Healthy communities and environmental justice: connecting communities across rivers and rails.

It's a disturbing fact that low-income communities and communities of color in New England suffer from a disproportionate number of environmental hazards. Taking up a challenge that is both an embarrassment and a threat to our region's prosperity, CLF has made environmental justice--the right of all people to clean air, clean water and a healthy environment--a cornerstone of its programming. CLF partners with community groups to raise awareness of environmental issues among residents, arming them with the knowledge and tools they need to take charge of their environmental well-being. CLF also pushes for expanded public transportation to provide improved access to jobs and services, bringing stability to our cities and towns.

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Cleaning up the Mystic

New England's former mill and factory towns, fronting rivers from Rhode Island to Maine, have long attracted immigrants from around the world. In the towns along the Mystic River--like Everett, Revere, Chelsea and East Boston--a vibrant Latino community makes its home. However, the river that was once the lifeline of that community has long been polluted by oil, sewage and other contaminants, putting the surrounding environment and its residents at risk. In 2008, CLF stepped up with a diverse group of community organizations to take on the daunting task of cleaning up the Mystic once and for all. Known as the Mystic River Watershed Collaborative, the group started to nurse the river back to health and restore this important natural resource to the community.

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In 2009, CLF and the Collaborative removed a major roadblock to progress by unlocking significant funds from a court settlement to finance clean-up projects in the Lower Mystic. The settlement was the outcome of a 2006 lawsuit against Exxon-Mobil that resulted from the company's dumping 15,000 gallons of oil into the Mystic River. In tackling the Exxon-Mobil case, CLF and the Collaborative saw an opportunity to achieve multiple goals: holding a major polluter accountable for its actions, putting funds from the suit's settlement to work in the community and sending a message to residents that the Mystic wasn't a lost cause, but a precious resource to be protected and enjoyed.

CLF'S hard-hitting legal analysis helped the Collaborative free up $1 million to be spent in the Lower Mystic River where the damage occurred, cutting the red tape that had served as a barrier to turning viable community...