Overburdened Ironbound Provides Hope and Beauty
Ironbound and Waterspirit join forces at a truck count. From Left to Right: Chloe Desir, Anne Price, Rachel Dawn Davis, truck count volunteer, Down Bottom Farms staff.
by Rachel Dawn Davis, Public Policy & Justice Organizer for Waterspirit
Waterspirit is a spiritual ecology nonprofit inspired by the beauty of the Jersey Shore. Earlier this year, a gathering of supporters celebrated 25 years of Waterspirit with our annual Joys of the Sea gala, which took place in the Oak Grove outside the First Presbyterian Church of Rumson, New Jersey. We created signage for the surrounding natural elements—trees, shrubs, and birds—which prompted attendees to ponder: “What would it be like if everyone had access to shade cover and nature immersion?” We envision a world where water, trees, and food are sufficient for everyone. It is our hope that shared activism can push such visions into reality.
Waterspirit has been working in coalition with front and fence line leaders, residents, health experts, and climate justice advocates to raise the bar on environmental leadership by preventing pollution-laden projects from moving forward and by advocating for enduring legal protections. In 2020, after New Jersey passed the strongest environmental justice law in the nation, Waterspirit provided ample commentary to support the ensuing rulemaking process, which provides the guidelines for how the law should be enacted. We highlighted the need to access healthcare facilities and services, the cost burden on care related to preventable pollution, and the ongoing emotional and mental distress that results from pollution in overburdened communities. Although it is yet to be enforced, the environmental justice law remains an opportunity for decision-makers to prevent pollution and to work with community members to forge viable, sustainable solutions.
Intentional organizing to prevent pollution requires a deep connection with residents of an area of most concern, particularly in overburdened communities already facing environmental injustices. Last year, our Suzanne Golas Spirit of Water Award recipient was Maria Lopez-Nuñez, an environmental justice leader based in Newark who works as Deputy Director of Organizing and Advocacy for the Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC). “ICC builds community by investing in children’s future and organizing for justice.” The large role Maria plays in activating and uplifting the community of Newark (and the broader world) remains humbling to all who are engaged in social justice advocacy work. We are careful to follow the lead of Maria and the ICC when we support campaigns in the Ironbound, understanding them to be the experts on what is best for their community. Waterspirit is dedicated to good allyship in order to undo a history of environmental groups engaging in saviorship or paternalism in their relationship with frontline environments.
In Newark, the intergenerational experience of traumatic pollution-related disease continues to run rampant. By securing media coverage of residents and public health experts, and by translating outreach materials into Portuguese, given the large Portuguese speaking community in the Ironbound, Waterspirit has provided strategic support to prevent further pollution in the Ironbound. We helped generate turnout that ultimately resulted in the prevention of one sludge processing facility. It is important to celebrate wins or advancements, however small, to ensure we realize our actions have influence. People matter and the importance of putting faces to public health experiences cannot be overstated.
Bearing witness and being actively present to the ongoing onslaught of outside polluters dumping on Newark with seemingly no end in sight, Waterspirit is addressing the wounded relationships among each other and all Creation. Greed does not go away without a fight, and the need to clearly communicate the potential for pollution prevention across languages is still pressing. During one visit earlier this year, Waterspirit staff counted trucks to gather data demonstrating an excess of commercial traffic in a residential area. Planes flying low overhead, commercial trucks chugging through residential neighborhoods, foul smells from the incinerators—from every corner, we saw rules being broken and laws against pollution going unenforced.
For the past three years, Waterspirit has been speaking out about the preventable methane emitting gas plant proposed by Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission (PVSC) to avert wastewater overflows. While the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) cites that dirty gas backup power is not to be relied upon in the event of a flood emergency, the project—which would do exactly what FEMA recommends they shouldn’t—remains proposed even alongside potential 100% renewable energy alternative scenarios. We must continue to put pressure on decision-makers to stop the next phases of the project, which would include an air permit approval by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP). This remains our charge today and Waterspirit is building broader support to enliven urgent action.
Even though these pollution-fighting campaigns can take years, it is important to keep hope alive. Last month, Waterspirit and coalition partners gathered in Newark to raise awareness about the need to prevent the PVSC’s dirty gas project. An 85-yearold resident, Pastor Gloria Swieringa of Newark, lent her vocal stylings to the rally, demonstrating how crucial it is to offer spiritual strength. She was raised in Newark and remarked on how beautiful it is to experience the riverfront park; something that was a far cry from existing when she was growing up. The Ironbound is an overburdened area and a source of beauty and hope for all. We are honored to put our spiritual commitments to hear the cry of the Earth and the cry of her most vulnerable people into action through being good allies to this frontline community.
This article appeared in the Autumn 2023 issue of Living Peace.