by Dorceta E. Taylor

About the author: Dorceta E. Taylor teaches environmental sociology at Washington State University in Pullman.

Hazel Johnson lives in Atgeld Gardens, a predominantly black housing project on Chicago’s Far South Side. She refers to the neighborhood of 10,000 residents as a “Toxic Doughnut” because the homes are encircled by landfills, factories and other industrial sites that emit toxic and/or noxious fumes. West of the Doughnut, the coke ovens of Acme Steel discharge benzene into the air, to the south is Dolton’s municipal landfill, to the east is Waste Management’s landfill, and to the north lie beds of city sewage sludge. There are 50 abandoned hazardous dump sites within a six-mile radius of the neighborhood. The toxic stew around the Doughnut is so potent that Illinois inspectors...