Tuesday, October 21, 2008

EPA Environmental Justice Achievement Awards

Winners of EPA's first Environmental Achievement Awards include projects that empowered residents to clean up New Orleans East for a safe return after Hurricane Katrina and developed a tool to target high-risk homes with lead contamination in Durham, N.C.

Twelve award recipients include community-based organizations, universities, and state and local governments from nine states. These organizations are making a positive impact in their communities by promoting a clean and healthy environment. The awards recognize organizations for their distinguished accomplishments in addressing environmental justice issues. EPA received dozens of nominations from across the United States. More information.

The following organizations received awards:

1. Anahola Homesteaders Council (Anahola, Kauai, Hawaii)

2. Center for Environmental and Economic Justice (Biloxi, Miss.)

3. Citizens for Environmental Justice (Savannah, Ga.)

4. Communities for a Better Environment (Huntington Park,Calif.)

5. Dillard University, Deep South Center for EnvironmentalJustice (New Orleans)

6. Duke University, Children's Environmental Health Initiative(Durham, N.C.)

7. Medical University of South Carolina (Charleston, S.C.)

8. Negocio Verde Environmental Justice Task Force (County of SanDiego, Calif.)

9. New Mexico Environment Department (Santa Fe, N.M.)

10. Safer Pest Control Project (Chicago)

11. South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (Columbia, S.C.)

12. West End Revitalization Association (Mebane, N.C.)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's always nice to see that there are enough people out there who care to make a difference.

And judging by the list it's even nicer to see that they aren't all from one area, but all over the place!

Andy said...

The 2009 Environmental Justice Achievement Awards will recognize mutli-stakeholder partnerships for their success in addressing environmental justice issues or by adopting the goals of environmental justice to positively impact their community.

The goals of the Environmental Justice Awards Program include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. promoting positive behavior on environmental justice issues by all stakeholder groups,
2. documenting models of success for others to emulate,
3. encouraging achievement of environmental results in communities having environmental justice issues, and
4. fostering collaborative problem solving by all stakeholder organizations to address significant environmental justice concerns.

To be considered for the award, mutli-stakeholder parternships will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

1. partnerships and collaboration
2. innovation
3. community, equity, and public involvement
4. environmental justice integration
5. leveraged resources/capacity building/sustainability
6. demonstrated results/effectiveness

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