Stand with Us for Environmental Justice in the Chesapeake Bay Region!
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What Is Environmental Justice?
Environmental justice refers to the effort to ensure that all people, regardless of background, have an equal opportunity to protect themselves and their community from the harm posed by pollution and other environmental threats. Everyone has the right to clean water and a saved Bay where they can live, work, and play safely.
At the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, we are working actively to support communities and ensure that everyone has the opportunity and ability to participate in decision-making processes that affect their environmental and social well-being. This work also includes efforts to address pollution and toxic contamination in the Bay region that harms communities across the watershed. A few of the ways CBF is working to ensure that all people in the Chesapeake Bay region have access to clean water, clean air, and a safe environment include:
- Planting trees in areas like Richmond, Virginia because trees provide countless health, economic, habitat, and environmental benefits. In urban areas, trees contribute to the resilience of communities in the face of rising temperatures, flooding rains, and other environmental harms.
- Advocating for solutions for people that live near facilities that emit harmful toxins like mercury, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and fine particulate matter. These emissions contribute to respiratory issues, heart conditions, and other serious health problems. In addition, air pollution eventually falls into and pollutes our waterways.
What Does It Truly Mean to "Save the Bay"?
Saving the Bay is about the water and air in the watershed, but also the communities who are connected to the Bay and are a part of the ecosystem. We cannot save the Bay if we leave anyone out. Our role is multifaceted, and we are committed to building a healthy and sustainable Bay for all people.
Forty Years of Environmental Justice: Where is the Justice?
An article by former CBF Vice President of Litigation Jon Mueller and Environmental Justice Staff Attorney Taylor Lilley was published in the Public Interest Law Review. "Forty Years of Environmental Justice: Where is the Justice?" examines the history of environmental justice (or EJ) primarily through the lens of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the White House, and evaluates the progress made in terms of regulations and permitting. It also examines administrative and judicial decisions addressing EJ claims and, in conclusion, provides recommendations for ways in which EJ issues can be better presented and addressed. Read the article
Here are a few of the ways CBF is working to ensure that everyone has equal access to clean water, clean air, and a safe environment.
Blog Posts
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Five Ways We’re Advocating for the Bay in 2025
January 16, 2025
Despite a shift in the political landscape this year, we’re committed as ever to fighting for the Bay in 2025.
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A Place for People
November 6, 2023
There are more than 18 million people who live in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, who don’t all look the same, have the same background, or speak the same language. But we are connected by the right—not the privilege—to clean water.
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Gas Compressor Expansion Threatens Public Health and Water Quality in Petersburg, Virginia
September 11, 2023
TC Energy, the company that operates a gas compressor in Petersburg—a small city outside of Richmond, Virginia—is planning to expand its operations. The proposal would increase pollution and possibly endanger the health of a mostly Black community already besieged with pollution from other industries.
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Save the Bay News: Restoration, Wetlands, and Saving Striped Bass
June 29, 2023
Progress toward clean water includes the need for a greater focus on the Bay's 'living resources,' such as blue crabs and striped bass, as well as placing more emphasis on the places and pollution that most affect the Bay's human communities.
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Clean Water Advocacy: March 2023 Update
March 31, 2023
In the first quarter of the year, CBF and our clean water advocates have been fighting for trees, healthy fisheries, environmental justice, agricultural investments, and more.
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News Releases
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Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Baltimore County Residents File Legal Challenge Against Middle River Depot Developers
March 21, 2025
To protect communities and waterways from toxic polluted runoff in Baltimore County, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) and several concerned residents filed a legal challenge against developers of the 53-acre Middle River Depot property.
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Virginia Tribal Leaders Explore Connection Between Land Stewardship and Health
October 18, 2024
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) is proud to partner with Old Dominion University (ODU) for a “Healing Through the Land” panel discussion with Tribal leaders on Oct. 21.
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Chesapeake Bay Foundation Urges Virginia Communities to Apply for Climate Adaptation Grants
September 25, 2024
Another round of grant funding opened this month for projects that strengthen communities’ resilience to climate change and protection from extreme weather through the Community Flood Preparedness Fund.
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EPA Accepts Review of Civil Rights Complaint on South Baltimore Incinerator Pollution, Will Investigate Further
July 15, 2024
On Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decided to accept review of the recent Title VI Civil Rights Complaint filed on behalf of South Baltimore residents enduring pollution from Maryland’s largest trash incinerator.
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Aggressive Hurricane Season and Extreme Rainfall on Virginia’s Horizon
June 19, 2024
As a heat wave hits Virginia this week, twin challenges fueled by climate change could also send the state deadly and damaging weather that increases pollution to waterways, according to two recently released reports.
Video
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Greening Southside Richmond
09 Apr 2021 00:04:07In formerly redlined neighborhoods, how can trees bring peace, provide health benefits, and reduce pollution? See what community groups and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation are doing in Southside Richmond.
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Clean Water is a Right: Equity and Environmental Justice Around the Bay
11 Aug 2020 01:01:11Join CBF and a panel of elected leaders and community advocates for perspectives on recent environmental justice victories around the Bay watershed. We also discuss where this critical conversation needs to go in the coming years.
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Environmental Justice in Rural Virginia
17 Jul 2020 00:04:28Hear from the people of Charles City County, Virginia, a rural community east of Richmond being targeted for two large new natural gas plants and a pipeline expansion.
