In Maryland, environmental justice issues persist as certain communities face disproportionate burdens of environmental degradation and health risks. Historically marginalized communities, often composed of low-income residents and people of color, bear the brunt of pollution, hazardous waste, and industrial development. The unequal distribution of environmental hazards leads to adverse health outcomes, diminished quality of life, and limited access to green spaces. Addressing these disparities is crucial for fostering a more equitable and sustainable future in the state.
While some progress has been made in addressing environmental justice in Maryland, there is still much work to be done. At the Maryland League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, we are committed to addressing environmental justice issues and fostering an inclusive and equitable environmental movement. A fundamental tenet of environmental justice is that historically marginalized communities are at the forefront of the decision-making processes that shape our state’s environmental policies. In that spirit, we present this series so you can hear directly from people across the state addressing environmental injustice in their communities. Our goal is for this series to lead to a deeper and broader understanding of the issues. Your engagement will help lead to the systemic change we seek.
What Is Environmental Justice?
A series initiated by Leah Zahniser, with support from the Maryland League of Conservation Voters Education Fund
Not everyone lives in the same environment.
Systemic discrimination has historically influenced where people live, work, and go to school— shaping vastly different environmental realities. Redlining, zoning laws, and industrial siting practices have disproportionately placed polluting industries and hazardous waste sites in or near communities of color. As a result, race has become one of the most accurate predictors of a person’s proximity to toxic facilities—more so than income or education.
Marginalized groups as a whole, such as low-income communities, communities of color, people with limited English language skills, children, pregnant women, people with disabilities, and older adults, are more likely to face greater environmental harm, such as pollution, and fewer environmental benefits, such as parks and other green spaces. These conditions also leave them more vulnerable in the face of climate change.
Environmental Justice (EJ) is the idea that everyone—regardless of race, income, language, or background—deserves clean air, water, land, and equal protection from environmental and public health hazards. It calls for combating the systemic inequities that cause environmental disparities and returning power to communities to decide what happens to their environment. Read more about Environmental Justice below.
Other Environmental Justice Resources:
Each pin on the map represents the locations for the stories in this series. This map is a still photo of the interactive mapping tool from the Maryland Department of the Environment, MDEnviroscreen, which can be found here
Methodology from MDE: EJ Score Calculation
The term “EJ Score” means an overall evaluation of an area’s environment and environmental justice indicators, as defined by MDE in regulation, and aggregates data in the following sub-indices: (1) pollution burden exposure; (2) pollution burden environmental effects; and (3) sensitive populations, including socioeconomic factors. Find a printer-friendly version of our detailed methodology here.
Why These Stories Matter
Understanding environmental justice requires looking beyond definitions, demographic markers, geographic boundaries, and pollution data. Building on quantitative EJ indicators and mapping tools, this series aims to deepen our engagement with environmental justice by centering lived experience.
In this resource, you will find stories from across Maryland illustrating a range of environmental justice issues and examples of community resistance. By engaging with real, on-the-ground experiences of environmental injustice, we can connect more deeply with its reality, understand how it fits within a broader system of neglect, and see how community organizing can create alternative futures.
Uplifting and uniting EJ struggles gives us the opportunity to move beyond merely responding to pollution and climate change impacts and toward shaping a future centered on healthy, sustainable, and community-led environments for all.
Learn more about Environmental Justice throughout Maryland:
WIN Incinerator: What A Waste
- Win Waste Incineration and the Renewable Standard Portfolio
- South Baltimore Zero-Waste Plan and DPW’s 10-year Solid Waste Plan
- Community-led initiatives in the face of government neglect
Prince George’s County’s Cumulative Impacts
- Transportation equity
- Datacenter expansion
- Food equity
CHISPA Maryland: School Buses Shouldn’t Harm Children
For children in these counties, getting to and from school has exacerbated these issues. When a child’s only reliable way to get to school is by diesel bus, their exposure to harmful air pollutants is unavoidable— aggravating asthma and increasing lifetime risks of cancer and heart disease.
Stoney Beach, The Bleeding Edge of Baltimore Industrial Activity
- Coal Power Plant Neighbors and Prolific Industrial Pollution
- Contaminated Dredge Material Dumping
- Organizing with the Anne Arundel Patapsco Environmental Coalition (AAPEC)
- Working with Environmental Justice and Conservation Stewardship Organizations and across communities
Wicomico County: Concentrated Waste on the Eastern Shore
- The growth of CAFOs
- CAFO Proposal over Paleo Channel Aquifer
- Waste Facility Expansion
Dorchester County, Smithville, and Deal Island: The Land is Drowning, and So is the History it Holds
Two documentaries, “Smithville” and “Eroding History,” tell the story of two Black communities along the low-lying edges of the Chesapeake Bay.
Allegany and Garrett County Trying Not to Be Ignored
Streams run orange from acid mine drainage, especially in western Allegany and southern Garrett counties. Many of these waterways are permanently fouled, unsafe to drink from, or fish in. Frostburg, a city once built on coal, now pipes in water from outside its own watershed because local supplies are too contaminated to use.
Lothian Industrial Pollution: Community’s Right to Clean Air faces “Special Exception”
In Lothian, Maryland, more than 100 diesel trucks travel daily through narrow residential roads. The area, once predominantly forest and farmland, is now regularly impacted by industrial traffic, leaving behind thick clouds of dust and the stench of diesel exhaust.
Prince George’s County: Training the Next Generation of Advocates
A Latina uses her leadership skills to advocate for environmental justice.
Baltimore City: Connecting People With Clean, Affordable Energy
Community leader brings people together through community solar and offshore wind.