Finding Procedural Justice in Baltimore’s Department of Public Works

Abstract

This paper emerged from my desire to bring attention to local environmental injustices occurring in our Greater Baltimore community. For months preceding my research, headlining cases of environmental injustice, like the contamination of water in Flint, Michigan, had placed a spotlight on structural inequities in environmental decision making that adversely impact marginalized communities. I wanted to expand that spotlight to Baltimore and demonstrate the pervasive nature of environmental injustices, by both chronicling and visualizing (via maps!) water affordability and access issues, while considering the structures of power that deter a human’s right to water.