Transcript The Delray Project by Matt Gomez and Aaron Haithcock

The Delray Project
by Matt Gomez and Aaron Haithcock
[email protected]
[email protected]
Global Change 2
Introduction
• For the purposes of this project, we wish to
examine one of the most polluted areas in
the state of Michigan, the Delray
neighborhood in Southwest Detroit. We
would like to explore ways of changing
policy to get current residents away from
the contaminated area, and stop new people
from moving in.
Hypothesis
• We predict that the polluted area of Delray is
home to the poorest residents of the city of
Detroit, that there is the lowest per capita income,
the highest number of elderly persons, and the
highest number of non-white ethnic residents.
• We also predict that despite an astronomical
number of complaints from the residents of Delray
regarding the various odors, illegal dumping of
and rotting garbage, and heavy truck traffic, little
change in policy has occurred to help facilitate the
needs of these people.
A Brief History of Delray
• When Henry Ford built many of the factories in
this area in the early 1900s, he built many small,
single story houses right next to them so that his
workers could easily walk to work.
• As a result, almost one hundred years later,
residents of this area have the highest number of
reported cases of asthma, lung cancer, and
emphysema per capita, and frequently complain of
headaches, nausea, stomach aches and blurred
vision.
• Children as well as the elderly live here, but most
are too poor or too old to move
Boundaries and Zoning
• Bound by I-75 to the north, Fort Street to the east,
Zug Island to the west and the Detroit River to the
south, the Delray neighborhood has historically
been a site of heavy industry pocketed by stable
residential areas
• Currently, the Delray area is zoned M4, meaning
that it is heavily industrial, and no new housing
construction is permitted.
Racial Composition
• 1,647 individuals live in the area.
• This area is one of the most racially diverse
neighborhoods in Detroit: 56% AfricanAmerican, 28% White, 9% Latino and 8%
“Other”
• The city’s overall makeup: 86% AfricanAmerican, 8% Latino, 5% White and 1%
“Other”
Socio-Economic Composition
• Delray is home to the city’s poorest residents, with
a median annual household income of $10,025.
• Detroit’s median income: $18,472.
• Approximately 44% of Delray residents live
below the poverty level.
• 32% of the overall population in Detroit lives
below the poverty line.
• Surprisingly, although Delray is the
poorest neighborhood in Detroit, it is
one of the most racially diverse,
competing only with the Indian Village
neighborhood, which is the richest.
Problems with Zoning
• The fact that this area is zoned so that no
new housing construction may begin does
not mean that new residents cannot move
into the houses that remain. All the
problems stated herein cause property
values to fall sharply, and some distressed
properties can be bought for as little as
3,000 dollars, encouraging new people with
little income to move here.
Problems Facing Delray
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Heavy emissions from industrial sites
Illegal dumping
Rotting Garbage
Heavy truck traffic through residential
streets
• Soil contamination
• Abandoned/vacant sites, both
residential, industrial and commercial
Poor Air Quality
• Area has highest rates of asthma,
emphysema, lung caner
• Residents complain of nausea, headaches,
burning throat and eyes
• Houses located adjacent to sites zoned M4,
meaning heavily industrial
• City of Detroit does not fine polluters out of
fear they will lose a significant source of the
city’s trickling income OR
• Companies are fined, and they simply
continue on with business
Illegal Dumping
• Only 6 commercial dumping sites in the
city, most of which are full and do not
get emptied
• Delray contains the highest number of
vacant lots; residents of Detroit and
suburbs, and industrial leaders dump in
neighborhoods
• Not enough money to clean any of it
Truck Traffic
• Ambassador Bridge leads right into
Delray neighborhood
• Many one-way streets, backed-up traffic
• Creates air and noise pollution
• Poses danger to children, health risk to
all residents
Soil Contamination
• As garbage from illegal dumping sits
and rots, industrial and medical waste
contaminates soil
• Heavy run-off from rain washes
contaminated soil over concrete, into
Detroit River, further polluting it
Abandoned Housing,
Industrial Sites
• The city of Detroit cannot afford to
demolish many of the vacant houses,
industrial and commercial sites, so they
are left standing to rot, or become
homes to squatters, drug users, and
criminals.
Our Solutions
• This area must be zoned non-residential, heavy
industrial, all empty houses must be demolished
and removed, and a retirement center must be built
in which to place the elderly of this neighborhood,
away from the commercial and industrial zones.
• Those remaining are encouraged to leave if at all
possible, and in fact, we recommend a tax break
for those residents if they were to purchase
another home somewhere else, so long as it is still
within the limits of Detroit Proper.
Our Solutions
• Second, EPA standards must be strictly enforced.
All violators of these standards and those who are
caught dumping illegally must be fined heavily.
The assets gained from these fines must then be
used to open plants that meet the standards, or do
not pollute at all. The funds can also be used to
build alternative housing for Delray’s current
residents. This way, the city will still make money
off of new plants, and the area will gradually be
replaced with more eco-friendly manufacturing.
Rerouting Trucks
• New bridge to help facilitate the heavy truck
traffic, and in fact the site under investigation for
the bridge is much farther north of Delray, and
would not empty into a residential area.
• New roads that are specifically dedicated to trucks
must be built, other than just a new bridge.
• Many of the more major roads in this area are oneway, and are wide enough to be turned into twoway
• “NO THRU TRUCKS” signs and strictly
enforcing them would help to further solve the
problem.
Summary of Problems Facing
the Delray Neighborhood
• In sum, the biggest problems facing the
Delray neighborhood in Southwest Detroit,
home to the city’s poorest residents, are
poor air quality, soil contamination, heavy
truck traffic, and the use of vacant sites as
illegal dumping grounds.
Summary of Solutions
• Empty houses and buildings must be demolished
and removed.
• Heavy monitoring of illegal dumping; those
caught must face heavy fines which will help
cleanup and build alternate housing; current
residents encouraged to leave
• Truck traffic rerouted to no longer pollute and to
no longer pose a danger to children
• Projects must be initiated before attracting new
businesses, industry to the area
Summary Continued
• Current plants and manufacturers must adhere to
state EPA regulations at all costs, and repeat
offenders will either be directly shut down, or
fined so heavily that they will not be able to
operate
• The money accrued from fines must go to cleaning
up vacant lots, sites used for illegal dumping, and
to building new roads for trucks to use
Conclusion
• If such improvements to the quality of life
are not made for the residents of Delray, we
will have much more than a contaminated
environment; we will have a thousand very
ill people, which will end up costing
taxpayers dearly in the long run. The
problems facing Delray, while immense, are
not impossible to reverse.
Works Cited
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Ashworth, William. 1987. The Late, Great Lakes: An Environmental History. Wayne
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Downey, Liam. 2003. The Unintended Significance of Race: Environmental Racial
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Doyle, Jack. 2000. Taken for a Ride: Detroit’s Big Three and the Politics of Pollution.
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Hunt, George. 1963. Wild Celery in the Lower Detroit River. Ecology. 44 (2):
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