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Participatory and Spatial Analyses of Environmental Justice Communities’ Concerns about a Proposed Storm Surge and Flood Protection Seawall

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  • Judith Taylor

    (Masters in Environmental and Sustainability Studies Program, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC 29424, USA
    Present address: Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization, Boston, MA 02116, USA.)

  • Norman S. Levine

    (Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, Lowcountry Hazards Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC 29424, USA)

  • Ernest Muhammad

    (Lowcountry Alliance for Model Communities, North Charleston, SC 29405, USA)

  • Dwayne E. Porter

    (Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA)

  • Annette M. Watson

    (Department of Political Science, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC 29424, USA)

  • Paul A. Sandifer

    (Center for Coastal Environmental and Human Health, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC 29424, USA)

Abstract

In response to increasing threats from sea-level rise and storm surge, the City of Charleston, South Carolina, and the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) propose constructing a seawall around the Charleston peninsula. The proposed seawall will terminate close to lower wealth, predominantly minority communities. These communities are identified as environmental justice (EJ) communities due to their history of inequitable burdens of industrial and urban pollution and proximity to highways and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designated Superfund sites. The present study documents community concerns and opinions related to the proposed seawall, existing flooding problems, and other issues. The project was guided by knowledge co-production and participant-observation approaches and included interviews with community members, collection of locality-specific data, GIS mapping to visualize key issues, development of an ArcGIS Story Map, and participation in public meetings. Community concerns are reported in the voices of community members and fell into eight major themes: community connections, drainage, impacts of road infrastructure, displacement, increasing vulnerability, sense of exclusion and isolation, mistrust of government, and civic engagement. Community members were significantly engaged in the study and are the owners of the results. As one of the first US East Coast cities pursuing major structural adaptation for flooding, Charleston is likely to become a model for other cities considering waterfront protection measures. We demonstrate the importance of meaningful engagement to ensure that climate adaptation will benefit all, including marginalized communities, and have as few unintended negative consequences as possible. Bringing more people to the table and creating vibrant, long-term partnerships between academic institutions and community-based organizations that include robust links to governmental organizations should be among the first steps in building inclusive, equitable, and climate resilient cities.

Suggested Citation

  • Judith Taylor & Norman S. Levine & Ernest Muhammad & Dwayne E. Porter & Annette M. Watson & Paul A. Sandifer, 2022. "Participatory and Spatial Analyses of Environmental Justice Communities’ Concerns about a Proposed Storm Surge and Flood Protection Seawall," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-29, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:18:p:11192-:d:908379
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Carolyn Kousky, 2014. "Managing shoreline retreat: a US perspective," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 9-20, May.
    2. Amin Kiaghadi & Hanadi S. Rifai & Clint N. Dawson, 2021. "The presence of Superfund sites as a determinant of life expectancy in the United States," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Meri Davlasheridze & Qin Fan, 2019. "Valuing Seawall Protection in the Wake of Hurricane Ike," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 3(3), pages 257-279, October.
    4. A. R. Siders, 2019. "Social justice implications of US managed retreat buyout programs," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 239-257, January.
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