Category Archives: Intentional Communities

For Primo Espinoza, living in the Valley of Teotihuacan 50 years ago was a completely different experience than it is today. What he remembers to be a neighborhood with few houses is now a complex urban system that surrounds the mighty archaeological ruins of the ancient civilization only 40 kilometers from the modern metropolis of Mexico City.

Being a third-generation inhabitant of San Juan Teotihuacan made Espinoza an expert on the area he calls home. He started his career selling mud and obsidian handicrafts to tourists but ended up working as a digger in the archaeological zone, which is a quick 15-minute walk from his house.

But what Espinoza didnt know until just months ago is that the constructions built 2,000 years ago determined the exact orientation of the street on which he lives: 15 east of north, the same orientation as the massive monuments of Teotihuacan itself.

Soil is not the same when theres a city under it; vegetation changes and makes it easier or not to build over.This is how actions from the past affect our decisions of the present.

That orientation is why every time Espinoza goes out, Cerro Gordo, the mountain that looms over Teotihuacans Pyramid of the Moon, dominates the skyline at the end of his street. The alignment is intentional, corresponding to strict urban planning organized during Mesoamericas Classic period.

A recent lidar mapping study found that Espinozas neighborhood is not uniquearound 65% of all modern construction around Teotihuacan (including land divisions, paved and unpaved roads, boundaries, and permanent structures) are aligned with the ancient structures.

The lead author of the study, anthropologist Nawa Sugiyama of the University of California, Riverside, explained how thousand-year-old underground sediments made people unconsciously follow the same construction patterns through time. Soil is not the same when theres a city under it, she said. Vegetation changes and makes it easier or not to build over.This is how actions from the past affect our decisions of the present.

Lidar technology has been used for years to find hidden ruins of ancient civilizations in Mexico and around the world, but the new research, published in PLoS ONE, focused on understanding the impact of human activities on the Valley of Teotihuacans landscape across time.

People began modifying the landscape more than a millennium ago: Teotihuacans engineers quarried hundreds of thousands of kilograms of soil and rock from the valley to construct the city, which grew to a population of about 125,000 at its height around 300 CE. At the same time, they modified the courses of the San Lorenzo and San Juan Rivers to align them for symbolic and calendric reasons.

In addition to examining the urban planning of ancient Teotihuacanos, researchers were also able to analyze the impact of mining and urbanization in the valley over the past century. For instance, they identified more than 200 early features that have been destroyed since the 1960s.

Tezontle and basalt mines, many of them illegal, dot around 150 hectares in the Valley of Teotihuacan, largely driven by demand for construction material in Mexico City.

Ariel Texis, one of the Mexican archaeologists in charge of verifying the teams lidar findings, got a surprise when he compared the first map to what the hills look like now. We had [the hills] in the map, but they no longer exist, he said, having been replaced by open-air mines.

Much of the mining documented by the lidar study was happening at the same time that a new airport serving Mexico City was being built nearby. Although that project was ultimately canceled, another, only about 10 kilometers from Teotihuacan, is currently under construction.

Its chaotic [on the periphery of the monumental area]there are constructions everywhere, its sad.

For Citlali Rosas, archaeologist-in-chief of the Department of Legal and Technical Protection of the Archaeological Zone of Teotihuacan administered by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), such construction around Teotihuacan is worrying. An airport at that distance, she said, will encourage construction of restaurants, hotels, and other businesses catering to tourists that may put delicate artifacts at risk.

A 1988 presidential decree cracked down on illegal extractive activities in the area, but more could be done, said Rosas. On average, the Department of Legal and Technical Protection suspends around 100 construction projects being carried out without INAHs permission every year.

Its chaotic [on the periphery of the monumental area]; there are constructions everywhere, its sad, said Veronica Ortega, an archaeologist with Mexico Citys National School of Anthropology and History who has spent the past 20 years studying ancient structures around the zone. Ortega was not involved in the new study.

Ortega explained that 60% of the territory of the Valley of Teotihuacan has archaeological remains underneath, but much of the area remains unmapped. Lidar efforts like Sugiyamas would help archaeologists generate a new protection polygon for sediments, artifacts, and remains that lie beyond the archaeological zone.

However, having scientific evidence is not enough, Ortega warned. Stopping the destruction of one of most important cultural heritages on the planet will need broad participation and articulation from Mexicos federal government, municipal authorities, and local communities, she said.

Humberto Basilio (@HumbertoBasilio), Science Writer

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Mapping Teotihuacans Past, Present, and Future - Eos

Survivors of Rikers, family members of inmates and jail reform advocates gather outside of City Hall, 2021. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The movement to abolish prisons and policing in the United States was not born last spring. But after the uprisings against racist police violence that erupted across the nation in 2020, abolitionist ideas have never been more widespread, whether in the pages of previously dismissive and hostile periodicals or in the average citizens social media feed. That a majority of Americans believed that protesters were justified in burning down a Minneapolis police station after the murder of George Floyd offered a striking confirmation of this sea change. More concretely, a 2020 report from Interrupting Criminalization concluded that organizing in almost two dozen cities resulted in the divestment of over $840 million from police departments and a reinvestment of nearly $160 million back into communities, along with a number of victories in removing police from schools, banning military-grade weapons or facial-recognition software, and achieving greater transparency and community control over local police budgets. BOOKS IN REVIEW

Yet, for all these strides, the mainstreaming of calls to abolish the prison-industrial complex has presented its own problems for activists. As Ruth Wilson Gilmore foresaw in 2015, the heightened awareness of the horrors of racialized mass incarcerationin large part due to the publication of Michelle Alexanders The New Jim Crowled an emerging bipartisan consensus of criminal justice reformers to commandeer the public conversation, funding, and policy-making around prison reform. Co-opting the vocabulary and rhetorical flourishes of grassroots anti-prison movements, these reformers ultimately prize bipartisan agreement over principled political struggle, valorize top-down technocratic tinkering, and strictly limit their fight to freeing only those relatively innocent nonviolent offenders perceived to be least threatening to the status quo. By defining the problem as narrowly as possible, Gilmore argued, this reformist model appears to take concrete action against the prison-industrial complex but produce[s] solutions thatwill change littleall while diverting attention and resources from more radical visions of change.

The recent George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which passed the House of Representatives earlier this year but stalled in the Senate, offers a perfect example of the illusion of reform. Proposed by Representative Karen Bass (D-Calif.) in response to last years protests, the act had the veneer of bold action: It would ban no-knock warrants and choke holds, limit qualified immunity for police, create a national registry on police misconduct, promote the increased use of body cameras, bar racial profiling, and more. It received praise from elected officials and the philanthropic and pundit classes; Van Jones dubbed it sweeping legislation to match the will of the people. As Derecka Purnell wrote, however, for all the fanfare surrounding the act, its proposals were woefully insufficient and could not even have saved George Floyds life. For example, there was no chokehold involved in Floyds death; instead, Derek Chauvin killed him by forcefully kneeling on his neck. Similarly, given that Floyd did break the law by trying to pass a counterfeit bill, it is difficult to argue that police used his race to presume criminality. More generally, the use of body cameras has not reduced police brutality and might well give law enforcement more power to surveil citizens. For all the lavish praise it received, the Justice in Policing Act, even if passed, would amount to little more than superficial changes that allow policing as we know it to continue apace. Even more suspiciously, the bill would ultimately funnel millions more dollars to law enforcement.

Unfortunately, as Kay Whitlock and Nancy Heitzeg make clear in their new book, Carceral Con, the misleading and false promise of criminal justice reform is nothing new. Reform is not, as some might think, a well-intentioned, compromise-oriented approach to social change. Rather, criminal justice reform must be understood as an industry: a powerful, highly resourced, and bipartisan form of political counterinsurgency meant to stifle, contain, and repress demands for police and prison abolition. By failing to address, or sometimes even to acknowledge, the racialized logic and exploitative system that undergirds American criminal punishment, these reform agendas barely scratch the surface ofand often only help to intensifythe carceral states harms.

These arguments are not necessarily new: Black political prisoner and revolutionary George Jackson famously argued that reform is the only a new way for capitalism to protect and develop fascism. Carceral Con builds on such analysespioneered by generations of radicals and revolutionariesby providing a laundry list of evidence that the prison-industrial complex cannot be incrementally reformed; it needs to be defunded and destroyed. The book is explicitly aimed at helping readers identify and see through the seductive buzzwords and policy agendas of reform coalitions that purport to respond to public outrage about policing and prisons but that, in practice, channel that energy into peripheral change. While scholars will find much in Carceral Con enlightening, the book is no standard academic text. Rather, it is a movement-building tool intended to assist readers in critically interrogat[ing] new [reform] proposals as they arise and in choosing the radically different way forward of abolition.

Kay Whitlock is a veteran abolitionist activist and writer, and Nancy Heitzeg is a professor of sociology at St. Catherine University who has written extensively on the school-to-prison pipeline. Both are longtime observers of how reform agendas can dilute movement principles, misdirect precious resources, and ultimately bolster the strength of the carceral regime rather than weakening its clutches. Together they have written a number of pieces on the deceptions and dangers of bipartisan reform, and this book serves as a robust synthesis of their years of research, organizing, and analysis.

After decades of unabashedly tough-on-crime policy, Whitlock and Heitzeg write, a new wave of reform bipartisanship emerged in collaboration with wealthy donors, think tanks, private foundations, and universities, all with the active participation and support of government officials. Though it spans the political spectrum to include figures as seemingly unaligned as Charles Koch and Jay-Z, this new bipartisan movement converged around cost-cutting and a private-sector-oriented agenda that presented the regime of overcriminalization and mass imprisonment as problematic not because of its harm to criminalized individuals, but because of its strain on budgets, its inefficiency, and its failure to produce meaningful public safety.

Yet Whitlock and Heitzeg show that, despite the purported concern with runaway costs and inefficiencies, the promised savings from criminal justice reform are often minor: The policies make only a minuscule dent in prison populations, and the savings are rarely reinvested in underfunded social services such as education, health care, employment, and mental health. In this austerity-based world making, the budgets of police and prisons remain robust, often infused with additional funding as the result of reforms that focus on individual solutions like more training, new agencies, or additional technology.

Still, some observers might ask, how can a reform be bad, even if it doesnt go far enough? To answer that question, Whitlock and Heitzieg present overwhelming evidence that criminal justice reform actually proliferates punishment and harm. This is one of Carceral Cons core utilities for organizers and scholars seeking to sharpen their analysis of reform as not merely ill-advised but proactively dangerous. In Camden, N.J., for example, a bipartisan reform effort to reimagine policing led to the dismantling and reconstitution of the citys maligned police force with new use-of-force regulations and a community-oriented approach that focused on increasing foot patrols and developing community programs. The initiative, however, ultimately lined the pockets of the newand notably whiterpolice department with increased funding and equipment, massively expanding its power and resources to criminalize and punish without meaningfully curbing police abuses in the majority-Black city. This reimagined Camden police force gave out more disorderly-conduct citations than ever before, and complaints against it grew in kind.

Alternatives to incarceration, such as the use of community corrections, probation, or specialty courts in lieu of imprisonment, offer another site for examining how reform keeps criminalized people trapped in the same legal, economic, and political barriers. Probation refers to supervised correctional control in [the] community, with individuals diverted from prison so long as they conform to specific supervisory requirements. But, as Whitlock and Heitzig note, while probationers are not physically imprisoned, they are subject to intensive surveillance and draconian restrictions on their mobility and activities, and they are also required to meet strict reporting requirements, sometimes for years on end. Given the layers of rules and restrictions imposed, lapses are common, and more than 350,000 probation revocations annually lead to prison time. In addition, 30 percent of all probationers are Black, and they are more likely than white or Latinx probationers to be subject to revocations. In Pennsylvania, a state that experienced a tripling of such sentences between 1980 and 2016, probationers describe a system that is supposed to help you but is, in fact, a trap. The restrictions are both endless and unjust: Probationers cannot travel across state lines for job opportunities or school, cannot live with family or friends who have criminal records, and face jail time if they are unable to leave work in order to report to their probation officer.

Criminal justice reformers often suggest expanding probation as a means of decarceration. In Mississippi, for example, Whitlock and Heitzeg discuss how the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, a data-driven, bipartisan, public/private project, developed legislation, HB 585, for diverting more individuals into probation. Yet not only does probation entail shifting management to a different venue of control and subjecting criminalized people to a web of rules that carry the likely outcome of reincarceration; in Mississippi, it is largely a privatized, offender-funded enterprise that exists through the extortion of poor defendants via fines and fees. If defendants cannot pay, these private probation agencies can rearrest them. While Mississippis prison population did fall slightly after the legislation was signed into law in 2014, by 2019 it had begun to rise again primarily due to probation and parole revocations, often for extremely minor infractions related to the conditions of probation or parole. In other words, the probation system championed by reformers kept poor and criminalized Mississippians under a strict regime of control, subjected them to economic exploitation, and eventually placed many of them back in prison, thereby failing to deliver on the lofty promises of decarceration and a reinvestment of cost savings.

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The explosion of probation revocations has reached the point where even bipartisan reform groups are calling for restrictions to be eased and probation sentences shortened. But Whitlock and Heitzeg show how this approach often focuses on small procedural and technological processes for managing probation that do little to significantly shrink the far reach of the carceral state. Indeed, while 37 states reduced their probation caseloads between 2010 and 2020, many would-be probationers were simply diverted to another alternative to incarceration: specialty courts. These courts generally promise defendants that their criminal charges will be suspended and their arrest records expunged so long as they comply with court mandates. Often, the specialty courts practice what is termed therapeutic jurisprudence, in which judges work with attorneys, treatment experts, and law enforcement to reroute defendants from behaviors deemed criminal. In practice, however, those subject to these specialty courts face a similar net of restrictions and requirements that, if they fail to meet them, result in probation or prison time.

Such examples are emblematic of how criminal justice reform elevates carceral solutions to the exclusion of other potential responses. Why have a specialty court for chronically unhoused people, Whitlock and Heitizeg ask, when they could instead be given housing, food, and mental health services, or at least referred to non-carceral community-based groups that offer support outside of a carceral context? By positing the criminal punishment system as the only arbiter for problems of harm, reform initiatives narrow the realm of the possible and in the process enforce the legitimacy of a structurally violent system.

Last July, Arnold Ventures, a private philanthropic foundation established by former Enron energy trader John Arnold, used the George Floyd rebellions to promote its approach to police reform. The approach contains much of the social justice rhetoric that abolitionists might agree with, such as investing in services and ensuring that individuals normally handled by law enforcement are able to receive care from non-carceral agencies. Yet a close reading reveals the foundations limiting lens: The footprint of the police should be reduced, but policing itself should not be abolished. Given that Arnold Ventures has millions of dollars to expend and dozens of partnerships with states, counties, and cities across the nation, the powerful creep of co-optation looms large, even as the abolitionist vision increasingly gains public hearings.

Importantly, for Whitlock and Heitzeg, the insidiousness of these reform coalitions lies in what they omit and obscure. Operating through a carnival barkers art of misdirection, the reform consensus cloaks both the historical use of crime hysteria to discipline marginalized populations and the significant power that policy-makers could wield to address the racialized poverty, inequality, and trauma that leads to, and legitimizes, criminalization. No matter how enticing its promises, the reform road charted by organizations like Arnold Ventures starts from and invariably returns to criminalization, policing, and prisons.

It is not enough, then, to view bipartisan criminal justice reform as merely misguided or marred by unintended consequences. Rather, Whitlock and Heitzeg make clear that reform measures must be understood as intentional tools for strengthening the carceral state when the legitimacy of policing and incarceration are thrown into crisis. Such campaigns and the corporate-funded organizations that hawk them should be seen as willfully reactionary entities to be resisted from the start. The shift from reform as good-faith, big-tent coalition-building to a central and insidious arm of the white supremacist carceral apparatus is subtle but importantespecially for abolitionists today, who face understandable questions regarding the flurry of seemingly beneficial campaigns spearheaded by high-profile organizations and figureheads, from Kim Kardashian to the Ford Foundation.

This is a liminal moment, Whitlock and Heitzeg write, with the future of policing and the prison-industrial complex hanging in the balance. To take just one sobering example, cities that had committed to defunding the police in 2020 are already reversing course in response to apparently rising crime, restoring police budgets to their prior excessive amounts and sometimes even increasing them. The always-lurking, well-resourced specter of bipartisan criminal justice reform has the potential to undo or disrupt a moment of unprecedented opportunity for abolitionists. This desolate and dark prospect, Whitlock and Heitzeg suggest, can be defeatedbut its up to us to resist its seductions and compromises.

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The False Promise of Criminal Justice Reform - The Nation

On October 1, 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)issued its draft Strategic Plan (Plan) for 2022 2026.1 While the Plan renews EPA's commitmentto its original principles (follow the science, follow the law andbe transparent), it now adds a new foundational principle - advanceenvironmental justice and equity. EPA emphasizes theimportance of this fourth foundational principle by makingenvironmental justice and enforcement of the Civil Rights Act of1964 as the second of the six goals of the Plan, just below thefirst goal to "tackle the climatecrisis."2 The stated purpose of this civilrights-driven goal is to "take decisive action to advanceenvironmental justice and civil rights" and the Planspecifically highlights EPA's commitment to strengthen theExternal Civil Rights Office (ECRO) and its ability to enforcefederal civil rights laws to their "fullest extent" byconducting "affirmative investigations" in overburdenedcommunities and securing timely and effective resolutions toaddress discrimination.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act contains two provisions EPAconsiders as the basis for environmental justice claims andpolicy. First, Section 601 provides that no person shall"on the grounds of race, color, or national origin, beexcluded from participating in, be denied the benefits of, or besubject to discrimination under any program or activity"covered by Title VI. Second, Section 602 authorizes federalagencies to "effectuate the provisions of Section 601 byissuing rules, regulation or orders of generalapplicability."

To effectuate Title VI, EPA has promulgatedregulationsthat are designed to ensurethat recipients of federal funds do not take actions that areintentionally discriminatory or have a discriminatory effect basedon race, color, or national origin. These regulations authorize EPAto conduct affirmative compliance reviews and provide a process foraffected communities to file a Title VI complaint. After acomplaint is filed, EPA has 20 days to determine whether it meritsan investigation and 180 days to issue a preliminary finding.If EPA makes a finding of discrimination, it must request that therecipient of funds address the problem voluntarily. If therecipient does not take voluntary actions, EPA can refuse tocontinue providing federal funds.

Historically, very few Title VI complaints have resulted inconcrete action by EPA. A2016 studyby the U.S. Commission onCivil Rights (Commission) concluded that EPA had failed toeffectively carry out its environmental justice objectives, leavingsensitive communities at risk. The Commission concluded that EPAhad never made a formal finding of discrimination nor withdrawnfunding on the basis of civil rights violations. Similarly,a2015 investigationby the Center forPublic Integrity found that EPA's failure to enforce Title VIextends over at least two decades despite receiving hundreds ofcomplaints. ERCO did not make a single formal finding ofdiscrimination until President Obama's tenure and then ERCOonly issued two formal findings of discrimination.

This somewhat cumbersome and extended process exists, in part,because of the United States Supreme Court's 2001 decision inAlexander v. Sandoval that there is no private right of action topursue Section 602 claims for disparate impacts.3As a result, EPA is the sole body that can pursue theseclaims. There has been some indications that the Bidenadministration or the current Congress may try reverse theimplication of Sandoval. For example, in March 2021, Houseand Senate Democrats introduced theEnvironment Justice for All Act, which wouldamend Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to clarify that Section 601includes both intentional acts of discrimination and actions thathave a disparate impact and add a private right of action underSection 602, essentially overturning the Supreme Court'sdecision in Sandoval. Although passage of this law isuncertain as Congress tackles higher priority issues, successfulpassage would mean that individuals could pursue Title VI disparateimpact actions directly in court, without having to rely onEPA.4

Despite EPA's historical hesitant pursuit of Title VIactions, the tide may be turning as evidenced by statementsin the Strategic Plan and recent actions taken by EPA as discussedbelow. However, so far, all of EPA actions are in the investigatoryand saber-rattling stage. Remaining to be decided is the pivotalissue of what impact EPA may have when it runs into statutes andregulations that limit the scope of a state agency'snon-discretionary review and permitting authority.

Missouri. EPA's ERCO isinvestigating whether the Missouri Department of Natural Resources(MDNR) violated the rights of residents of St. Louis'sDutchtown, a predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhood, byissuing an air control permit to a Kinder Morgan facility thatseparates fuel products into gasoline and other products. MDNR hadrejected an environmental group's request for an evaluation ofdisparate impacts during the public comment period. Theenvironmental group responded by filing a Title VIComplaintwith EPA, making broad-basedclaims of discriminatory actions by MDNR in its permitting andregulatory actions over numerous years. In a March 30,2021letterto MDNR, EPA announced itspreliminary finding that MDNR's program is not in conformancewith EPA civil rights regulations and indicated additionalinvestigation of the issuance of the permit is ongoing. Missourihas responded that the claims lack merit.

Michigan.On November 16, 2021,residents of a Detroit neighborhood and an environmental groupfiled a civil rightsComplaint with EPA against MichiganDepartment of the Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) withregard to a permit issued to the Stellantis Jeep plant tosignificant expand the facility. To obtain the permit forthis expansion, one of the first new vehicle assembly plant inthirty years, Stellantis was required to offset the new emissionsby reducing emissions at another of its facilities. The increase inemissions at the Detroit plant came, however, as a result ofreducing emissions in a less racially-diverse and higher-incomeneighborhood. Beyond these issues, the Complaint also alleges thatresidents have also been exposed to intense odor issues from theexisting operations at the facility. Stellantis indicates that itis addressing the odor issues and notes that the facility wouldcreate 5000 jobs that would not occur without the offset. Noactions have been taken on the Complaint to date.

Michigan. On September 16, 2021,in response to a Title VI Complaint filed by an environmentalgroup, EPArequestedthat EGLE delay issuance of afinal general permit to Ajax Materials Corporation to install andoperate a new hot-mix asphalt plant in Genesee township, near theFlint, Michigan border. The proposed plant would be locatedless than 1600 feet from public housing. The facility wouldbe constructed on an undeveloped parcel, zoned for heavyindustrial, in a primarily low-income minority community. EPArequested performance of a cumulative impacts analysis of airemissions from the facility and surrounding sources. Notably, EPArequested EGLE to consider an alternative location for thefacility. Although EGLE did provide additional time to reviewthe proposed permit and respond to public comments, the agencyconcluded that it was bound by regulations andissuedthe final permit on November15, 2021. EGLE did note that, in response to public comments,it had included a number of site-specific conditions andrestrictions to safeguard the surrounding community. EGLEconcluded that Ajax had met all conditions for permit issuance andargued that most of EPA's objections were outside the scope ofEGLE's authority to consider. EGLE stressed theimportance of its consistent implementation of permitting rules andhighlighted the limitations of federal and state environmentalregulations to address the alleged concerns raised by theresidents.

Illinois. On January 25, 2021,in response to a complaint filed by a number of neighborhoodgroups, EPA announced a civil rights investigation regardingthe issuance of a permit for a new scrap shredder in a low-income,predominantly Latino neighborhood on Chicago's southeastside. Particular concerns were raised after the owner of thefacility was granted a permit to construct the facility in thisdisadvantaged community after agreeing to close a similar operationin Lincoln Park, a wealthy, largely white neighborhood on thecity's North Side, after neighborhood complaints. In anactioncommendedby EPA, Chicago announced thatit was pausing plants to permit the facility in response to thecivil rights concerns and would conduct a cumulative impactsanalysis. This study is ongoing and will be completed in2022. The owner of the proposed scrap metal facility has suedthe City of Chicago for $100 million in damages for the delayedpermit.

Alabama. On November 9, 2021,the Department of Justiceannounceda Title VI investigationregarding public health funding of wastewater disposal in primarilyBlack communities. The communities reportedly have beenplagued by inadequate sewage disposal for years despite the Stateand Lowndes County Health Departments receiving millions of dollarsin funding under the Rural Septic Tank Access Grant of2019. The investigation will also examine whether the Stateand Lowndes County health departments' policies and practiceshave caused Black residents of Lowndes County to have diminishedaccess to adequate sanitation systems and to disproportionately andunjustifiably bear the risk of "adverse health effectsassociated with inadequate wastewater treatment, such as hookworminfections." This investigation marks the Department ofJustice's first Title VI environmental justice investigationfor one of the department's funding recipients.

Texas. On October 15, 2021,EPAaccepteda Title VI complaint against theTexas Commission of Environmental Quality (TCEQ) regardingTCEQ's regulation of the Oxbow Calcining plant in Port Arthur,Texas -- which manufactures petroleum coke, one of the largestsources of sulfur dioxide air emissions in Texas, larger than otherrefineries and petrochemical areas in the Port Arthur area.Among other issues, the environmental group'sComplaint noted that TCEQ has notrequired the plant to install a scrubber to control sulfur dioxideemissions, equipment that is found on most modern facilities. TheComplaint requests that TCEQ issue a stronger air pollutioncontrol permit for the plant, with particular focus on compliancewith health-based air quality standards for sulfurdioxide.

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A Sleeping Giant Awakens (Maybe?) "Environmental" Enforcement Of Title VI Of The Civil Rights Act Of 1964 In The Era Of The Biden...

A funny thing happened on the way to Broad and High: Even before pandemic lockdowns made urban-dwellers dream of more space, Central Ohios suburbs were thriving.

Joy Frank-Collins| Columbus Monthly

For city people, jokes about the suburbs are low-hanging fruit. From long commutes to chain restaurants to comments about rolling up the streets at dusk, the material is plentiful. But in Central Ohio, the burbs are no laughing matter. They remain growth hot spots, even as hip city neighborhoods, glitzy Downtown high-rises and ambitious urban revitalization projects have attracted most of the headlines in recent years.

Columbus suburbs have shown across-the-board growth that, in many instances, outpaces that of the city of Columbus, according to 2020 census data. And given that Columbus itself grew by more than 100,000 people in the last decade, the only Midwestern city to do so, thats saying something.

Within the last 10 years, nine Columbus suburbs (New Albany, Hilliard, Canal Winchester, Pickerington, Grandview Heights, Powell, Dublin, Grove City and Reynoldsburg) have grown faster than the city, which grew by a respectable 15.1 percent. And even the seven that trailed Columbus (Groveport, Whitehall, Westerville, Worthington, Upper Arlington, Gahanna and Bexley) still showed population growth ranging from 7 to 12 percent.

Columbus 2020 Census Report: Six Charts That Show How Columbus and Central Ohio Are Changing

So what makes the suburbs so darn appealing? Tom Rubey thinks it centers on family. Seventeen years ago, he and his wife moved from German Village to New Albany, where he already worked, after having kids. Its a stage-of-life thing, says Rubey, the development director for Les Wexners New Albany Co., which turned the sleepy village of New Albany into Central Ohios fastest-growing suburb, with a population that has increased by 40 percent over the past decade.

For the past 20 years, Rubey and his colleagues at The New Albany Co. have worked in concert with the city of New Albany to create a true cradle-to-grave community boasting residential development that includes apartments, traditional single-family homes, townhomes and even zero-lot-line cluster developments. They have a long-term view when it comes to development, he says, taking small, incremental steps to build a community around four key principles: environmental sustainability, health and wellness, arts and culture, and lifelong learning.

And it seems to be paying off. According to the real estate service Zillow, the average home value in New Albany (as of the end of September) is $504,182. That figure, the priciest in Central Ohio, has increased by 14 percent over the past year and 36 percent since 2016. When listed, houses typically spend about 13 days on the market.

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Kerstin Carr, director of planning and regional sustainability for the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, cites several additional reasons for the enduring appeal of the suburbs, including good schools, bigger lot sizes and redevelopment within the communities themselves. I feel they also worked really hard over the last five to 10 years to reinvent their downtowns and green spaces to be sure that residents can bike and walk to school and to trails and to coffee shops, she says. Cities like Hilliard, Grove City, Gahanna and Reynoldsburg are trying to make significant changes to their downtowns to add what she calls intentional density, while Dublin essentially created a whole new vibrant town center with its Bridge Park development.

In the past, the word density evoked negative connotations of cramped spaces and concrete jungles. But Carr and others are working to change that. You need density to provide the amenities that people are looking for, she says. Grandview Heights, another one of Central Ohios fastest-growing suburbs, is a perfect example, Carr saysa walkable community that embraced density from the get-go.

Jon Melchi, executive director of the Building Industry Association of Central Ohio, views Columbus suburban growth through a broader lens. This whole region is growing, he says. The diverse employment opportunities, multiple universities and other booming industries make Central Ohio extremely attractive. That growth, in turn, has driven up demand for real estate in the region, he says, pushing people who were initially looking to buy homes in established cities and neighborhoods to look into new builds, many of which are in the suburbs.

In many high-density urban areas like New York City and San Francisco, the coronavirus pandemic seemed to kick off a retreat into the suburbs and away from exorbitantly high rent and mortgages. Melchi doesnt believe that happened here, although it could account for some uptick in new builds as the work-from-home reality drives some families to look for space for a home office, an amenity more readily available in new construction.

Carr says that while there was a temporary slowdown in Downtown development during the height of the pandemic, its picking up again. The suburbs are not necessarily taking away from the Downtown, she says. What she does see happening is communities working to provide more options within the region so people can choose where they want to live, especially when remote work takes commuting out of the equation.

Living Beyond City Limits: A Guide to Columbus Suburbs

But dont rent the U-Haul and bust out the cornhole sets yet. Fast growth often leads to growing pains. According to Michael Wilkos, senior vice president of community impact for the United Way of Central Ohio, Franklin County is adding roughly the equivalent of the population of Bexley (13,349 people) a year. By 2050, Columbus population is projected to grow by 1 million. According to a housing study conducted by the Building Industry Association of Central Ohio, there will be an additional need for 457,597 rental and owned units to house this population surge. The organization estimates that it will require the construction of 14,000 new housing units per year to meet the demandand the current rate, according to the BIA study, is around 8,000 per year.

While many fear that this growth will lead to the dreaded urban sprawl, Melchi says there is significant room for expansion inside 270 as well as outside of it. But doing it the right way is going to take thoughtful planning like that done by New Albany leaders, partnerships between other innovative communities and developers, and revisions to zoning laws to ensure that the Central Ohio of 30 years from now has the diverse and affordable housing needed across the region, from our suburbs to Downtown, to accommodate all of our new neighbors.

This story is from the December 2021 issue of Columbus Monthly.

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Suburban Strength: Columbus Suburbs Are Growing Faster Than the City - Columbus Monthly

Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds spent the hours before his Monday inauguration revisiting the roads that led him to City Hall.

He departed from his home near his alma mater Moravian University and passed Liberty High School until he found himself at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School. He visited the classrooms recalling his childhood in Bethlehem Area School District schools.

I just was taken aback with this level of gratitude for the fact that I grew up in a place that didnt act like it was in decline, didnt act like we were in trouble, Reynolds, 40, said to those gathered in Town Hall. Growing up in Bethlehem as a kid you didnt feel that way, because there was a sense of what it meant to be from our city.

He got to grow up worrying about recess and little league games while the mayors who came before him tackled the monumental challenges facing the city as it reinvented itself after the collapse of Bethlehem Steel Corp. Four of those mayors Ken Smith, Don Cunningham, John Callahan and Bob Donchez attended Mondays swearing-in and Reynolds acknowledged their vision.

The opportunities in front of us are because of the hard work of our community, the fact that our people were resilient, our institutions were resilient, Reynolds said. The four mayors ... spent hour after hour trying to plot this citys comeback.

Bethlehems 14th mayor touted the industrial citys revitalization into a thriving mixed economy of business, arts, medicine and innovation. But he spent a lot of time focusing on those who have been left behind in this rebirth and how his administration plans to tackle that head on.

The pandemic has broken wide open things that people in this room knew existed for a long time -- inequity, systems that were broken, opportunities that exist for some of us and dont exist for everybody, Reynolds said.

His administration is already working on how to expand those opportunities for everybody. How does Bethlehem recover from the pandemic? How does the citys history fully reflect the stories of all whove played an integral role but have been omitted?

Bethlehems been a city of risk takers since the Moravians founded it 280 years ago, the mayor said. But Bethlehems only seen this success when its citizens and leaders band together for the greater good, he said.

We want to be this kind of place where people can move with no education, come from any part of the world and have an opportunity, Reynolds said.

Bethlehem can become a sustainable community of healthy, well-resourced neighborhoods with ethical economic development, said Janine Carambot Santoro, Bethlehems first director of equity and inclusion.

We cannot make each flourish without addressing systemic issues of equity and inclusion for all people, Santoro said. And when we say all people, we mean all people.

There is a place for you in this city of opportunity, whether you can trace your ancestry to European immigrants in the history of the Moravian Church or Bethlehem Steel or the Latinx or Black or Asian communities, if you immigrated from across an ocean or just a state away, Santoro said.

We are a city that believes in being a place of belonging for all, however you choose to identify or whoever you choose to love, Santoro said. And while it is one thing to say that we believe in these things, its quite another to live into them. But were going to do this by striving to combat discrimination when we see it by forming intentional relationships with officers and the community members, by making places like City Hall truly representative of all the people that live and work in Bethlehem and to ensure that everyone has the same ability and access to succeed through deliberately created opportunities and resources.

Bethlehems 2022 budget includes $3 million to establish a community reinvestment fund with the citys $34 million of federal coronavirus aid.

Reynolds takes office as Bethlehems top elected officials after 14 years on city council. The former high school teacher became councils youngest member in city history. He served two terms as council president, launching Bethlehem 2017 a series of policy initiatives aimed at making Bethlehem a more progressive community.

This led to the citys first climate action plan, a financial accountability incentive monitoring program as well as NorthSide 2027, a neighborhood reinvestment and revitalization program.

He defeated Republican candidate John Kachmar in the General Election, capturing almost 65% of the vote.

He lives in north Bethlehem with his wife Dr. Natalie Bieber.

Bethlehem City Council will swear in its new members Tuesday evening, ushering in the citys first female majority governing body.

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Bethlehem swears in its 14th mayor - lehighvalleylive.com

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The face of domestic bike racing continues to evolve in North America, and on Saturday, Jukebox Cycling became another team committed to bucking tradition.

The new six-rider squad includes former WorldTour pro Phil Gaimon, off-road-focused riders Adam Roberge, Alexey Vermeulen, and Dylan Johnson, cyclocross and track racer Ruby West, and 12-year-old up-and-comer Xander Graham.

Loredo Rucchin, the CEO of Jukebox, a global printing company based in Vancouver, Canada, said that the multi-discipline mashup is intentional.

We want our athletes to all be different, he said. We want to empower our riders to push the envelope with whats possible in cycling. Our athletes arent constrained to a single discipline, and thats what makes them unique.

The six riders on Jukebox hail from three countries, and bring a wide range of cycling backgrounds, experiences, and goals in the sport. Roberge, Vermeulen, and Johnson have ambitious goals in gravel and cross-country mountain biking. All three were selected for the upcoming Life Time Grand Prix series, and Roberge is also in contention for the Belgian Waffle Ride Quadrupel Crown.

Gaimon, who retired from professional cycling in 2016, has spent the last five years creating a following of nearly 110,000 on his YouTube channel and using cookies and antics on the bike to raise money for No Kid Hungry. He does not plan to return to racing.

Jukebox is the title sponsor for me to continue riding bikes and eating cookies on the Internet for a living, Gaimon told VeloNews.

West will be the first Jukebox rider to toe a start line in 2022.

The 22-year-old Canadian who holds three national cross championship titles will be heading to Fayetteville, Arkansas later in January for the UCI Cyclocross World Championships. She also has ambitions on the track.

Its been a dream come true to work with such a supportive, excited staff of people at Jukebox who love cycling as much as I do, with other riders who are doing amazing things in the sport, West said. Its exciting to be part of a group of people who really genuinely love cycling.

Xander Graham is the youngest member of the squad. The 12-year-old made headlines at the Tour of Britain last year when he sprinted up a hill alongside a break during the final kilometers of stage 7 of the Tour of Britain. He then went on to take the under-14 Scottish national cyclocross championship title and hopes to become a pro someday soon.

All of the riders on the squad will be sharing their stories throughout the season, and on January 13, Roberge, Vermeulen, and Johnson and will host a gravel-specific Facebook Live webinar to discuss their schedules and training.

Vermeulen, who spent two years on LottoNL-Jumbo and has shifted his focus to cross-country mountain bike and gravel racing, said that Jukebox is a perfect fit for his current goals on the bike.

When I left the road, part of my goal was to establish more community, and Ive been able to do that, and now I can in a bigger way, he said. This isnt like it is a team in the traditional sense of a team. It doesnt exist like that. We all have different sponsors. We all have different events well go to. But we will be at some events together, and we all get to experience cycling in the way that best fits us, which for me means blending racing with creating communities.

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Adam Roberge, Phil Gaimon, Ruby West and three others headline new Jukebox Cycling team - VeloNews

TRENTON, N.J. Sadaf Jaffer is used to being first.

She was the first South Asian woman to serve as a mayor in New Jersey, and the first Muslim woman to serve as a mayor in the U.S. When she gets sworn in next week as one of the newest members of the New Jersey Assembly, she and fellow newcomer Shama Haider will be the first Muslims to serve in the Legislature.

But it was during a casual conversation with her daughter, now 7, when it sank in what her trailblazing means.

We were talking about a man who was running for mayor somewhere, and she was like, A boy mayor? Thats silly! and then she started laughing so hard. And I said, This is it! This is why its important! Because for her, the most normal thing in the world is that her mommy is a mayor, and that means women must be mayors, Jaffer said. And thats the future that we want to build where anything is possible for anyone.

If Jaffer seems upbeat and unjaded for a politician, its intentional. Its also surprising, given shes a Muslim woman of color in an era when political speech often starts at disrespectful and plummets to dangerous.

But thats just how Jaffer is.

Im very a results-oriented person. I dont like to complain. If I see a problem, I like to be involved in making it better, she said.

An academic in the AssemblyA Harvard-educated scholar of South Asian studies, Jaffer teaches at Princeton University. The Chicago native will be one of just a few academics in the Statehouse, including Princeton University physicist Andrew Zwicker, whose Assembly seat shell fill after he moves to the Senate.

At 38, shell also be one of the youngest legislators in a state where close to three quarters of state lawmakers are 50 or older.

In Trenton, the Democrat will represent the 16th District, a collection of towns in Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset counties. She hopes to focus on a few priorities:

Inclusive public health

Equitable education, with a goal of expanding funding to public and higher education, especially for traditionally underserved students

Green economic recovery, including green jobs and investments in clean energy infrastructure and open space

Selaedin Maksut is excited to see what Jaffer and Haider will do in the Assembly. As executive director of the Council for American-Islamic Relations of New Jersey, Maksut knows that representation matters, especially as the Muslim population grows. New Jersey has more Muslims per capita than any other state, accounting for 3% of the states nearly 9.3 million residents, Maksut noted.

Its important for everyone to see people who look like them in political office. When you have that, its encouraging and inspiring, Maksut said.

Muslims, in particular, bring experiences and ideas that are unique to them, Maksut said. Many are children of immigrants. They may know what its like to face state-sponsored oppression. They understand firsthand the difficulties marginalized groups experience. In public office, they can take that and translate it into policies that can help and uplift marginalized people.

Jaffer has a few ideas brewing for specific bills, including investing more in mental health services in schools and ensuring school curriculum includes the contributions and history of indigenous people and Muslim Americans. She testified this month before a state Senate committee in support of another bill that would require schools to teach Asian American history.

Jaffer comes to the Legislature from Montgomery, the township in Somerset County where she served two terms as mayor before deciding to run for statewide office.

As an assemblywoman, she aims to continue a mission she started as Montgomery mayor: making government more participatory, especially among younger generations.

People who are involved in government and politics are living in a very specific world where everyones informed and they know what to do, and they know how to be engaged, and they know what the issues are. But the vast majority of the public doesnt, Jaffer said. A general goal of mine is just to make government more user-friendly and accessible to everyone.

In Montgomery she held town halls, created educational videos, formed a budget and finance advisory committee, and established a youth leadership council. She also launched Montgomery Mosaic, a social justice discussion and action group, to fight bigotry and hate after someone left pork on the car of a local Muslim family.

Speaking of Islamophobia

Jaffer entered politics when Donald Trump was president, a time when it wasnt unusual to see the nations commander in chief stoking Islamophobia on social media.

Honestly, I was scared, because I had seen the reaction that Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar had gotten at the national level, she said. Its intimidating to think about all that negative attention being focused on you.

In New Jersey, another legislative newcomer has drawn most of the attention since the Nov. 2 election and for quite opposite reasons.

Edward Durr made plenty of headlines when he wdefeated Senate President Steve Sweeney in a stunning upset in South Jerseys 3rd Legislative District, but it was the Republicans tweets denouncing Islam as a false religion and cult of hate that made the story go national.

I think that its very telling that at the same time Shama Haider and I are being elected that hes also being elected, Jaffer said. Its a sad reality that Islamophobia is pervasive in our society and our state.

Maksut agreed Islamophobia remains deeply rooted, two decades after 9/11.

Just because Trump is not in office anymore, racism, xenophobia, and Islamophobia didnt just go away, Maksut said.

Durr publicly apologized for his anti-Muslim tweets and met with Islamic leaders a week after the election. But even if that hadnt happened, Jaffer said, she would greet him as she would any other legislator. Human connection is the key to compassion and tolerance, she said.

Person-to-person interactions are so important. We want to be the best of ourselves and hope it brings out the best in others, she said. It shows how important it is to continue to speak out against hate speech and educate the public and build bridges between communities, because ultimately, hatred stems from ignorance.

Its a lesson she underscores often in the classroom with her students.

The American dream is an aspiration and something were always working towards, Jaffer said. There have been terrible things in our history and our present, and we just have to keep trying to build those bridges of understanding and create a more positive future for ourselves and future generations.

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Trailblazing scholar heads to the N.J. Assembly with eye on public access - The Philadelphia Tribune

Pittsburghs former mayor describes the citys transition from its heavy industrial past to a sustainable future.

BY WILLIAM PEDUTO

Once a smoky industrial city, described as hell with the lid off by journalist James Parton in 1868, Pittsburgh has experienced a transformation into a 21st-century metropolis and leader in sustainability and technological innovation. While the impact of climate change and injustice is felt locally by members of our communitiesfor instance, in how they deal with increased flooding or how disadvantaged neighborhoods have not experienced the same type of investment in sustainable solutions like expanded tree canopiesglobally focused solutions will be required to address these major issues.

In recent years, Pittsburgh has benefited from partnerships and mutual learning with other cities around the world, especially locales that share our industrial past and our sustainable future. In collaboration with the Sister Cities Association of Pittsburgh, my administrations work to bolster Pittsburghs relationships with international cities has transcended the more ceremonial model of past Sister Cities relationships. Instead, our efforts have led to tangible action to address issues such as climate change, food systems, social equity and economic diversification.

In 2019, Pittsburgh and the city of Aarhus, which is the second-largest city in Denmark, advanced a clean energy agreement. The agreement formalized the cities relationship as former industrial bastions that have reinvented themselves as higher education hubs attracting a young and educated workforce and creating an innovative business environment. Both municipalities are on track to achieve lofty climate action goals, including cutting carbon emissions in half by 2030. This agreement will allow for strategic planning and information sharing with a target of advancing district energy projects that provide heating and cooling service to groups of nearby commercial buildings from a single energy source, rather than building and operating separate heating and cooling systems for each building. This will generate cost as well as energy savings and advance the agreements aim of creating healthy and livable cities and transforming old industrial areas to attractive urban spaces.

This year, Pittsburgh and Dortmund, Germany, also a municipality with a history of industry, were selected as participants in the European Unions International Urban and Regional Cooperation Sustainable Agriculture Program. This partnership, which was made possible through the Sister Cities Association of Pittsburgh, will allow the two cities to collaborate on municipal policies, programs and initiatives related to sustainable food systems. By sharing information and participating in a two-year program, we will aim to boost the resilience of our food systems and build on our work to adopt the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on Zero Hunger.

In a historic partnership with an eye to action rather than ceremony, Pittsburgh added our 20th sister city in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic: Glasgow, Scotland. Like Pittsburgh, Glasgow is situated along rivers, and the city experienced an industrial decline that led to population loss and lingering health effects. Thanks to the resilience of the residents and institutions of both cities, Glasgow and Pittsburgh experienced economic revitalization. This new partnership will enable information sharing, innovation and action on climate change, public health and ensuring an equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a historic partnership with an eye to action rather than ceremony, Pittsburgh added our 20th sister city in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic: Glasgow, Scotland.

We presented a progress report on this partnership at the November 2021 U.N. Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, COP26. It is an example of what can be achieved through intentional relationship building and idea exchange, including shared policy advancements in the areas of pension funds; creation of environmental, social and governance criteria for investments; and advancement of basic income pilots. Pittsburgh and Glasgows collaborative strategies will also address the challenges of energy burden or fuel poverty, the disproportionate costs spent by households on utilities and the health inequities caused by the deindustrialization of both our economies. Our example can be replicated by other cities striving to address the climate crisis and to recover from the pandemic in an equitable manner.

In addition to collaboration with other municipal governments, the city of Pittsburgh has worked with organizations, including ICLEILocal Governments for Sustainability, to exchange ideas for climate action. Through ICLEI and its Urban Transitions Alliance program, Pittsburgh has worked with cities with a similar industrial heritage and a promising sustainable future such as Katowice, Poland; Buffalo, New York; and others, to engage our communities and strive toward action.

Beyond the important goal of addressing climate change, Pittsburgh is working with our sister cities to share information, learn from one another and take action on a host of other issues. Da Nang, Vietnam, is learning from the transformation of our riverfronts. Through a formal partnership, Saitama, Japan, is sending a cohort of students to study a variety of fields at universities in Pittsburgh.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the city of Pittsburgh and our nonprofit partners sent personal protective equipment to Wuhan, China. Pittsburgh and the Israeli city of Karmiel/Misgav are partnering on a business-to-business exchange and incubator program. Finally, Sofia, Bulgaria, and Bilbao, Spain, are working to exchange information on the growth of our technology sectors and post-industrial diversification of our economy.

Pittsburgh has made remarkable progress toward achieving our climate action goals and advancing equity in all that we do in municipal government. However, there is much more work to do. I believe that it is our duty to current and future generations to share our replicable successes with cities across the world. The lessons we have learned from our friends in Aarhus, Dortmund, Glasgow and other cities have already benefited the residents of Pittsburgh, and I am heartened by the headway we have made to address the concerns facing our world together.

William Peduto served as the 60th mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 2014 to 2021. During this time, he worked to modernize municipal government and invest in critical infrastructure. He also became an international leader in action to combat climate change

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The Benefits of International Partnerships - The Foreign Service Journal

Partnerships Illustrate Company's Commitment to Environment, Education, Diversity and Inclusion, Veterans, and Its Communities, Employees and Customers

LOUISVILLE, KY / ACCESSWIRE / December 28, 2021 /Charah Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:CHRA) (the "Company"), a leading provider of mission-critical environmental services and byproduct sales to the power generation industry, today announced the numerous community and national charitable organizations that the Company and its employees have supported in 2021 through the Company's ongoing Charah Cares philanthropic initiative and its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) goals. Charah Solutions' areas of focus for philanthropic partnership include the environment, education, diversity and inclusion, veterans, as well as the Company's local communities, employees and customers. 2021 local, regional and national partners included:

Living Lands and Waters

Russell Technology Business Accelerator for black entrepreneurs in Louisville, KY

OneWest Plan Room business accelerator focused on advancing minority-owned contractor and construction businesses in Louisville, KY

National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) Founders Scholarship Foundation

Diversity Scholarship Programs at Heavy Equipment Training Schools including:

Stanly Community College Foundation in North Carolina

Kentucky Community and Technical College System Foundation

John Tyler Community College Foundation and the Community College Workforce Alliance in Virginia

North Arkansas College Foundation

Hard Hat Heroes

Helmets to Hardhats

Dare to Care Food Bank in Louisville, KY

Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina in Charlotte, NC

Fund for the Arts

Crusade for Children

St. John Center

The Angel Tree

St. Vincent de Paul

Javanon Futbol Club and Youth Soccer Scholarships

American Red Cross

Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund

7 employee grants

"This year and every year, we focus on giving back to organizations and initiatives that are important to our Company as well as our employees," said Scott Sewell, Charah Solutions President and CEO. "Our Charah Cares philanthropic initiative and our ESG plan are intentional to support our communities and the causes important to our employees and our industry. Our concern for the wellbeing of our communities and the environment is genuine, as demonstrated by the number of community and charitable organizations that we support. We are also committed to diversity and inclusion including specific diversity initiatives and programs to accelerate this growth for minorities and women at all levels of the Company and with suppliers. Most recently, I am so proud of how our team has come together to support those impacted by the tornadoes in western Kentucky, sending both donations and much needed supplies to the region where Charah Solutions was founded nearly 35 years ago."

Story continues

More details will be available in the 2021 ESG Report in March 2022. The current 2020 ESG Report is available for download on the Company's website at http://www.charah.com/sustainability.

About Charah Solutions, Inc.

With 30 years of experience, Charah Solutions, Inc. is a leading provider of environmental services and byproduct sales to the power generation industry. Based in Louisville, Kentucky, Charah Solutions assists utilities and independent power producers with all aspects to sustainably manage and recycle ash byproducts generated from the combustion of coal in the production of electricity. The Company also designs and implements solutions for ash pond management and closure, landfill construction, fly ash sales, and structural fill projects. Charah Solutions is the partner of choice for solving customers' most complex environmental challenges, and as an industry leader in quality, safety, and compliance, the Company is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions for a cleaner energy future. For more information, please visit, please visit https://charah.com/ or download our 2020 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report at charah.com/sustainability.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as "may," "expect," "estimate," "project," "plan," "believe," "intend," "achievable," "anticipate," "will," "continue," "potential," "should," "could," and similar terms and phrases. These statements are based on certain assumptions made by the Company based on management's experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, anticipated future developments and other factors believed to be appropriate. Such statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, which may cause actual results to differ materially from those implied or expressed by the forward-looking statements. See the Company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 and other periodic reports as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for further information regarding risk factors.

Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to correct or update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

Investor ContactRoger ShannonCharah Solutions(502) 245-1353ir@charah.com

Media ContactTamara DavisPriceWeber Marketing(270) 202-8516media@charah.com

SOURCE: Charah Solutions, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/679779/Charah-Solutions-Partners-with-Community-and-National-Charitable-Organizations-Through-Its-Ongoing-Charah-Cares-Philanthropic-Initiative

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Charah Solutions Partners with Community and National Charitable Organizations Through Its Ongoing Charah Cares Philanthropic Initiative - Yahoo...

Headlines continue to report on historic labor shortages and the "Great Resignation"in our country as we continue to grapple with the new reality of the labor market in the United States.The pork industry has not been spared and some might argue rural communities and livestock producers in particular, have been hit harder than most by the challenges finding qualified, willing talent to work in our farms and businesses.Like anything in life, variation exists in the experience that employers, departmentsor farms have had over the past twoyears, and often times the differences can be attributed to one thing culture.

The old saying goes, people don't leave organizations, they leave leaders;however another way of saying this is people don't leave organizations, they leave cultures.Culture is defined as a shared set of values, beliefs, goalsand ultimately a strategy that is woven into an organization and creates an identity not only for the business, but for those who work in the business.When talent is in demand, culture can be the defining characteristic that not only allows a business to attract great people, but most importantly, retain them.

At Carthage Veterinary Service and Professional Swine Management, we have invested a great deal of time in understanding and developing our company culture.Culture is created through accountability, transparency, candorand community.Each of these is critical for creating an environment that is not only attractive to prospective employees, but most importantly a place that employees do not want to leave.

We strive to be an organization that thinks of the farm first in everything that we do. The hard working people, producing high quality pork that we work with on a daily basis are our No. 1 priority.For us to serve them better we also have to be focused on continuous improvement and innovation.Innovation and progress are driven through a culture of accountability and ownership within our team that provides the freedom to move quickly and implement solutions that will drive value on the farm.

Lastly, we take great pride in the vibrant rural communities we are a part of, and we work hard to make sure we are doing our part to develop and support these communities. The job market is highly competitive, and unprecedented wage levels are being offered, so to truly differentiate we have to focus on something you can only get in Carthage our culture.

"Farm First Focus"Organizations often resemble sports teams in terms of roles and responsibilities.Each of us contributes to organizational performance in different ways and highlighting the revenue generating departments in any business helps support departments focus on what they do best, putting our revenue generators in the best position to succeed.

Pig production is no different, our farm managers and caregivers are the core of how we protect and manage our product.Every other aspect of a farming operation exists to support our farms.Simply put, no matter how great our office team may be, if our farm managers and caregivers don't hit their targets our pig production business will struggle.

By creating a culture of "Farm First Focus"you clearly signal to everyone in the business where their focus should be.No matter how the problem at the farm got started, it's all of our problem to fix.

The words "Farm First Focus"mean nothing if they are not followed up on through actions and deeds.The farm has a problem?You need to take that call.Even if it isn't normally your problem to handle, you have to engage with the farm and support their efforts toward a solution.This may simply mean you connect the farm to the appropriate expert to help them, but the culture only exists if all employees buy in and "walk the talk"of "Farm First Focus."

Progress, innovation through accountability, transparencyOne of the aspects of our culture that our employees enjoy is the entrepreneurial spirit and freedom to work on initiatives that drive value and innovation in our business and for our clients.We feel it is a critical component to our success and we encourage our team to take ownership for their components of the business.

Often times innovation and creativity can be stifled by red tape or having to constantly ask for permission.Finding the right balance between freedom to operate and governance can be tricky, but we tend to err on the side of flexibility and trust our team members to make good decisions within their respective areas of the business.Allowing this level of freedom not only allows the business to move quickly when it comes to opportunities for innovation, but it creates a culture of accountability.

Accountability sometimes has a negative connotation, however we view it as an opportunity to own the outcomes and processes within the part of the business our team members are responsible for.This in turn drives the entrepreneurial spirt that creates a nimble team focused on innovation and progress.

Communication and transparency are also key components of making this culture work.Each of the departments and areas of the business has to know what the others are working on to ensure we are all working towards the same over-arching goals.The culture is fast paced at Carthage, but when everyone is accountable and communicating, the rope is always being pulled in the same direction.This accountability connects people to a common cause and makes working hard with a purpose rewarding and ultimately enjoyable.

Community involvementFarms always have been and always will be pillars of rural communities.While most businesses shun rural areas, taking their jobs, revenues and tax dollars with them to the cities and suburbs, our farms maintain their presence in our communities as both customers and employers.

It is critical that the community be capable of supporting a farm operation farms need employees, maintenance, accounting services and numerous other functions they outsource.Regular communication between farm ownership groups and their local communities can help ensure partnerships that are persistent beyond temporary challenges and that the community collectively works together to strategically place infrastructure where it's needed.

It can be easy for farms to not be seen in the community. Our biosecurity restrictions are critical to protect animal health but hinder farm visits to help those citizens who don't work on a farm understand what we do.Because of this, farm operations have to be intentional about being involved in community functions.

At CVS/PSM we have a history of hosting an annual Easter celebration at our business campus our employeesstuff and hide eggs for a community Easter Egg Hunt and we invite anybody and everybody to participate.This is one of many examples where we specifically interact with the community to show our thanks and appreciation for the partnership that sustains not only our business, but many other businesses within our community.

When asked what someone looks for in an organization, many employees will say things like "opportunities for advancement,""great benefits,"etc.However, when you dig deeper, they will often express a desire to be a part of something greater than themselves that has impact on the communities they live in, the people they work withand ultimately makes the world a better place.These things are all elements of a great culture.

It takes constant focus and hard work to develop and maintain a great culture, and once you have it you must stay true to its elements.Great people seldom leave great cultures, and great businesses are made up of great people.Surround yourself with great people, create a culture of empowering them to achieve collective goals and your business will thrive even in the face of challenging labor environments.

Beau Peterson is the general manager and Ted Ufkes is the chief operating officerat Carthage Veterinary Serviceand aresolely responsible for the information provided, and wholly own the information. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.

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Attracting and retaining talent through culture - National Hog Farmer