|
 Center
for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ)
Debbie Hindla is a single, working mother
of four and a resident of a beleaguered
industrial ghetto in South Baltimore.
In May of 1998, the FMC plant near her
home on Wagner's Point sent a cloud of
toxic gas over her neighborhood, adversely
affecting dozens of residents. When Hindla's
10-year old son began exhibiting signs
of medical distress, she turned to the
Fairfield and Wagner's Point Neighborhood
Coalition and Center for Health, Environment
and Justice for help. For more than two
years, the groups have worked together
to win relocation benefits for 100 families
living in the polluted community.
Debbie Hindla's home and the homes of
her neighbors are surrounded by more than
20 chemical plants, a sewage treatment
facility, an oil refinery, ship loading
docks and other industrial facilities.
Fairfield has no sewer pipes, and illegal
dumping is a serious ongoing problem.
Since November of 1997, Lois Gibbs, who
led the negotiations for buy-out of homes
at Love Canal twenty years ago, and other
staff at the Center for Health, Environment
and Justice have assisted the community
in defining their strategy for obtaining
relocation and negotiating with government
officials. The Center helps them make
their case for a government buy-out at
the rate of comparably sized dwellings
in more suitable residential neighborhoods.
In early July of 1998, during a highly publicized tour of
the neighborhood and televised debate, Hindla succeeded in securing
assurances from both Baltimore's mayor and its Congressional
Representative to help secure public financing for a buy-out
of residents' homes. In addition, because of her role in the
Wagner's Point Neighborhood Association, Hindla was able to
contact officials at FMC and obtain reimbursement for all of
her son's medical expenses. Without the well-publicized community
struggle and resulting political pressure, Hindla would probably
have had to foot those bills alone. The Center for Health, Environment
and Justice continues to work closely with the Neighborhood
Coalition to help parents like Hindla and enable them to move
to a neighborhood where children can grow up safely.
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