Safe Water, Safe Lives: Using Participating Action Research to Address Drinking Water Violations in NJ Prisons
Sydnie Bogan
Co-Presenters: Individual Presentation
College: College of Business and Public Management
Major: Public Administration (MPA)
Faculty Research Mentor: Galia Shokry
Abstract:
Access to clean and safe drinking water is a basic human right, yet vulnerable populations, such as incarcerated individuals, face significant barriers to this right. While EJ scholarship has long highlighted the intersection of social inequalities and environmental risks, the unique vulnerabilities of incarcerated populations to environmental harms (Greenberg & Perdue, 2024), including unsafe water, remain largely unexamined. This study aims to investigate:1. How do incarcerated individuals experience and navigate the health risks of unsafe drinking water?2. What infrastructural and regulatory factors allow drinking water contamination to persist in NJ correctional facilities?3. How can participatory research and advocacy amplify community knowledge and contribute to policy change on environmental health in carceral settings?The SDWA, enacted in 1974, was designed to regulate drinking water quality nationwide. However, prisons often fall outside the scope of regulatory oversight, leaving incarcerated individuals uniquely vulnerable to environmental hazards (Pellow, 2017; Bradshaw, 2018). Between 2011 and 2021, eighteen of the 408 carceral facilities nationwide with independent water systems were cited for over 5,000 SDWA violations. (Markey et al., 2024).This study focuses on two of New Jersey’s state prisons, one that purchases its water supply from a private source and a second facility that relies on sourced contaminated groundwater through the public water system. Additionally, both facilities are located within close proximity to several sewage outfall systems, which can further compromise water quality and the health of the carceral population. Using a participatory research approach, we analyze semi-structured interviews with recently released individuals, a Clean Water Action and Women Who Never Give Up advocacy campaign, and NJDEP Data Miner reports alongside environmental risk mapping. By actively involving formerly incarcerated individuals and activists in the research process, this study prioritizes lived experiences to shape findings and recommendations, to help mitigate the compounding vulnerabilities faced by incarcerated individuals and their systemic exclusion from environmental justice protections. (Ovienmhada et al., 2024; Ulrich & Nadkarni, 2009).