New Haven Independent

Four of the students, who attend Common Ground High School gave a talk Tuesday evening at a meeting room in City Hall titled, “If You Only Knew.” It was the culmination of their Environmental Justice Project.

Environmental justice, in a nutshell, is the right of all people, regardless of their race or income level, to have equal access to environmental positives like clean air, clean water and open space, and the right not to suffer a disproportionate burden of pollution.

The statistics the group presented showed that New Haven is burdened by severe air pollution that puts it out of compliance with Environmental Protection Agency standards. High levels of small particulate matter from power plants and motor exhaust trigger asthma attacks, and 18 percent of New Haven school kids have asthma, according to the city health department. Ratasha Smith (pictured) said New Haven is in the top 20 percent of cities with the highest rates of air pollution, and added that exhaust from diesel-powered school buses is a big problem.

The good news is that, according to mayoral aide Robert Smuts, the switch to ultra low-sulfur diesel fuel and the addition of particle traps on the entire city school bus fleet have reduced that source of pollution between 50 and 90 percent.

The students tested water quality at seven points in the West River watershed, which encompasses their school at the base of West Rock. They found potentially damaging levels of phosphates and coliform bacteria, although, like all good scientists, they said their experiments would need to be repeated to verify the results.

Freshman Rosemary Baez (pictured at left, with senior Malcolm Brooks) said she came to Common Ground because she loves working with farm animals. Her horizons widened after she saw the results of their investigations. She learned that certain plants along the side of the stream may effectively filter phosphates and nitrates and prevent them from entering the stream. Those pollutants cause algal blooms that hurt aquatic animals.

“Now, if I see a river or stream, I want to start growing plants next to it,” she said.

Many in the audience were adults active themselves in the fight for environmental justice, including Lynne Bonnett (at left) chair of the New Haven Environmental Justice Network, and Edith Pestana (right), administrator of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection’s Environmental Justice Program. They encouraged the students to take their PowerPoint presentation on the road. Pestana said, “I thought the information was very good. The students were creative in putting together the data and assessing some of the environmental issues that New Haven is facing today.”

In the discussion following their talk, the students shared some changes in their personal lives. “Now I ride my bike to school instead of asking my mom for a ride,” Baez said. Two students said a parent had stopped smoking after learning about how polluting that habit is.

But one student reported her dad and all his male friends were still interested in “the biggest S.U.V.s, the biggest everything. I guess it’s a male thing,” she said to laughter from the audience.

It turned out that none of the students plans to pursue environmental study after high school. But they all agreed that Common Ground, which was founded on the theme of environmental exploration, has made a big impact on them. Malcolm Brooks said he felt he’s been brainwashed — in a good way — about the need to recycle, not to litter, and to take care of the earth. He added that his friends who don’t go to Common Ground don’t feel the same way.

Angelica Bermudez added, “Even though none of us said we want a career that has to do with environmental justice, doesn’t mean that we won’t carry on that knowledge with us, and share it with others. Because we do go to Common Ground, and every single day we learn more and more about the environment.”