September 8, 2005

This year, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute will recognize Latinas that have excelled in the areas of science, media, cultural arts, sports, leadership and environmental justice.

Suzie Canales, of Citizens for Environmental Justice, based in Corpus Christi, Texas, is the recipient of the Latina of Excellence Award for her work in the area of Environmental Justice.

The Latinas of Excellence Award Reception will be:
When: Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Where: The Mayflower Hotel, Washington, DC
Time: 11:00 A.M. Eastern

A navy wife for twenty years, Suzie Canales returned to her home town of Corpus Christi, Texas after learning that her sister, Diana Bazan, was dying of breast cancer. During the funeral services several people started talking about the high number of people dying of cancer that went to school with Diana or lived in that Westside community. The family decided to investigate to see if Diana's death and the deaths of others in the community were due to the environment and Citizens for Environmental Justice (CFEJ) was formed.

CFEJ investigated and found that historically due to race-zoning restrictions, Hispanics and African Americans had to live in substandard subdivisions, by old hazardous waste sites and activities. The Westside community that Diana and others grew up in had before been used for numerous oil and gas exploration and production activities, abandoned oil waste sites and hazardous dumpsites as well as pipelines carrying crude oil and gasoline. The direct link to the oil industry was one reason CFEJ's work evolved to focus on refinery emissions and impact on human health. Even though the race-zoning restrictions were lifted long ago, many people that would like to move cannot afford to. Every census tract along refinery row is predominantly low-income people of color and this population continues to be disproportionately overburden by pollution exposure. One thing CFEJ is doing is compiling health outcome data and to date, that data has been alarming by showing high rates of cancer, birth defects, hysterectomies. In addition, a recent study found that pediatric and adult asthma rates in Nueces County are significantly elevated when compared to the state. CFEJ is working to achieve environmental justice by compiling health outcome data for the region and combining that with bucket air samples through their bucket brigade program to win demands for a better environmental for all, especially people of color and low-income.