Laws are trying to move beyond an environmental justice checklist

Christian Poulsen grew up along Seattle’s only river, which is rich with vibrant gathering places like locally renowned restaurants and good schools. It’s home, where he is now raising two young children. 

His community in South Park prides itself on being one of the city’s most culturally and racially diverse neighborhoods. But it is also the most overburdened with environmental pollution like black carbon and heavy-metal concentrations. That’s from three freeways, two international airports, an international seaport, and the dozens of manufacturing facilities along the Duwamish River—a 5-mile Superfund site flowing with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), arsenic, and other carcinogens.