CWFNC is committed to working for environmental justice through community organizing, collaboration with other NC Environmental Justice Network partners, technical assistance and training.
Goals:
Provide effective, accountable organizing and technical assistance, especially to people-of-color, low-income and rural communities, to increase knowledge, skills, and action to protect human health and community environments. We continue to provide organizing and strategic assistance to communities facing new or current threats, encouraging action to change power relationships with polluters and hold local officials accountable. Over 1,500 copies of our “NC Toolkit for Protecting Your Environmental Rights” have been distributed to civic, environmental and social justice groups across the state and serve as the basis for informal community workshops.
Work for fair, participatory environmental decision-making mechanisms in all NC communities, with wide participation. Work with our members, community partners, and state and local officials to provide critical education, emergency planning and accountability for businesses and industries that use hazardous materials. Some of our precautionary recommendations for enhanced public notification and financial assurance at hazardous storage facilities were incorporated into legislation that passed the NC House and Senate in 2007. When the Department of Homeland Security tried to site one of the world’s largest biohazard labs in Butner, CWFNC worked with local activists to do extensive research and outreach to local and state governments, especially on drinking water threats, and eventually forced DHS to withdraw its proposal.
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