Delaware Center for the Inland Bays

Rehoboth Beach, DE – The public is invited to join the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays and guest speaker Michele Roberts, the National Co-Coordinator at the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform (EJHA), to learn about local and national environmental justice issues and how people can get involved. The webinar will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, June 23.

You’ve likely heard the term environmental justice before, but do you know what it means? And do you know what you can do to support the efforts to bring justice to communities unfairly facing environmental challenges? Ms. Roberts, a Wilmington, Delaware, native and long-time advocate for local communities overburdened by pollution, will explore the basics of environmental justice issues and offer some insight on how people can get more involved in the solutions.

“People are living in a constant state of stress. Stress and anxiety because of the fact that each and every day of their lives they are wondering ‘when might the next explosion be?’… These are not accidents. These are incidents, because most often times these (disasters) could have been prevented,” Michele Roberts says. “Today in our society, the way that regulation is set up, (is that) for certain people it is OK to be at risk. We need to change that and now is the time to make that happen.”

For over 25 years, Michele Roberts has provided capacity support, organizing, and technical assistance on the connections between chemicals management, oil and gas extraction, energy systems, and toxics exposure and legacy. Michele is the co-author of Who’s In Danger: Race, Poverty and Chemical Disasters and Life at the Fenceline: Understanding Cumulative Health Hazards in Environmental Justice Communities, a demographic analysis of vulnerability zones surrounding Risk Management Plan (RMP) facilities. She also co-authored Environmental Justice for Delaware: Mitigating Toxic Pollution in New Castle County Communities. 

Michele Roberts now resides in Washington, D.C., and was recently appointed to the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council under the Biden Administration. She has co-authored numerous other analyses, reports, commentaries, been published countless times in the press for her work, co-founded the Campaign for Healthier Solutions, created Arts Slams @ SsAMS, and is the environmental justice and environmental producer on Pacifica 89.3FM radio’s weekly “The On the Ground Show: Voices of Resistance.” 

This free event, which will be held on Zoom, is brought to you by the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays and the Clean Water: Delaware’s Clear Choice campaign. At the end of the webinar, there will be a live question and answer session.

The public and the press are invited to join the meeting at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81457681342.

This event is part of a larger Water Warrior workshop series that is hosted by the Clean Water: Delaware’s Clear Choice campaign, a statewide outreach and education effort focused on securing additional dedicated funding for clean water. The goal of this workshop series is to encourage citizens of Delaware to take an active role in protecting water quality in their state. Learn more about the campaign and other workshops at cleanwaterdelaware.org.

 

Event Details

WHAT: What IS Environmental Justice? webinar

WHO: Delaware Center for the Inland Bays, Clean Water: Delaware’s Clear Choice Campaign, and Michele Roberts with the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform (EJHA)

WHERE: Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81457681342

WHEN: 6 p.m., Wednesday, June 23, 2021

WHY: Environmental justice is much more than a buzzword. The public can benefit from learning more about what environmental justice means, and what solutions are available for communities overburdened by pollution and industry.

MEDIA CONTACT: Maddy Goss, communications specialist, Delaware Center for the Inland Bays | communications@inlandbays.org or 302-858-7795

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The Delaware Center for the Inland Bays is a nonprofit organization established in 1994, and is one of 28 National Estuary Programs. With its many partners, the Center works to preserve, protect and restore Delaware’s Inland Bays and their watershed. Learn more at inlandbays.org. 

EJHA is a national network of grassroots environmental and economic justice organizations and advocates in communities that are disproportionately impacted by toxic chemicals from legacy contamination, ongoing exposure to polluting facilities and health-harming chemicals in household products. Learn more at EJ4all.org.