Injustice Archives - Madison Environmental Justice

It is with great sadness that we announce that our founder, Maria Powell, has passed away. She will be missed greatly. OBITUARY | MARIA POWELL, 59 Maria Powell, longtime activist…

City of Madison Community engagement Environmental health Environmental Justice Madison Metro NEPA Oscar Mayer Public Participation Racial disparities Risk Assessment Toxic Chemicals Vapor intrusion Wisconsin DNR

Victory!! No Metro Bus Barn at the Poisoned Oscar Mayer site

February 3, 2021 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Oscar Mayer site in 1947 (photo from Wisconsin State Journal) Victory for Madison’s Northside! Madison’s Metro Transit authority has abandoned plans to buy the northern part of the highly-contaminated former…

Air National Guard City of Madison Environmental Justice F-35 Fighter jets Fish Inequality Military Poverty Privilege Racial disparities Racism Starkweather Creek Toxic Chemicals Truax

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s forgotten “giant triplets” alive & well in Madison, Wisconsin

January 18, 2021 Maria C. Powell, PhD

From Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1967 speech, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence”: “I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the…

Air Pollution Cancer City of Madison Climate Change Community engagement coronavirus Environmental health Environmental Justice Privilege Racial disparities Racism Toxic Chemicals

Police brutality and environmental injustices are connected

June 11, 2020 Maria C. Powell, PhD

(Image from The Nation) MEJO condemns the brutal killing of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer–and commends Black Lives Matter, other racial justice activists, and all…

Air National Guard Air Pollution Bisphenol A City of Madison coronavirus Dane County Department of Defense Endocrine disruptors Environmental health Environmental Justice F-35 Fighter jets Madison Water Utility Military PFCs or PFAS Racial disparities Racism Risk Assessment Toxic Chemicals Truax Virus Water Pollution Water quality

PFAS, COVID and potential environmental racism

May 4, 2020 Maria C. Powell, PhD

By Brad Geyer, Safe Skies, Clean Water The draft environmental impact study acknowledged that there will be “significant disproportionate impacts to low-income and minority populations as well as children.” Although…

Air Pollution City of Madison Earth Day Ecology Environmental health Environmental Justice Military Pentagon

Earth Day 1970 in Madison, Wisconsin

April 22, 2020 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Fifty years ago, on April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day events were held across the United States, spearheaded by Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-Madison) and Dennis Hayes, a Harvard Kennedy…

Air National Guard Environmental Justice F-35 Fighter jets PFCs or PFAS Racism Starkweather Creek stormwater runoff Toxic Chemicals Truax Water Pollution

MEJO’s Touyeng Xiong, Truax Apartment resident, testifies against proposed F-35s

September 13, 2019 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Touyeng Xiong, MEJO’s Vice President, testifying before the Sept. 12, 2019 U.S. Air Force meeting about the proposed F-35 fighter jets at Truax Field. Here is his testimony: I have…

City of Madison Dane County Department of Defense Environmental Justice EPA Fish Fish Advisory Madison Water Utility PFCs or PFAS Public Health Madison Dane County Starkweather Creek stormwater runoff Toxic Chemicals Toxins Truax Water Pollution Water quality Wetlands Wisconsin DNR

MEJO Report: Starkweather Creek & Toxic Stormwater Runoff in Madison, Wis.

April 21, 2019 Jim Powell

On Earth Day, April 22, the Midwest Environmental Justice Organization released a report on its USEPA-funded Starkweather Creek Environmental Justice project. STARKWEATHER CREEK & TOXIC STORMWATER RUNOFF REPORT Pollution, governance…

Air National Guard City of Madison Community engagement Environmental Justice F-35 Fighter jets Madison Water Utility PFCs or PFAS Public Participation Racism Starkweather Creek stormwater runoff Toxic Chemicals Truax Water Pollution

Are we spiritually dead? What would Martin Luther King Jr. say?

January 21, 2019 Maria C. Powell, PhD

“Giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism” dominate even in liberal Madison “I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we…

Climate Change E-waste Endocrine disruptors Environmental Justice Over-consumption Plastics Toxic Chemicals

Dying of Consumption While Guzzling Snake Oil: a Realist’s Perspective on the Environmental Crisis

August 11, 2018 Maria C. Powell, PhD

By Kristine Mattis, Counterpunch We’re an egoistical, delusional lot, us humans. We’re the only species on the planet who despoils its own life support system and who does not live…

Air National Guard F-35 Fighter jets stormwater runoff Truax

Send Comments on Environmental Justice Impacts of F-35s to Air National Guard by this Friday, April 6!

April 4, 2018 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Martin Luther King Jr. on balcony of Lorraine Motel in Memphis TN just before he was assassinated on April 4, 1968 (AP photo). Today is the 50th anniversary of Martin…

Air National Guard Environmental Justice Fighter jets Racism Toxic Chemicals Truax

F-35 Fighter Jets in Madison: What Would Martin Luther King, Jr. say?

January 15, 2018 Maria C. Powell, PhD

What would Martin Luther King, Jr. say about the proposal to locate F-35 supersonic fighter jets at Madison’s Truax Field Air National Guard base? In his 1967 “Beyond Vietnam” speech,…

City of Madison Public Participation

City’s Priorities Out of Order; Citizens Punished for Doing the Right Thing (a new series)

November 12, 2016 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Above: The city has prioritized replacing a paved segment of terrace with grass, over repairing a pothole where children slip on ice (see story below). MEJO introduction to series: City…

Air Pollution Dioxins Madison-Kipp Corp. Soil contamination

High Levels of PCBs Being Excavated from Kipp’s Floors—Are Workers Protected?

February 19, 2014 Maria C. Powell, PhD

(Two Kipp Workers, photo by John Hart, Madison.com). According to a recent letter from Kipp to the DNR, Kipp has been excavating inside the factory, and finding PCBs in concrete…

Fish Advisory Public Participation Toxins Water Pollution

Environmental Injustices “Beneath the Surface” in Madison

February 12, 2014 Jim Powell

DOCUMENTARY HERE In “progressive” Madison, denial of any serious environmental pollution problems, growing race and income inequalities, and white privilege among government decisionmakers work together to create—and yet render invisible—racial…

MEJO founder Dr. Maria C. Powell has passed away