HARTFORD, CT — The state needs to honor its commitment to environmental justice in Hartford, according to a group of elected officials and advocates who gathered on Thursday to draw attention to pollution in the capitol city.
The Sierra Club Connecticut organized the event, called Black Lungs Matter, to highlight the disproportionate impact of air pollution on Black residents in Connecticut, and what members say are the broken promises that contribute to this impact. The event was scheduled to coincide with the Friday Juneteenth holiday.
Alycia Jenkins, a Sierra Club organizer, opened the event by drawing attention to pollution from the Capitol Area System, also known as the Loop, a series of underground pipes which provides heating and cooling to more than a dozen public and private buildings in the capitol district including the Legislative Office Building, the State Office Building at 165 Capitol Avenue, the Supreme Court, and the Bushnell.
“We have been pressuring [Gov. Ned Lamont] and pressuring our legislators and our congresspeople to make sure that this update is clean and renewable, and that Hartford residents are given the jobs as part of this project when it occurs,” she said.
The state halted plans to replace crumbling infrastructure in the Loop with new gas-powered boilers, after concerns about work on the I-84 reconstruction and the continued use of fossil fuels were raised.
Mark Mitchell, co-chair of the Connecticut Equity and Environmental Justice Advisory Council, said if the state continued forward with plans to repair the Loop with fossil fuel-burning technology, it would be choosing to pump pollution directly into low wealth, Black and brown communities.
“Air pollution is not a minor inconvenience. It’s a matter of life and death,” he said. “Right now, Black, brown, and low-income residents of Hartford are breathing in toxic air that destroys their lungs, decreases their potential to earn a living, and shortens their lives. This is environmental racism in its purest form.”
Mitchell called on Lamont to combat federal cuts to environmental funding, and to tap the state’s federal response fund to restore $50 million in lost funding from the federal government.
State Rep. Minnie Gonzalez, D-Hartford, represents the district where the Loop is located. She said everyone wants the buildings that rely on the Loop to operate safely and effectively, but that consideration needs to be given to who will benefit and who will suffer impacts.
“If state buildings get reliable energy while Hartford neighborhoods continue to face pollution from fossil fuels, that is not fair,” she said. “Hartford families should not be expected to carry that burden so others can benefit.”
Cynthia Jennings, a civil rights and environmental attorney based in Hartford, said government officials need to choose to preserve life for the city’s young people, regardless of race or economic status.
“We are being told that continuing investment in fossil fuel infrastructure is acceptable because it is temporary. We are being told that we can continue operating and rebuilding fossil fuel facilities today and fix the problem tomorrow,” she said. “That is unacceptable. The children struggling with asthma cannot wait.”
State Rep. Jillian Gilchrest, D-West Hartford, spoke about the inequity that parents in Hartford face when compared to the air quality residents in her district take for granted.
According to a 2024 report from the state Department of Health, nearly 17% of students in the Hartford Public Schools suffer from asthma, with almost 9% suffering from moderately or severely persistent asthma. For comparison, only 4.5% of students in West Hartford suffer from asthma.
“It is entirely unacceptable that the environmental conditions in West Hartford are light years different than those in Hartford,” she said. “And it is unacceptable that I, as a mom, don’t have to worry that my children are going to get asthma because we live in West Hartford, whereas the parents in Hartford, that is a concern and something we have to deal with every single day.”
The event ended with Rep. John Larson, D-CT, who represents the district at the federal level. He said that as he and his legislative colleagues continue to push back against Trump administration attempts to cut environmental funding and deny climate change, they would need the support of regular people and advocates to succeed.
“What will really make change happen is the advocates sitting here today,” he said. “Your voice matters. You are taking the initiative in making sure that every member of Congress, every member of the General Assembly, the governor and the President of the United States understand that you’re not letting go, that you’re not giving up, that you understand that this is an issue that has to be addressed now.”
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