Position Paper
Abstract: This was the third essay I wrote for this class. The purpose of this essay is to write a persuasive essay to persuade the government to fund the solution that I am proposing to address the ongoing environmental issue in NYC while also practicing finding sources in the library’s database and citing in MLA format. In this essay, I chose to focus on the environmental issue of Air pollution in the Bronx people. The paper talks about how residents of the South Bronx face a disproportionate distribution of air pollution. and then I explain the negative health impact it has on the residents. And lastly, I proposed my solution, and I also used evidence to support that my solution will help mitigate Air pollution.
Final Draft:
From Asthma Alley to Green Alley
Mott Haven residents will not back down until justice is served. Mott Haven, a neighborhood in the South Bronx, New York City, residents of the area have been fighting for better air for decades, and their voices are still not being heard. Over the years Mott Haven’s air pollution has only deteriorated due to heavy industrial activity, and an increase in truck flow. The increase in traffic congestion and decrease in air quality causes new cases of asthma and worsens existing ones. Although it can be difficult to fix air pollution entirely, we can reduce it to a minimal level, and an effective solution to address this issue is to add more accessible green spaces because green spaces can enhance air quality while also increasing people’s health.
The South Bronx, especially Mott Haven, is a target of environmental injustice and environmental racism they are burdened with the disproportionate distribution of air pollution. Statistics have shown that Mott Haven experiences higher rates of asthma than NYC and the Borough of Bronx combined. according to the NYU Furman Center in Mott Haven between 2018-2022, about 68% of the residents were Hispanic, 27% were Black, and about 34% had a household income of less than $20,000. The poverty rate was 32.7% compared to the citywide rate of 18.3%. Based on the data we can tell that people of low income, Black, and Hispanic make up the majority of Mott Haven. Moreover, Environmental injustice most often affects areas where black and Hispanic minorities live.
Over the years, many polluting facilities moved to the South Bronx and in 2012 it was announced that Fresh Direct’s warehouse would be relocating from Queens to Mott Haven. And it brought 1,000 truck trips daily with its opening. It angered many residents to find out that the relocation received full support from the city and state government: “New York City and state have pledged some $120 million in subsidies and grants to FreshDirect” (Rakia, 7). Mott Haven residents have the worst air quality in all of NYC because the city government is supporting polluting businesses with their relocation to the Bronx, which could have been used to fund the addition of urban green space projects
The CEO of Fresh Direct, an advocate for environmental sustainability, promised that it would not bring adverse health effects on the community, but would rather benefit them by providing them with accessible fresh and high-quality food. However, this is untrue because the higher demand for goods from Fresh Direct is from Manhattan and Brooklyn. “Black Americans are exposed to about 56% more pollution than is caused by their consumption, and Hispanics 63% more. Meanwhile, non-Hispanic whites breathe about 17% less air pollution than they cause, earning a “pollution advantage” (Kilani, 12). Most of the goods that are transported from industrial places such as Fresh Direct are not consumed by residents. It is unfair that locals must suffer from the negative health impacts caused by the consumption of others. Companies like Fresh Direct relocated to Mott Haven because they do not face any consequences for emitting pollutants into the atmosphere since they have the government on their side.
I have looked through some studies and learned that before the opening of the warehouse, High rates of air pollution and childhood asthma were already affecting Mott Haven, caused by interstate highways, waste transfer stations, and industrial activity with the opening of the warehouse it added more to the air pollution because it increased the flow of truck traffic. In research posted in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, they assessed the changes in traffic flow, Black Carbon, and noise levels before and after the opening of the warehouse. The data yielded from the results show that there has been a substantial increase in the number of trucks and vehicles after the opening of the warehouse “We found significantly increased truck and vehicle flow at both monitoring sites after the opening of the online grocery delivery service warehouse, particularly for overnight time windows, on the order of 10% to 40% change”( Shearston, Johnson, Relloso, Kioumourtzoglou, Hernández, Ross, Chillrud, Hillpert,13). These results show that the warehouse contributed to the large increase in truck flow which further diminished the air quality as more Black Carbon is introduced into the air, this could potentially increase the rates of childhood asthma hospitalization. However, the researchers also found that there was only an incremental increase in the emission of Black Carbon suggesting that the warehouse did not worsen the air quality, but even a small amount of Black Carbon should not be adding even a minimal amount of black carbon can disrupt and hinder the process cleaning the air. As we can tell Mott Haven is overburdened with the unequal distribution of air pollution because a huge number of private owners are moving their businesses to polluted neighborhoods without taking accountability for their negative externalities.
Due to the increase in industrial activity, traffic congestion also rose in Mott Haven between 2017 and 2019. The increase of pollutants such as fine particulate matter (PM2.5), which can stay in people’s lungs for a long time and affect their breathing, harms people suffering from Respiratory problems such as asthma. South Bronx has one of the highest cases of childhood asthma. Based on estimates, pollution accounts for 20% of all childhood asthma cases in the area; in more polluted regions like the South Bronx, this number grows to over 30%. Hospitalizations for children with asthma are very common in the South Bronx.
Mott Haven’s lack of green spaces contributes to persistent air pollution. A solution that can change this outcome would be adding more urban green spaces. South Bronx Unite a non-profit organization that advocates for environmental justice has proposed the Mott Haven – Port Morris Waterfront Plan that will add more open accessible greenspace on the waterfront near the Harlem Yard River, replacing the waste transfer stations, peak power plants, and warehouses that have been limiting access to the waterfront, such as Parks, Trees, shrubs, vegetation and more. Based on the cost-benefit analysis, I implore you to act and fund the plan, which is estimated to be $145 million. It is also estimated that the plan will generate more than USD 258 million in benefits annually. (“MOTT HAVEN – PORT MORRIS WATERFRONT PLAN”, 3). In addition, the benefits that will bring to the area are the increase in air quality and people’s health.
Although parents might say this is a well-planned and promising plan because it provides people with access to open green spaces and better air quality, they might also say that this plan has a downside because it fails to consider the well-being of the children when playing in parks that are near the Major Deecan express highway. Children are more vulnerable to the negative effects of air pollution and exposure to these pollutants can increase the chances of lung cancer and cause breathing issues. In addition, parents’ concern for their children’s health will lead to the underusage of the parks. However, parents can rest assured because it is very less likely that their children’s health will be diminished by the air pollutants from the highway since the plan will include the plantation of many trees, shrubs, and vegetation. Many studies have shown that green spaces tend to improve air quality.
Green Spaces such as trees can improve air quality by absorbing gaseous pollutants from the air. The process involves the absorption of the gases through the leaf’s Stomata surface, and the gaseous pollutants permanently stick to the leaf. Furthermore, studies have shown that areas with more tree coverage increased air quality “Maximum annual air quality improvement in some areas reached between 2 and 4.5 percent depending upon meteorological conditions. Heavily forested areas, peak hour improvements could reach as high as 16 percent” (Nowak, Hirabayashi, Bodine, Greenfield, 8). Incorporating more urban infrastructure in urban areas can help offset the air pollutants emitted by trucks and vehicles. Adding more green spaces will benefit Mott Haven because it will bring down the level of air pollution to a more acceptable level. A correlation between the increase in the removal of pollutants from the air and improvements in human health is seen in a study where it was calculated that a 10km grid with 35% tree cover would eliminate 90.4 t of PM10 yearly, preventing two fatalities and two hospital admissions (Nowak, Hirabayashi, Bodine, Greenfield, 2). This shows that adding more green spaces will be beneficial to South Bronx residents because green spaces will help reduce the air pollution caused by trucks and vehicles and decrease the negative health effects caused by air pollution.
For years, Mott Haven has been treated unfairly by industries relocating to the area, increasing truck traffic and worsening the air quality. The neighborhood desperately needs your help to combat the pressing issue of air pollution that has already taken a heavy toll on residents’ health. Before any more lives are lost to asthma, I urge the NYC State government to help fund the MOTT HAVEN – PORT MORRIS WATERFRONT plan. This initiative will provide residents with access to much-needed open green spaces, which will improve their well-being and air quality. Taking action now will ensure that the next generation does not have to live in a place that endangers their health.
Work Cited
“Air Pollution & Public Health.” SOUTH BRONX UNITE, www.southbronxunite.org/air-pollution-and-public-health.
Hazar Kilani. ““Asthma Alley”: Why Minorities Bear Burden of Pollution Inequity
Caused by White People.” The Guardian, The Guardian, 4 Apr. 2019, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/apr/04/new-york-south-bronx-minorities-pollution-inequity.
Nowak, David J., et al. “Tree and Forest Effects on Air Quality and Human Health in the United States.” Environmental Pollution, vol. 193, no. 193, Oct. 2014, pp. 119–129, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749114002395, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2014.05.028.
“Mott Haven/Melrose Neighborhood Profile.” Furmancenter.org, 2017, furmancenter.org/neighborhoods/view/mott-haven-melrose.
Shearston, Jenni A., et al. “Opening a Large Delivery Service Warehouse in the
South Bronx: Impacts on Traffic, Air Pollution, and Noise.” International
Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 17, no. 9, 1 Jan. 2020,
p. 3208, www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/9/3208/htm,
Rakia, Raven. “Who Benefits from Public Land in the Bronx? – Dissent
Magazine.” Dissent Magazine, 25 May 2016,
www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/south-bronx-unite-freshdirect- environmental-justice-land-trust/. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.
