Chelsea, MA had a COVID-19 infection rate that was 6 times higher than the average infection rate in Massachusetts, rivaling New York City’s infection rate of 71%. Chelsea, a 2.2 square-mile city with a population of about 40,000 residents, was recorded as one of the hardest hit towns in New England.
Chelsea is a low-lying, densely developed community that is home to one of the most ethnically diverse populations in Massachusetts. Around 66.9% of the population is of Hispanic or Latinx descent, with many community members speaking Spanish as their primary language.
What is Chelsea like, you ask?
Chelsea is home to storage depots of nearly 100% of Boston Logan’s jet fuel, Boston’s staggering 50-foot road salt pile, and 70-80% of Boston’s petroleum and LNG storage tanks. These are revolting statistics of industry occupying a land and it is widespread across the nation. The city is suffering from miles of contaminated land, too little green space, and a major deficit in stormwater infrastructure. We also cannot forget that Chelsea, MA is a coastal community, bordered by two major rivers. This becomes a dangerous mixture with coastal flooding, prompting toxic runoff.
I question why a major hub like Boston, with access to thousands of resources, chose Chelsea as their storage center for pollutants, toxic waste, and industry? Bakhtsiyarava, a researcher who focuses on how environmental inequality affects minority populations, helps to explain how across the globe, immigrant communities have a weak legal standing with the government and as a result, no voice. Chelsea, MA has fallen victim to this abuse.
Climate Change is Real
Thanks to the colossal industry accumulation in Chelsea, the community is undergoing intensified climate repercussions. I will focus on two major climate implications occurring in Chelsea, including sea-level rise and extreme temperatures.
Though sea-level rise remains unpredictable, data analysis has predicted that in the next 30 years, Chelsea will experience monthly floods with the potential to inundate 40% of the remaining open space. In a 1 in 10-year flood(a major flood with the chance to occur once in ten years), 64% of the city will be underwater. It is challenging to effectively convince folks across the globe what coastal communities will lose, as they don’t witness it first-hand. Yet, as lawmakers and corporations continue with status quo policies, Chelsea will be one of the first to lose critical aspects of their community– from neighborhoods, to commercial districts, to industrial zones.
Chelsea will soon face temperatures in the summer months that will reach an upwards of 110 degrees. These temperatures are presumably unlivable. I had never heard of an ‘urban heat island’ before I began my research. An urban heat island is an extremely dense city that experiences temperatures that are near 20 to 40 degrees hotter than their typical summer average. In this case, Chelsea has turned into an urban heat island as a consequence of replacing vegetation and greenery with loads of asphalt and concrete.
Community member Bongiovanni stated that they are “breathing in mouthfuls of air pollution every single day’ due to the densely developed industry.
But wait... there is more
From what we have covered, it is clear that the burdens the community faces on the daily are enormous. It is difficult to imagine working and raising a family in Chelsea, where the air one breathes is filled with pollutants, leading to exacerbated rates of respiratory and cardiovascular ailments.
But the weight on Chelsea doesn’t stop here.
The Substation Proposal
In 2014, Eversource introduced plans to construct a 115,000-volt substation(a power source that converts high voltage electricity to a usable, lower voltage electricity) in East Boston. When you think of the over-industrialized land that East Boston and Chelsea share, it is hard to believe that Boston authorities would authorize another electrical substation that would diminish the little green space the area has left.
The public certainly agreed, expressing a wide number of concerns about the dangers the substation would bring. Most notably, it could explode if inundated with water. Despite this, the current proposal has the substation sitting in a flood plain next to 8 million gallons of jet fuel.
"This project is idiotic, not helpful, and extremely unnecessary,” said Chelsea residents.
The Substation Proposal: Where are we now?
Six years after the initial introduction, a grassroots organization in Chelsea filed a Civil Rights Complaint.
The Civil Rights Complaint formally emphasized Evesource's lack of regard for community stakeholders; they neglected stakeholders a seat at the table and failed to provide accurate translation. Spanish speaking residents were left with no way of understanding what was said during the panel held by Eversource.
The industry and government leaders making critical decisions in the community don't typically live in these EJ neighborhoods. Inevitable, representative options and knowledge are missed. With this in mind, I will look to recognize the dire environmental injustice that occurs in Chelsea and propose two outreach solutions to increase transparent, detailed, communication to Chelsea. It is critical that the community is at the forefront of driving change. The ignorance of our nation to environmental justice areas, such as Chelsea, cannot go on any further.