![]() Thus, the chosen site became the Hudson River waterfront from West 137th Street to West 145th Street in West Harlem, at the time a historic, middle class, predominantly African-American community. who rejected the 72nd Street site because of its proximity to his preposed West Side Improvement Plan which would eventually house the Metropolitan Opera, the NYC Ballet, Avery Fisher Music Hall, and the new home of the Juilliard School of Music. The construction of the North River Sewage Treatment Plant, was initially proposed in 1955 for a site along the Hudson River at 72nd Street, a primarily white and affluent community however, the original site was rejected due to objections from Robert Moses - the powerful NYC Parks Commissioner, and the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority Administrator. WE ACT strives to educate community members and raise public awareness on issues effecting the health and quality of life of the community.Įarly work North River Sewage Treatment Plant It utilizes community-based participatory research to address environmental justice issues and improve the environmental health and quality of life of the Northern Manhattan community. WE ACT emphasizes the importance of citizen involvement in its campaigns and partnerships. Therefore, in March 1988 Peggy Shepard, Vernice Miller-Travis, and Chuck Sutton launched WE ACT to "institutionalize resources in the community" to build and educate a community dedicated to fighting environmental injustice and improving environmental health. ĭuring this period, the attention and discontent surrounding the operation of the North River Sewage Treatment Plant and the construction of a second bus depot in West Harlem, presented the need for a unified movement to address the unequal impact of environmental hazards on the minority community. The MTA was met with strong community opposition, in the form of protests, lawsuits, and scientific research. In 1988 the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) attempted to construct a second bus depot in West Harlem, adjacent to an intermediary school. The study found that the fumes may cause respiratory problems at high levels of exposure, triggering public backlash from West Harlem residents, demanding repairs be made on the facility. Peggy Shepard, a local resident, who was elected as a political district leader in 1985, pressured local and state authorities to perform a study on the health effects of exposure to the treatment plant's emissions. Soon after its opening, local residents from the predominantly African American and Latino neighborhood complained of noxious odors emitting from the plant and increased exposures to health hazards. In April 1986, the North River Sewage Treatment Plant began its operations on eight blocks of riverside property in West Harlem, Manhattan. It is also renovating an abandoned brownstone for conversion into the WE ACT Environmental Justice Center, which will house office and program space as well as serve as a demonstration of various green building technologies. It works through citizen empowerment, lobbying, litigation, education, and community outreach to accomplish its goals.Ĭurrently, WE ACT is one of several groups engaged in negotiations for a Community Benefits Agreement with Columbia University as part of the school's Manhattanville expansion plan. The organization focuses on urban quality of life issues such as climate justice, clean air, access to good jobs, public health, pollution, and sustainable and equitable land use. WE ACT is dedicated to fighting environmental justice issues in the Northern Manhattan community. The organization was founded in March 1988 to mobilize community opposition to the city's operation of the North River Sewage Treatment Plant, and the siting of the sixth bus depot in Northern Manhattan. WE ACT for Environmental Justice (formerly known as West Harlem Environmental Action) is a nonprofit environmental justice organization based in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City.
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