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EPA Releases Documentary Film on Success Story for Environmental Justice Program

Release Date: 06/14/2007
Contact Information: Davina Marraccini, (404) 562-8293/ [email protected]

(ATLANTA – JUNE 14, 2007) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will premiere a documentary film that tells the real-life story of a contaminated, low-income and minority area in Spartanburg that is being transformed into a livable and vibrant community.

The film, “Environmental Justice: The Power of Partnerships”, will be shown at 6:30 this evening at the Twitchell Auditorium, Converse College in Spartanburg, S.C.

A local Spartanburg non profit organization, the ReGenesis Environmental Justice Partnership, started the project with a $20,000 grant from the EPA in 1999. Since that time, the partnership has worked with private and public organizations to leverage over $166 million in funding.

Since 1999, ReGenesis has worked with government and industry to cleanup the Arkwright municipal dumpsite, a former fertilizer plant, and six brownfield sites. They also demolished 184 old, substandard public housing units and built more than 500 new, single-family and multi-family units for rental and home ownership.

“The success of the Spartanburg project will hopefully inspire others to revitalize their own community,” said Granta Nakayama, EPA’s Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Today’s announcement shows a trifecta of community, industry and government working together to build a better and brighter environmental future.”

“Thanks to the hard work of the ReGenesis Environmental Justice Partnership, we are witnessing the revitalization of two Superfund sites and six Brownfield sites into areas where people can live, work, and play,” said Jimmy Palmer, EPA Region 4 Administrator in Atlanta, GA.

This film was produced to educate viewers about EPA’s Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Model which helps communities work to solve local environmental and public health problems.

The public can obtain free copies of the DVD by calling the National Service Center for Environmental Publications at 1-800-490-9198. In addition, the public can also order copies of EPA's booklet “EPA’s Collaborative Problem-Solving Model” (document #EPA-300-R-06-002), which can provide information for communities and other stakeholders on how to address their own environmental justice issues.

For more information about this documentary film, please visit:
http://epa.gov/compliance/resources/publications/ej/ejcps-dvd.html