Environmental justice tour to focus on hazardous waste hot spots on East Side

Instead of the usual architectural gems that get featured, the tour will visit some of the most notorious spots of environmental pollution on the city’s East Side.

Like many disadvantaged communities throughout the country, neighborhoods on Buffalo’s East Side have struggled for decades to overcome heavy environmental burdens such as lead in homes, high asthma rates due to poor air quality, and soil contaminated by industry.

Now, a group of environmentally minded leaders on the East Side are trying to ensure that the people in their communities have a clear voice in addressing those burdens as the nation shifts toward cleaner and greener transportation options.

The tour is the first workshop of the Neighborhood Leadership Group of 25 people who were chosen as part of a Clean Mobility project to help the state achieve its greenhouse gas emissions reductions targets under the Climate Act.

New York aims to reduce emissions by 85% from 1990 levels by 2050. The Climate Act also calls for at least 35% of the benefits of the state’s clean energy investments to be directed to disadvantaged communities.

The Neighborhood Leadership Group provides participants a stipend for 2½ years to do community engagement, information sharing, and develop clean mobility initiatives that center on principles of a “just transition” to clean energy. They will be participating in a series of biweekly workshops, community-led events, education campaigns and working groups.

“We have a chance to educate community members and talk at a grassroots level about what changes they want to see, because with the Biden infrastructure bill and the work that Gov. (Kathy) Hochul is doing to make our city better, real money is going to come into this area and we want people to be equipped,” said Faustenia L. Morrow, one of the organizers of the environmental justice…