Can an aquifer be injured? Scholar brings a disability lens to ecological repair – Berkeley News

Sustainable Development Goals and the Contaminated Aquifer in Tucson

In the early 1950s, Hughes Aircraft Company and other defense and electronics industries began dumping toxic chemicals in the desert near Tucson’s southern border. For decades, these chemicals seeped into the aquifer that supplied drinking water to the city, creating a plume of contamination that eventually reached the taps of residents on Tucson’s south side.

Background on the Contaminated Aquifer

Various defense and electronics industries moved into Tucson after World War II, dumping contaminants like trichloroethylene (TCE) into the desert. Hughes Aircraft, now Raytheon, was the major polluter. The pollution seeped into the groundwater, causing illnesses and congenital disabilities among the largely Mexican American community. The contamination was not discovered until 1985, when a local journalist named Jane Kay worked with the community on an investigation.

Exploring the Aquifer through Disability

Sunaura Taylor, a UC Berkeley professor, writer, and artist, returned to Tucson to study the history of the aquifer in her book, “Disabled Ecologies.” The book highlights the environmental justice movement organized by the south side community and addresses the separation of human injury and environmental harm in society.

Resisting Ableism in Environmental Movements

Taylor emphasizes the importance of including disability in environmental conversations and resisting ableism. Disabled individuals are often on the front lines of ecological disasters, and environmental harm can cause disability and illness. Taylor argues that disability should be politicized and brought into the field of environmentalism.

Bringing Ecological and Human Health Together

Taylor discusses the divide between ecological health and human health in institutions like the government, nonprofits, and higher education. In Tucson’s south side, this divide played out in the Unified Community Advisory Board meetings, where community members impacted by pollution demanded healthcare alongside environmental remediation. Taylor calls for a recognition that human health is inseparable from the health of the environment.

Lessons from Tucson’s South Side Community

Tucson’s south side community demonstrates a resistance to ableist ecologies and ideas of abandonment. They advocate for care and interdependence, holding polluters accountable, and greater groundwater protection laws. Their vision of justice encompasses both the land and the people.

Understanding and Relating to the Contaminated Aquifer

Taylor developed a deep connection to the aquifer through drawing and painting. She sees aquifers as speculative and acknowledges the challenge of understanding them. Despite their inaccessibility, aquifers are vital to human life, and Taylor advocates for recognizing their importance beyond infrastructure.

Ensuring Disability Inclusion in Environmental Research

Taylor encourages more disabled individuals and those with critical disability studies perspectives to engage in environmental research. Making fields accessible will require creativity and innovation, but the first step is recognizing the relevance of disability in every field. Including disability perspectives will lead to transformative questions and a deeper understanding of our environments.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

• Target 3.9: By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water, and soil pollution and contamination.
• Indicator 3.9.1: Mortality rate attributed to household and ambient air pollution
• Indicator 3.9.2: Mortality rate attributed to unsafe water, unsafe sanitation, and lack of hygiene

• Target 6.3: By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping, and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials.
• Indicator 6.3.1: Proportion of wastewater safely treated
• Indicator 6.3.2: Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality

• Target 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic, and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, or economic or other status.
• Indicator 10.2.1: Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income, by age, sex, and disability
• Indicator 10.2.2: Proportion of people living in households with access to basic services

• Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries.
• Indicator 13.1.1: Number of deaths, missing persons, and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
• Indicator 13.1.2: Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030

Source: news.berkeley.edu