action Board (CCRAB). Conference partners included IPEHD, and other groups that assisted in the planning of various sessions and conference activities. The CAPs conference offered a variety of traditional sessions including posters, two keynote sessions, concurrent sessions, in addition to pre-conference workshops for a diverse audience representing academicians, health professionals, community members, and students. An event website (<ccrabejconf.eventbrite.com>) was also launched to help facilitate registration and provided participants the opportunity to choose which session they wanted to attend in advance. CCRAB leadership and community research team members performed in-person registration at community events in Charleston, SC, during Summer 2013.
Results
Day one of the CAPs conference was held at the Gethsemane Community Center and included two pre-conference workshops with nearly 25 attendees. Workshop one entitled “The Development of a Community Institutional Review Board (CIRB) to Address Local Level Environmental Health Issues,” was led by Ogonnaya Newman, WE ACT dDirector of Environmental Health, who provided in-depth information on how community members can develop a CIRB to address the various environmental health justice issues affecting their community.
Workshop two entitled “How to Use EJRADAR Tool to Map Environmental Health Data to Improve Participation of Citizens in Local and Regional Environmental Decision-Making” introduced community members to the Environmental Justice (EJ) Radar tool (<
Day two of the conference took place at Trident Technical Conference Center located in North Charleston, South Carolina. Over 90 individuals attended the event including registered participants (50), conference staffers, speakers (18), poster presenters (6), and exhibitors (8). Four conference sessions were offered with each session consisting of a moderator and four panelists. The morning and afternoon concurrent sessions were the same and this allowed participants the opportunity to attend multiple sessions.
In addition to the concurrent sessions, a poster session was offered. The poster session provided an opportunity for faculty, staff, and students at South Carolina colleges and universities, particularly historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), to share their environmental health disparities research with others who are engaged in similar efforts aimed at achieving environmental justice.
During the morning keynote, Omega Wilson, President of the West End Revitalization Association (WERA), discussed the work of his group to address environmental justice issues associated with the lack of basic amenities, environmental racism, and environmental health disparities in North Carolina, particularly Mebane, NC. In his presentation, he described approaches WERA used to seek basic amenities such as first-time installation of publicly regulated sewer and water infrastructure using the community-owned and managed research (COMR) approach19–23 and collaborative problem-solving model (CPSM).19–23 He also discussed the use of administrative complaints and Title VI to address environmental justice and health problems.
Mr. Wilson devoted the majority of his address discussing his activities helping with efforts at the national level to address environmental justice issues working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He talked about his time on the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC), efforts to develop policy related to goods movement including ports, and new work with the U.S. EPA on developing guidance on integrating Title VI into rulemaking, permitting, and enforcement. He discussed models and best practices that communities in South Carolina can employ to address their own EJ and health issues.
During the lunchtime keynote, House Representative Harold Mitchell discussed his work on environmental justice and health issues as a politician and founder of the ReGenesis Project. His speech was a riveting tale of his personal fight for environmental justice, particularly how hazardous contamination in his Spartanburg neighborhood killed some of his family members and almost killed him. He described how he found partners such as the U.S. EPA to help him get hazardous waste sites remediated in his community and obtain resources that have revitalized the community and led to a new Renaissance.
Representative Mitchell's presentation generated a lot of discussion and questions from the audience. Common themes that arose from the audience included how students could get involved in existing projects similar to the ReGenesis project and CAPs, how to secure funds for these projects and ways of establishing financial sustainability, and lastly how best to establish and build partnerships in communities of concern particularly with adversarial political climates. As part of his response, Mr. Mitchell indicated community projects are in need of the perspective of younger generations. Overall, Representative Mitchell captivated the audience with his story and also gave hope to those wanting to make a difference.
In concurrent session 1, “The Use of a Community-University Partnership to Study Environmental Health Issues in the Charleston Region,” members of the CAPs team presented research on various topics that are important to community members including soil contamination issues near former Superfund sites, brownfields, air emitters, and heavily trafficked roadways; ambient levels of air pollution in partner communities; differences in hazardous air pollution levels and cancer risk at the census tract level in Charleston, SC; and use of GIS to map environmental health data at the local level.
In concurrent session 2, “Novel and Innovative Community-Based Approaches to Engage Populations of Concern and Collect Data on Environmental Health Problems in Communities Across South Carolina,” panelists discussed the use of Photovoice and interviews to understand and address issues associated with the train disaster and chlorine spill in Graniteville, South Carolina; the use of the community block assessment approach to map built environment and social environment issues at the local level in North Charleston and Orangeburg, South Carolina; and the use of an environmental health survey to assess knowledge of residents about local environmental health issues and perceived cancer risk.
Furthermore in concurrent session 3, “Best Practices and Lessons Learned in Community-Engaged Efforts to Address Environmental Health Issues,” panelists discussed various efforts of environmental justice communities to address local environmental health concerns by engaging the expertise of residents, scientists, and public health practitioners; and collaborate with local, state, and federal partners; to leverage resources; and employ other best practices. Panelists also discussed lessons learned and how their efforts can be replicated by other communities with environmental health concerns including environmental health disparities.
Lastly, in concurrent session 4, “Translating Community-Engaged Environmental Health Research to Action and Empowerment,” panelists shared their efforts to translate research to action through the development of new community-based organizations and the use of the CPSM; filling a public health need through the establishment of an urban garden; working with youth to raise their awareness and include them in the pipeline; and using research to engage underserved populations in public health interventions across cultural barriers.
In addition, the conference included six round table discussions to allow participants to discuss and play an interactive role in their community. In roundtable 1, “MAC Board, LAMC, CCRAB: Understanding Organizational Structure and Mission and Building Synergy,” the discussion centered on examining the relationship between the various organizations and building and maintaining fluid relationships to accomplish common goals, helping local communities address environmental health issues, and increasing the participation of residents in local decision making in planning, development, and community revitalization efforts.
During roundtable 2, “Translating Research into Action in the Charleston Community Using the Collaborative Problem-Solving Model,” participants examined how communities can address conflict, expand partnership, leverage expertise and resources through the implementation of the collaborative problem-solving model to transform data into action, environmental health solutions, and positive social change. In roundtable 3, “Enhancing Sustainability of Grassroots Research and Activism,” attendees focused on how the community could enhance the sustainability of their efforts through strong partnerships and renewed activism and civic participation, while utilizing local resources and extending capacity through securing of grants and other financial support.
Concurrently, in roundtable 4, “Building a Statewide Environmental Justice Network,” participants discussed the benefits of a South Carolina focused Environmental Justice Network, particularly the positive impact this network can have in the region in addressing environmental injustice and related economic and health disparities and discussion on the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network (NCEJN) as a model for the South Carolina Network.
In Roundtable 5, “Maintaining an Authentic Community-University Environmental Justice and Health Partnership: Issues, Challenges, and Solutions,” participants discussed issues, challenges, and lessons learned from community-university partnerships for health using examples from South Carolina including CAPs, and other partnerships across South Carolina and the Southeast. Finally, in roundtable 6, “How to Make Community Engaged Research Work for the Community,” attendees discussed the development of data sharing agreements; creating a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between community partners, academic partners, and other collaborators; developing processes for good feedback through impacted stakeholders through consistent and cyclical communication including “in-reach” efforts; building a pipeline of future community leadership; youth engagement; and training community residents as citizen scientists in order for buy-in and community ownership over the research process.
Discussion
The two-day conference provided an open forum for frank and candid conversations concerning the impending port expansion, environmental injustice and related health issues in metropolitan Charleston including North Charleston and the state of South Carolina. Through the planning, implementation, and evaluation phases of the conference, several themes emerged as important to the continued success of current mitigation efforts.
We invited several speakers to discuss the translation of data and information into sustainable projects and effective policy change efforts. What we heard from our community partners was that the data we provided to them was helpful, but not useful if it cannot be used to improve environmental health and influence policy change. Our intention with the presenters was for residents to see how other communities used similar environmental health data to encourage community involvement, build capacity to make community level changes, empower individual level behavioral change, and influence local, regional, and national policy.
Many of the projects highlighted at the conference included innovative and creative ideas for community-university partnerships as well as ways in which community members can rally around environmental health concerns to raise funds and generate solutions. For example, in 2005, Graniteville, SC experienced a train derailment and chlorine spill that released 60 tons of chlorine gas, killed nine people (eight at the time of the accident, one later as a result of chlorine inhalation), and at least 250 people were treated for chlorine exposure. In total, 5,400 residents within one mile of the crash site were forced to evacuate for nearly two weeks while hazmat teams and cleanup crews decontaminated the area.
In response, the Graniteville Recovery and Chlorine Epidemiology (GRACE) study and Restoration in Graniteville through Supportive Engagement (RISE) Project were established. These two studies use of CBPR, stakeholder engagement including engagement of economic development groups and the medical community, and mixed methods including Photovoice, interviews, lung epidemiology, and secondary data analysis have been instrumental in understanding environmental health problems in Graniteville and contribute to long-term recovery efforts post-disaster.24–26
And in Orangeburg, SC, the local Community Health Center in conjunction with the University of South Carolina and local farmers started a farmer's market and produced a documentary film to chronicle the development process and the impact on residents.26–28 The project's success led to a state legislature decision to match voucher subsidies to shoppers. This was particularly relevant for other communities in South Carolina that experience comparable environmental health concerns.
One of our weaknesses throughout the CAPs project was the inclusion of youth. For this conference, we were able to connect with one of the state's HBCUs which proved to be a success. A number of faculty/staff and students from Claflin University were in attendance at the conference, including several students who presented posters. Claflin University is not located in North Charleston; however, it is approximately 30 miles north and many students are from the metropolitan Charleston area. We recognized that engaging these students was especially advantageous in several ways. For instance, students brought fresh and innovative ideas to the table. Many of the presenters noted that the students were especially inquisitive during their sessions which provided new perspective.
In addition, the event provided an opportunity for pipeline development in STEM education and mentorship. The students represented a population that can be encouraged, educated, and trained in environmental health and environmental justice issues, particularly those with the issues in their own “backyards.” One of our next steps is to develop an education program geared towards students to encourage community engagement, civic duty, and leadership in the context of environmental health and environment justice. Additionally, this conference provided the foundation for a new partnership with Claflin faculty and students. Claflin's responsiveness to the conference was encouraging and opened the door for future collaborative research efforts.
One problem was that poor response to our conference evaluation forms has hindered our ability to generalize results and make good recommendations for future events. Participants, vendors, exhibitors, and presenters all received evaluation forms in their registration packets and were encouraged to complete and turn in to appropriate staff members. This did not happen as expected. Much of what we learned concerning the conference from the participants was through the few evaluations that we received and verbal commentary. Not having these forms was certainly a limitation, but we plan to follow up with participants and increase the responses to evaluations for future events/activities.
Overall, participants were excited about the conference and eager to move forward on next steps. They expressed the need for the consistency of such meetings in their community, but would like to see other stakeholders present. Having more members of non-represented communities participating as well as local politicians would allow for more robust discussions. All presenters agreed that attendance and diversity in participants was a valid concern for the conference and lends itself to the exclusion of ideas, but this conference was a great start to moving forward with efforts to address environmental health issues particularly environmental injustice and health disparities in metropolitan Charleston and the state of South Carolina.
Conclusion
The conference was envisioned as a venue for disseminating data and information gathered through the CAPs project, work of the IPEHD Environmental Health Core, and other community-university partnerships working on environmental health issues in the state of South Carolina. Even with planning and marketing issues, the event was an excellent opportunity for academic and community stakeholders to generate ideas about how to sustain current partnerships and build new partnerships to address environmental injustice and environmental health disparities in South Carolina. The conference provided a forum for these conversations, an opportunity for new partnerships/collaborations, and a setting for networking between researchers, professionals, and community stakeholders from around the state and region.
Next steps for building upon environmental justice and health research presented at the conference include: 1) extend current capacity building efforts; 2) pipeline development in the environmental health field for HBCU students; 3) expand data collection efforts to indoor dust sampling, personal air monitoring, and assessment of chemical exposure using biomarkers; and 4) provide technical assistance to residents across South Carolina seeking policy change to improve local environmental conditions and address environmental health disparities.
Footnotes
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the assistance and the participation of CCRAB residents, leaders, and other local and statewide community stakeholders, the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, the University of Maryland-College Park, and the University of South Carolina. We truly appreciate your contribution. We also send special thanks to CEEJH staff members who helped with the organization of the event.
Author Disclosure Statement
The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. The authors acknowledge funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS Grant # 1R13ES023735-01) and the IPEHD.
