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A community-integrated geographic information systems (CIGIS) study assimilating qualitative and quantitative information about human exposures and health was conducted in Colfax, Louisiana, which hosts a commercial open burn/open detonation thermal treatment (TT) facility that destroys hazardous waste from Superfund sites, explosives, military ordnances, and propellants. Fifty-eight percent of residents identified as Black, and median annual income was $16,318, with 90% of the population living below the poverty line. We conducted oral history interviews of twenty-nine residents and mined public records to document the community's experiences. Interviews focused on themes of Colfax's history, changing community fabric, resident health, and air pollution. The oral histories and public comments by community members provided information about lived experiences, including several health conditions, toleration of noise and vibration, property damage, and resulting changes to activity levels. These statements provided insight into the extent of suffering experienced by the local community. We also ran dispersion models for dates in 2020 when the waste stream composition, mass, and burn/smoldering times were provided in the facility's public records. The dispersion models placed the air pollution at the homes of residents during some of the time, and waste stream records from the TT facility agree with community testimony about health effects based on the known health effects of those compounds. CIGIS integration of our community-based qualitative data and maps with quantitative air pollution dispersion model output illustrated alignment between community complaints of impacts to health and property, known toxicological information about waste stream compounds, and dispersion model output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A continued study of lead, chromium, cadmium, iron, copper, and zinc in sediments in a historical contaminated site in Southwest Louisiana was performed in November 2011 and May 2012. The results of the 2011 study were compared to a previous study in 1995. Results showed that the surface core of sediments contained the highest concentrations and there was a decrease from 1995 to 2011 (and 2012) in metal concentrations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Research on urban development and environmental hazards has focused attention on problems associated with current industrial facilities, derelict industrial brownfields, and government-listed hazardous waste sites. Yet we continue to know very little about environmental contaminants remaining on past industrial sites that have since converted to other uses. This article develops a methodology for examining the prevalence of such sites and their historical conversion and then presents an illustrative case study of this methodology for New Orleans, Louisiana, from 1955 to 2006. Contrary to expectations, results show that most sites occupied by polluting industries in the past have since converted to other uses and that this conversion is most common in predominantly White neighborhoods. These findings extend and complicate extant research on urban industrial hazards and environmental justice, calling attention to the potential accumulation of historically generated contaminants not just in identifiable brownfields and lingering industrial corridors but also in neighborhoods throughout older cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the case history and empirical analyses of specific characteristics of communities facing serious health-threatening environmental conditions in the New Orleans metropolitan area in Louisiana. Historical background of the issue of toxic contamination and health consequences on human exposure in the United States; Study setting; Data and method used; Analyses and findings.

Introduction Community resilience, the ability of a community to respond positively to adverse situations, is an increasingly important topic in public health. Many resilience frameworks are grounded in concepts initially developed by ecologists to describe and explain the capacity of complex systems, such as a community, to persist or return to its original state following disturbances. As a result, much of the research on resilience is concerned with maintaining systems in their current form, preventing degradation, or promoting recovery. However, for a system that is stuck in a trap, or an unfavorable state, deliberate efforts to build the components that contribute to resilience, called adaptive capacities, may enable that system to reorganize after a disturbance to reach a more favorable state. Objective The purpose of this research was to apply a resilience framework to analyze how the community of St. Gabriel, Louisiana adapted in response to environmental change. Methods We used qualitative case-study methodologies to systematically collect newspaper articles, which served as primary data sources to examine how resilience and adaptive capacity evolved in the community of St. Gabriel, Louisiana. Results Key events in the recent history of St. Gabriel include industrial development, growing concern about environmental health and pollution, the environmental justice (EJ) movement, and the incorporation of the community as a self-governing municipality. Two events, the community's organized resistance to a large hazardous waste facility and the change in government structure, represent critical transformations, or fundamental changes in how the community functions. Conclusion The incorporation of St. Gabriel gave community members more input in planning and development decisions. As a result, the community has taken steps to improve public health in the form of zoning ordinances to prevent new exposure risks and building community infrastructure, such as a new sewer system and a recreation center.

The presence of legacy pollutants, on-going chemical manufacturing activities, and population shifts have introduced complex, cumulative exposure risks to residents of many highly industrialized communities. These "industrial corridors" present unique challenges to environmental health science professionals, public and private sector decision makers, and residents seeking to make their communities safer and healthier. Social-ecological resilience theory offers a useful framework for the design and implementation of community engagement efforts to help stakeholders take action to reduce their exposure risks. A resilience framework views the human community as a coupled social-ecological system, wherein disturbances to the equilibrium of the system - acute and/or chronic - are common rather than rare events. It recognizes three key capacities of more resilient communities. These are the abilities of community members to self-organize to address changing threat levels, to hold scientifically sound understandings of the risks, and to learn from past experiences and take action - individually or collectively - to adapt to or mitigate the hazards in their local environment. We apply this resilience theory framework to a case study from Camp Minden, Louisiana, conducted through the Louisiana State University (LSU) Superfund Research Center's Community Engagement program and supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). The case illuminates a critical path by which resilience theory can be applied to guide bi-directional communication and information-gathering, and co-development of risk-reducing strategies at the community level. These are central elements of community engagement within a contentious, real-world setting. The three components of the resilience framework were supported by specific program mechanisms and activities. The capacity for self-organization among community stakeholders was furthered through the convening of a Dialogue Committee which brought together representatives of concerned residents, regulatory agencies, research scientists, and others. This collaborative problem-solving approach supported a more holistic and scientifically sound understanding of the problem through a series of interactive meetings in which members discussed site-remediation options with thermal-treatment experts and regulators, and shared how recent explosions and concerns about air quality affected them. The members co-developed selection criteria and reached consensus on two types of disposal methods that would best reduce the significant threats to public health and the local environment. We also include a brief summary of our recent randomized survey of over 550 residents of Louisiana's industrialized communities to determine the influences on household-level adaptive behaviors to reduce acute and chronic environmental exposure risks. The results of the logistic regression analysis indicate that residents with more concern and knowledge about environmental hazards, along with confidence in their ability to implement risk-reduction measures - such as checking air-quality forecasts and then limiting outside activities - were much more likely to adopt the exposure-reducing behaviors, even when controlling for socioeconomic and demographic differences among respondents. These findings shed light on the conditions under which residents of these types of communities may be more likely to take action to reduce potential environmental exposure risks, and may help in the design of public education efforts. These "lessons learned" from Louisiana communities facing cumulative environmental exposure risks suggest that application of resilience theory to the design and implementation of community engagement programs may support the longer-term effectiveness of the efforts and enhance overall environmental health resilience. In addition, they provide practical insights about how to operationalize and apply these theoretical concepts to real-world environmental health challenges faced by residents of industrialized communities throughout the world.