Use of EPA collaborative problem-solving model to obtain environmental justice in North Carolina.
BACKGROUND
The West End Revitalization Association (WERA), a community-based organization (CBO) in Mebane, North Carolina, was awarded a Collaborative Problem-Solving (CPS) grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Justice (EPA OEJ).


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this paper is to highlight WERA's efforts to bring stakeholders in three low-income African-American communities where environmental hazards created public health risks together for collaboration rather than litigation.


METHODS
WERA's board and staff organized nine working groups with specific areas of expertise that would facilitate research, identify lack of basic amenities, and encourage funding for corrective action and participation in progress reporting workshops. WERA used consensus building, dispute resolution, and resource mobilization as part of the CPS model to address noncompliance with environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Toxic Substances Control Act, and Solid Waste Disposal Act.


RESULTS
WERA's CPS "Right to Basic Amenities" project produced a framework for (1) grassroots management and ownership of a collaborative problem-solving process; (2) bringing stakeholders together with diverse and conflicting viewpoints; (3) implementation of an innovative community-owned and managed (COMR) research model; and (4) leveraging millions of dollars to fund installation of first-time municipal water/sewer services, street paving, and relocation of the 119-bypass to advance environmental health solutions.


CONCLUSIONS
The structure and successes of WERA's Right to Basic Amenities project have been discussed at demonstration and training sessions to help others replicate the model in comparable low-income communities of color in North Carolina and across the United States.
Wilson
Sacoby M
SM
University of Michigan School of Public Health, USA.
Wilson
Omega R
OR
Heaney
Christopher D
CD
Cooper
John
J
D001741:Black or African American; D019058:Community Networks; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research; D032921:Consensus; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004782:Environmental Health; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D009657:North Carolina; D011340:Problem Solving; D012424:Rural Population; D012935:Social Justice; D014481:United States; D014484:United States Environmental Protection Agency / Q000592:standards*; D018505:Waste Management / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards*; D014881:Water Supply