Gwen Ottinger, May 2005

My interest in environmental justice issues, particularly in the use of science in EJ campaigns, combines my political commitments and my professional interests. The environmental issues facing our world are grave and immediate; the ways that we live our lives will change drastically if they are not addressed. As a citizen, I believe that we should be taking more decisive action to address issues of resource depletion, climate change, and environmental inequity. As a social scientist, I want to understand why we take the kinds of action we do--and why we often fail to act--to address these issues. Trained initially as an engineer, I am especially interested in understanding the role that scientific knowledge and technical experts play in defining and solving environmental problems.

Background View C.V. I received my Bachelor's degrees from Georgia Institute of Technology. As a student of Aerospace Engineering, I was frustrated by the discipline's inattention to the social and environmental consequences of its innovations. I became interested in the kinds of analysis of science and technology being offered in Social Studies of Science, and eventually completed degrees in both engineering and Science, Technology, and Culture. I received an M.A. and Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley's Energy and Resources Group. In the interdisciplinary environmental studies program, I focused on anthropology and social theory and conducted qualitative research on the interactions of a southeastern Louisiana community with the neighboring refinery and environmental justice organizations. I am continuing my research as the 2005-6 John C. Haas Fellow of the Chemical Heritage Foundation.

Environmental Justice Experience In the course of my graduate study, I became interested in environmental justice, especially how EJ activists used low-cost, easy-to-operate air monitors called "buckets." In 2001-2002, I volunteered for California-based Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) an EJ group that pioneered the use of buckets in Northern California communities. Through CBE, I learned of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade (LABB), an EJ group that provides technical resources and organizing support to Louisiana communities, especially those located along the 90-mile stretch of the Mississippi river known as the "Industrial Corridor," or "Cancer Alley"--depending on your politics. I volunteered for LABB in 2002 and 2003, while I was conducting my field research in New Sarpy, a "Cancer Alley" town that took on the neighboring Orion refinery.

CBE staff member with a bucket.

My work for CBE and LABB had a primarily technical focus. I researched monitoring technologies, compiled standards and screening levels to use as points of comparison for monitoring results, investigated industry and government monitoring practices, and developed explanatory materials for community members and the general public. The main page of this site collects some of the results of this work in order to make it available to a broader audience.

Research Unlike my volunteer work, my research took a broad view of the politics surrounding New Sarpy's relationship with Orion, the refinery whose facility abutted residents' backyards. In the summer and fall of 2002, I closely followed residents' campaign for relocation away from the refinery, including their use of technical data and their interactions with LABB--a key ally--and other non-profit organizations. After residents reached a settlement agreement with Orion in December 2002, I continued to observe, and interview people about, the political and social life of New Sarpy, including residents' inevitable interactions with their industrial neighbor. I went to church and attended civic events; I participated in meetings of the local community-industry and Community Advisory Panels; and I talked to industry representatives about how they viewed community and environmental issues. New Sarpy campaign meeting On a tour of the nearby Shell Chemical facility Because I investigated the viewpoints of community members, industry officials, and environmental justice activists during and after a contentious campaign, I came to understand that the three groups have three distinct perspectives. Even when residents were allied with EJ activists, they did not entirely share the activists' commitment to collective action. But even after residents established a friendly relationship with refinery officials, they also did not completely accept industry's assurances that refinery operations posed no threat to human health or the environment. My dissertation details each group's perspective and explains the outcome of New Sarpy's campaign in terms of the ambiguities in residents' relationships with industry and environmentalists. View an abstract of my dissertation The seemingly isolated struggles of communities like New Sarpy have ramifications for environmental policy and politics more generally. My future research will focus on the ways that environmental activists and petrochemical corporations incorporate stories of fenceline communities in their attempts to persuade policy makers and the general public that the industry is either dangerous and environmentally unsustainable or safe and socially valuable. At the same time, understanding the distinct perspectives of residents, industry, and environmentalists involved in EJ campaigns and the ambivalence that individuals feel about living near a chemical facility is valuable for anyone who wishes to understand and influence environmental politics. Watch here for essays on the politics of community-industry-environmentalist interactions and the experience of living in a fenceline community. New Sarpy, thankfully, escaped the worst of Hurricane Katrina's effects. But my research there colored the way I viewed hurricane-ravaged communities in New Orleans when I visited them in February 2006. Click here for my thoughts on the transformation of these communities into tourist attractions.