Environmental justice advocates gathered in Hartford Thursday ahead of Juneteenth to highlight what they call environmental racism on display in the capital city.
“Juneteenth reminds us that the promise of freedom delayed is freedom denied,” said public health physician Dr. Mark Mitchell, founder of the Connecticut Environmental Justice Leadership Collaborative. “Today in Connecticut, the promise of clean air is being delayed, denied and broken.”
“Right now, Black, brown and low-income residents of Hartford are breathing in toxic air that destroys their lungs, decreases their potential to earn a living, and shortens their lives,” Mitchell said. “This is environmental racism in its purest form.”
Mitchell spoke at a “Black Lungs Matter” press conference hosted by Sierra Club Connecticut and Democratic state Rep. Maryam Khan, whose district includes the North End of Hartford.
The primary target of criticism was Gov. Ned Lamont’s handling of the Capitol Area System plant in Hartford located at 490 Capitol Ave. The plant provides heating and cooling to state buildings in Hartford and advocates say it is a significant source of air pollution.
“The kids of Hartford call it Hartford's cigarette,” said Alycia Jenkins of the Sierra Club. “It has been in existence since I was born, since the late 80s – 1988 to be specific. … And it has been using methane gas and other fossil fuels to do its dirty work.”
The state purchased the plant in 2022. Since then, Jenkins said, advocates have been putting pressure on Lamont to decarbonize it.
“[The state] noticed that it was breaking down and falling apart, and that it needed repair and update,” Jenkins said. “So ever since 2022… we have been pressuring the governor and pressuring our legislators and our congresspeople and representatives to make sure that this update is clean and renewable.”
Khan cited negative health trends associated with air pollution.
“We see the rates of asthma in the city of Hartford, and our children, and we know that this is a price that children should just not have to pay,” Khan said. “It's a crisis that steals childhood from children, it shortens lives, and it's not something that we want to obviously see in our city.”
Lamont’s office did not return a request for comment.
