a web-based course for the public health workforce
Each of the five units in this online course contain educational interactives that teach a key concept of social justice as it relates to public health inequity. One of the interactives is featured below. To see others, go to the menu and click on "Preview Interactives."
In the 1950's, the City of New York quietly decided to build a massive sewage treatment plant in West Harlem. The plant protected the Hudson River, but its air pollution made nearby residents sick. Fed up with the community's skyrocketing rates of asthma and other respiratory diseases, residents formed a coalition to confront the disturbing history behind the plant's placement and construction.
WE-ACT
Peggy Shepard, Chuck Sutton, and Vernice Miller (not pictured) co-founded the community group West Harlem Environmental Action (WE-ACT).
Bridge and Tunnel Club
Smokestacks at the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Bridge and Tunnel Club
The North River Wastewater Treatment Plant is located on the Hudson River, west of the West Side Highway from 137th Street to 145th Street.
Bridge and Tunnel Club
Riverbank State Park is a 28-acre park built on the top of the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant.
WE-ACT
West Harlem residents play basketball at Riverbank Park. Smokestacks from the treatment plant can be seen in the background.
Corbis
While West Harlem is a vibrant, ethnically diverse community, one-third of its residents live below the poverty line.
Corbis
Two men enjoy the sunshine and a game of chess on a warm day.
Corbis
A playground swing brings a happy smile to young faces as adults look on in the background.
Corbis
Harlem residents watch and applaud as local kids march in a street parade.
Girls in white dresses enter St. Aloysius Church for their First Communion. St. Aloysius was built in 1902-04 to the design of William W. Renwick.
Corbis
Harlem has a long history as a cultural center for music, art and dance.
Click and drag in this map to see the neighborhood around the North River Treatment plant.
This interactive can be found in Unit 1: Where Do We Start
Other Interactive presentations in this Site:
NYC Maps: Polluting Sites in Northern Manhattan
Help Us Spread the Word