Study: Blacks Live Closer to, Suffer More from Power Plants

Study: Blacks Live Closer to, Suffer More from Power Plants

(Special to the NNPA)—African-Americans are more likely than Whites to live closer to power plants and suffer harmful side effects, a national study has revealed. The study, released by environmental and civil rights groups, states that 68 percent of African-Americans live within 30 miles of a coal-fired power plant, compared to 56 percent of whites. According to the study, 30 miles is the distance within which people experience the maximum adverse effects associated with smokestack emissions. Power plants account for 67 percent of all sulfur dioxide, and toxic gas emissions that irritate the lungs, the study said. These emissions combine with other pollutants to form ozone smog, which can also cause a number of respiratory ailments. "One of the reasons people are still in these polluted communities is because they have homes they cannot sell, they have not been able to identify employment opportunities that would give them a stable income in another community," Yvonne Scruggs-Leftwich, executive director of the Black Leadership Forum, told reporters. The group released the findings along with the Atlanta-based Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda. The study also says that asthma hospitalization rates for Blacks is 35.6 admissions per 10,000 people, three times the White hospitalization rate of 10.6 admissions per 10,000 people. The number of African-Americans who die from asthma is 38.7 deaths per one million, almost double what it was for Whites, at about 14.2 deaths per million. "While air pollution comes from a variety of sources, power plants are some of the most significant contributors," said Ulla Reeves, regional air director for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. "We need a national policy to collectively clean up dirty coal plants around the United States."