Environmental Crime

Environmental crime has been described as consisting of acts that cause harm to the natural environment, typically involving the handling of hazardous wastes and the contamination of the air and water. Environmental crime is important to the topic of race and crime because its occurrence affects low-income groups and people of color at a far greater rate than more-affluent White groups. However, defining environmental crime has been rather difficult because of the fluctuating nature of [Page 256]how environmental crimes are characterized and the fact that environmental laws are relatively recent creations that are constantly being reevalu-ated and modified. The most immediate events that come to mind when most think of environmental crime are incidents such as the Love Canal toxic waste disaster, the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant radiation leak, and the Exxon Valdez oil spill. However, the emerging concern of environmental justice has to do with the disproportionate burden that poor and minority groups bear when it comes to environmental hazards. This entry discusses the perception of environmental crime; its disproportionate effect on poor and minority groups; and the attempts, through laws and other efforts, to prevent it.

Most crimes are perceived by society as violent crimes that involve direct and immediate physical acts such as rape, robbery, and murder. As such, this perception has not afforded much room for environmental crimes, whose elements evolve at a much slower and more inconspicuous pace. For example, the health effects of a polluted environment may take years to surface and a link to the environment may not be readily apparent, whereas the harm from violent crimes is immediate. Also, environmental crimes are often perceived as lesser crimes because many take place during the course of otherwise beneficial activities. For example, a coal plant may emit tons of pollution while producing energy that keeps thousands of households running. Furthermore, environmental crimes differ in that they are typically committed by the most socially and economically powerful, which goes against the common notion of crimes being committed by the poor and underprivileged. Environmental crimes are often tolerated up until a certain point; therefore, striking a balance between what is beneficial to society and what is harmful is a difficult undertaking. Lastly, environmental crimes are often thought of in the same context as corporate and white-collar crimes. There is often no one particular person at whom to point the finger, as environmental crimes stem from organizations or entities rather than individuals. Pollution of the environment by corporations has been suggested as the most common form of environmental crime. Crimes such as illegal dumping into rivers and lakes in violation of the Clean Water Act, or nighttime air emissions that violate the Clean Air Act, are common violations committed by corporations either for profit or out of ignorance of the resulting harm.

It has also been recognized that many environmental crimes take place in poor or minority communities. Early environmental groups, such as the National Wildlife Federation and Friends of the Earth, were mostly concerned with preserving the wilderness; however, local grassroots organizations eventually emerged to deal with environmental hazards in poor and minority neighborhoods. Public attitudes toward environmental crimes began to shift away from viewing environmental crimes as the cost of doing business and toward viewing them as crimes against humanity. From a legal standpoint, environmental crimes are defined in terms of certain statutory definitions, but many others analyze environmental concerns from a more social approach. Social justice advocates believe that environmental hazards should be distributed in such a way so that no one group should bear the burden of environmental health threats. A 1987 study by the Commission for Racial Justice found that of the five largest hazardous waste facilities located in the United States, three were sited in low-income, African American communities. It further found that three out of every five African Americans and Latinos lived near uncontrolled toxic waste sites.

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