Environmental justice for whom? Citizen participation and brownfield redevelopment in downtown Birmingham, Alabama

Environmental legislation promotes citizen participation in the environmental review process through public hearings, community meetings, and advisory groups. However, environmental justice literature advocates higher levels of grassroots citizen empowerment through education and involvement in the decision-making process. Numerous research studies indicated that although the federal government supports community involvement in environmental restoration projects, such involvement has never been implemented to its fullest potential. This case study examines citizen participation and empowerment in the environmental review process in the redevelopment of three brownfields in underserved neighborhoods in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. This study quantifies empowerment leveraging Arnstein's ladder of participation in a novel approach. Utilizing a survey questionnaire, this analysis was conducted in three ways: a comparison of actual citizen participation methods used in the process with those providing a higher level of empowerment; compilation of open-ended responses of citizen dissatisfaction with the environmental review process; and utilizing Arnstein's Ladder to measure perceived levels of empowerment of citizen, public official, and developer stakeholders. Findings suggest that the types of participation methods used were at lower levels of citizen empowerment removed from decision-making; in responses to open-ended questions, citizens expressed shortcomings in the participatory process compared with their opinion on how it should be conducted, and perceived levels of empowerment differed among the categories of stakeholders. Citizens reported perceptions of empowerment at levels of tokenism removed from decision-making, while developers and public officials reported higher levels of empowerment. This study concludes that more innovative citizen participation techniques, university/community partnerships, and collaborative compact models are needed for more equitable participation. Statement of Problem—The purpose of this case study is to analyze how well citizen participation in the environmental review process as specified by legislation corresponds to normative guidelines prescribed in the environmental justice literature.