NCEJN has entered new legal battles, on one of our longstanding issues, defending communities & challenging the harmful practices of the hog industry:
- General Swine Permit Challenge
- Prohibition of Nuisance Cases against Swine Operations
We worked closely with impacted communities to engage and empower them to organize against the effects of harmful industries and the climate crisis:
- Legacies of aluminum waste in West Badin NC
- GenX drinking water contamination in communities along the Cape Fear River in Southeastern NC
- Communities impacted by Hurricane Florence in 2018
We defended the state of North Carolina against the dangers of fossil fuels by advocating for equitable energy & joining the Energy Justice NC: End the Duke Monopoly Coalition:
- We teamed up with 14 other organizations to end North Carolinians’ suffering over Duke Energy’s constant rate hikes, environmental devastation, pollution of our political system, lack of choice, & stalled job growth. Check out our petition.
We connected people from frontline communities by conducting successful Quarterly Meetings in various impacted communities to share issue updates & engage in meaningful fellowship:
- Dec. 2018- Northampton County, NC, which is fighting the impacts of the wood pellet manufacturer, Enviva, Inc., and joining the regional fight against the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
- March 2019- Concerned Citizens of West Badin hosted the quarterly meeting to discuss the ongoing environmental and health impacts to black communities in West Badin due to the decades-long operation of Alcoa, Inc.
- July 2019- Goldsboro, NC, with the Down East Coal Ash Coalition, which is contending with the health impacts of coal ash pits located near residential sites, and with the future of coal ash post-excavation from those pits to ensure that waste is not imposed on other communities.
- Dec 2019– NCEJN will visit Rocky Mount to meet with the Racial Equity Justice Group about a variety of ongoing environmental justice and racial justice issues in that region.
For the 22nd year, we conducted our Environmental Justice course at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Public Health, in collaboration with one of our board members, Dr. Courtney Woods.
We hosted our 21st Annual Environmental Justice Summit which has been a cornerstone critical to the resilience of our network. It provided an opportunity for us to gather together, exchange knowledge & experience, share our stories, and be refreshed to take on the important, difficult work ahead.
- Over 200 registrants hailing from Maryland to France to Brazil
- Vast online engagement with #NCEJSummit
- Exclusive “Right to Harm” documentary screening.
NCEJN traveled extensively in 2019 to present and participate in a variety of conferences and meetings connecting environmental justice issues to climate change, food systems, other matters of social equity and to spread awareness of our work & mission.
- Climate Reality Leadership Corps Training in Atlanta
- Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI) Come to the Table Conference in Charlotte, NC
- Environmental Justice Forum in Houston, TX
- Naeema, our Organizing Director, participated in dozens of meetings and presentations, including assemblies at Enloe High School in Raleigh, NC and Cary Academy in Cary, NC, North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the National Lawyers Guild Conference.
I attended the Quarterly Meeting in Rocky Mount, NC. This was my first meeting and it will definitely NOT be my last. The information was so educational and the immediate threats were made evident. The science related information was awesome.