scotish coal mining communities seek
environmental justice
friends of the earth scotland
Major new research published in May 2005
shows that Scotland 's poorest communities
are more likely to live near industrial
pollution, derelict land, or rivers of poor
water quality. The governmentfunded study
also found that people living in the most
deprived areas are more likely to
experience poorer air quality than those in
less deprived areas. In rural areas,
quarries and opencast sites are more likely
to be located near poorer communities.
A public road
used by school buses falls victim to
the greed for more coal in Lanarkshire,
Scotland
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One example of this environmental
injustice is the coal mining area of
Lanarkshire in Scotland , which has
long been known as a place of poverty
and oppression. The area has suffered
from post-industrial neglect and
environmental degradation. The deep
mines have been closed over the past
few years, but a number of opencast
coal mines still scar the landscape
and damage the health and well-being
of local communities. They provide
fewer and fewer jobs, although three
applications for mines are
pending.
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One application, for a mine that would
damage an important Planted Ancient
Woodland Site near the village of Douglas ,
was withdrawn due to pressure from local
people, but a revised application was
submitted for what is likely to be a deeper
mine covering a smaller area. Community
activists, with the assistance of Friends
of the Earth Scotland , are opposing
another plan to extend an existing mine on
the grounds that an Environmental Impact
Assessment should be undertaken.
Fortunately, Lanarkshire's people have a
history of resisting, of organizing for
social justice and of creating alternatives
that dates back to the industrial
revolution. In 2003, four rural communities
in the Lanarkshire area formed a Better
Environment Group to defend the health and
social and economic well being of their
communities in the face of unsustainable
development.
Recently, campaigning by coalfield
community activists and Friends of the
Earth Scotland succeeded in influencing a
review of planning policy which, if
implemented, will discourage new operations
which do not genuinely benefit local
communities.
Friends of the Earth Scotland runs an
environmental justice course aimed at
equipping people living in polluted
communities with tools to challenge this
injustice. Graduates have been active in a
variety of fields, including planning
issues, opencast coal mining, fish farming,
industrial pollution, waste, recycling
landfill sites, and sustainable
development.
more information:
www.foe-scotland.org.uk/nation/ej.html
