Abstract
Environmental equity problems are not exclusive to any one nation. With a lack of regulations, communities of color and poor, and the prevalence of social marginalization, issues of environmental inequality may occur even more vividly in countries with this climate. In Tijuana, Mexico, Metales y Derivados, an abandoned lead smelter, left its surrounding community, Colonia Cilpancingo, with a litany of health related issues and a hunt for justice from its failure to act with appropriate environmental stewardship. Having gained attention in the international news and exposing a failure of regulatory policies and transnational exploitation, Metales is an example of the difficulties a marginalized community has in achieving environmental justice. The article, describing how a solution to the problem remains elusive, the staggered pursuit of justice, and ties to NAFTA and the United States, demonstrates how instances of urban environmental injustice are connected to larger patterns of inequity, trade and pollution transfers that cross international boundaries and how these patters resemble the market and political dynamics that have led to instances of urban environmental inequality in the United States.
Recommended Citation
Tseming Yang,
The International Significance of an Instance of Urban Environmental Inequity in Tijauna, Mexico ,
31 Fordham Urb. L.J. 1321
(2003).
Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ulj/vol31/iss5/1