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Our Neighborhood: Marketing Plan to Help Fight

Environmental Injustice in New Castle County

Marissa I. Missan

University of Delaware
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Our Neighborhood: Marketing Plan to Help Fight

Environmental Injustice in New Castle County

Community Introduction

Environmental justice is gaining popularity, and the movement is revealing a

problem in Delaware Communities. Union of Concerned Scientists reports on seven

neighborhoods in New Castle County that are experiencing toxic levels of pollution.

These neighborhoods, along Route 9, are Belvedere, Cedar Heights, Dunleith,

Marshallton, Newport, Oakmont, and Southbridge (Union of Concerned Scientists,

2017, p. 9). The study conducted by the Union of Concerned Scientists (2017) found

these communities are “located along an industrial corridor in the northern portion of

Delaware’s New Castle County—an area that is home to major polluting industrial

sources as well as facilities that use large quantities of toxic, flammable, or explosive

chemicals” (p. 4). These neighborhoods are surrounded by polluting industries and

aspects of modern-day society.

History further demonstrates the communities’ relationship with contamination.

Housing along Route 9 were “built on top of filled marshes, and none of these homes

were built with basements to minimize flooding risks” (Union of Concerned Scientists,

2017, p. 4). Additionally, they “were built with cheap and substandard building

materials” (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2017, p. 4). To fully visualize and

understand these communities, one must understand they “are all within one mile of

the Delaware Memorial Bridge, which handles a large volume of truck and car traffic
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and extends over a DuPont chemical plant, and all are near the now closed nearby

Cherry Lane landfill” (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2017, p. 4). These communities

were built to save money, not to create lasting, safe homes for their inhabitants.

Additionally, these communities consist of mainly minority residents. According

to the study, twenty-two percent of Belvedere’s 2,074 residents are African-American,

33% are Hispanic, 38% are White, and 7% is other. This means 78% of Belvedere

community members are minorities. Cedar Heights has a population of 1,508, 23% of

which is African-American, 3% of which is Hispanic, and 74% of which is White.

Cedar Heights has the largest White population of the seven neighborhoods in the

study. Dunleith is 81% African-American, 15% Hispanic, 3% White, and less than 1%

other. This means around 96% of Dunleith’s inhabitants are minorities. Marshallton

has the smallest population in the study, consisting of only 746 residents. Among this

population, 6% are African-American, 24% are Hispanic, 66% are White, and 4% are

other. Newport has a population of 1,299 people, of which 18% are African-American,

23% are Hispanic, 57% are white, and 2% are other. Among Oakmont’s population of

1,717 people, the population is 81% African-American, 15% Hispanic, 3% White, and

less than 1% other. Finally, Southbridge’s population of 1,270 people is 65% African-

American, 2% Hispanic, 21% White, and 12% other. According to the United States

Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau, 76.9% of Americans were White in

2016, demonstrating the above-average minority populations in these seven

neighborhoods.
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Belvedere, Cedar Heights, Dunleith, Marshallton, Newport, Oakmont, and

Southbridge have poverty levels of 15%, 14%, 23%, 16%, 15%, 24%, and 22%

respectively. According to the United States census, the population in poverty is

12.7%. The neighborhoods in this study do not just consist of minorities, but of a high

percentage of poverty-stricken families. Communities like Marshallton show that this

problem is affecting all races in low-income neighborhoods; however, it is important

to note that most residents are minority races.

Problem Introduction

The exposure to harsh chemicals that Belvedere, Cedar Heights, Dunleith,

Marshallton, Newport, Oakmont, and Southbridge residents experience are not

unique to Delaware. Steve Lerner states “there are in fact thousands of communities

on the fenceline with heavy industry where low-income people of color (and some

whites) continue to be disproportionately exposed to toxic chemicals” (2012, p. xiii).

Impacts on Health

In the seven communities explored by the study conducted by the Union of

Concerned Scientists, residents face “substantially higher cancer risks and

respiratory hazard indices from toxic air pollution than […] the overall Delaware

population” (2017, p. 12). Belvedere has a total cancer risk of 49% from just

formaldehyde, and the respiratory hazard from acrolein is 72%. For the same

chemicals, Cedar Heights has a risk of 50% and 71% respectively, Dunleith has a

risk of 47% and 69% respectively, Marshallton has a risk of 43% and 77%
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respectively, Newport has a risk of 48% and 72% respectively, Oakmont has a risk of

47% and 69% respectively, Southbridge has a risk of 46% and 70% respectively, and

Greenville has a risk of 52% and 67% respectively (Union of Concerned Scientists,

2017, p. 14-15).

Marketing Plan Introduction

Despite these unfair risks, the communities “lack political representation”

(Union of Concerned Scientists, 2017, p. 4). For this reason, the marketing plan will

focus on educating the communities and surrounding communities of this

environmental injustice.

Goal

The marketing plan’s goal is to inform residents of the seven communities,

surrounding New Castle County residents, and public officials of the pollution and its

impact on community health.

Target Audiences

The marketing plan will focus on three target audiences: volunteers, the

surrounding community, and government officials (Grau, 2012, p. 93). Volunteers will

be heavily relied on to keep marketing costs minimal. Community support is vital in

creating lasting change, because the marketing plan’s objective is to inform

stakeholders on the issue of environmental injustice in New Castle County. The

segmented categories of the target audience include residents of the seven

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neighborhoods, community members that work with environmental groups, public

officials, and community members that would be interested in volunteering.

Promotion Activities and Justification

The marketing plan will consist of a multitude of promotion activities, including

events with speakers, Discussion  Action events, and social media campaigns.

Speaker events will consist of residents from the seven communities telling personal

stories about their experiences living in highly polluted neighborhoods. These stories

will be used to “make numbers come alive with emotion” (Grau, 2012, p. 49). Staff

from local environmental groups, such as the Delaware Nature Society, Delaware

Concerned Residents for Environmental Justice, Neighbors Rebuilding Our

Neighborhoods, Community Housing and Empowerment Connection Inc., Minority

Workforce Development Coalition, Delaware City Environmental Coalition, and the

Delaware chapter of the Sierra Club, will volunteer to speak on the environmental

impacts on health and ecosystems in “fenceline neighborhoods” (Lerner, 2012).

These professionals will support the stories of residents by explaining the

environmental pattern that individual stories represent. Discussion  Action events

will be open to the community where all stakeholders are welcome to discuss the

situation and learn what they can do to improve it. According to the Union of

Concerned Scientists,

Communities are pressing for more resources with which to take necessary,

effective action. Residents want evacuation plans that they can practice. They

want urban planners and housing developers to understand the importance of

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incorporating safe and healthy building materials. They want safe, healthy, and

affordable communities and housing structures irrespective of race and

income.” (2017, p. 9)

DiscussionAction events will engage community members and community

volunteers.

The “action” component will include letter writing at the end to public officials

informing them of effects pollution is having on New Castle County residents. It will

be a time where residents can, in that moment, help effect change through political

voice. These events are focused on informing stakeholders in positions to enact

change and supply resources to these communities.

Finally, a social media campaign on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter will be

ran encompassing supportive community members and organizations. This will

engage younger community members, such as college students, that can act as

volunteers and advocates in the community. Additionally, it will be informing the

younger generation of the environmental concerns in the community, in the efforts to

prevent environmental injustice from occurring.

Timeline, Task Responsibility, and Cost

During the month of March, 2018, environmental nonprofit representatives,

from organizations such as those discussed above, will be contacted about creating a

committee to implement the marketing plan. Organizations will have a representative

or two assigned to this committee, and it will therefore have no additional costs to the
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employee’s regular salary. April will consist of three meetings to coordinate their

message for the social media campaign and plan the speaker and Discussion 

Action events. These meetings will also be time for staff to determine who will be

reaching out to residents and collecting stories and names of people interested in

speaking to the community. DiscussionAction event letters will focus on the fact

that “the state legislature is threatening to amend the law to allow for heavy industrial

operations on the coast in an attempt to re-invigorate Delaware’s manufacturing and

energy economy” (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2017, p. 5).

Meetings will take place at locations owned by participating organizations,

therefore not costing any funds. Each organization will donate a portion of the mailing

supplies for the DiscussionAction events, so this will not incur costs either.

May will begin events, which will take place every three weeks through

September, featuring residents and staff speakers. The social media campaign will

happen simultaneously in the months holding events. All nonprofits participating will

manage a single Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram account. Organizations will plan

in March for the maintenance of the social media platforms by contacting University

of Delaware and Delaware State marketing and environmental science professors to

find a student volunteer to maintain the sites. Therefore, all social media

maintenance will be free.

Events will be marketed through the participating nonprofits, local religious

organizations, local schools and universities, and word of mouth. Participating

nonprofits will work with these free marketing tools to promote speaker and
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DiscussionAction events. Flyers, posters, and brochures will be donated from

participating nonprofits as well, incurring no additional cost to the cause.

Posts will be at least weekly, and consist of pictures, images, and facts related

to environmental justice and the experiences of New Castle Country residents in the

seven aforementioned neighborhoods. All platforms will also advertise the events and

encourage the target audience to attend. Details on social media can be found in the

following three sections.

Facebook

Facebook will focus on stories from residents and environmental justice

patterns in the state and nation. Posts will be longer, with detailed and touching

stories informing readers on the issue of environmental justice in their own county.

An example of a story that could be posted on Facebook is that told by Stutz about

Marie Reed. Ms. Reed discusses her experiences with floods growing up in South

Bridge, Delaware (Stutz, 2017, p. 2). She said “‘When it rained you never slept,a nd

my father would say, ‘Come on everybody, let’s go.’ And that meant you went into the

basement with buckets’” (Stutz, 2017, p. 2). Narratives, like this short example from

Ms. Reed, should flood the Facebook account, demonstrating the impact on

residents and the number of individuals impacted.

Twitter

Twitter will focus on the same topics as Facebook, but do so in a far more

concise manner. It could take just the quote from Marie Reed, without the detailed
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context of other experiences she shares. It would be a collection of short, emotional,

and inspirational experiences and claims regarding environmental injustice

experienced by residents in New Castle County communities.

Instagram

Instagram posts will consist of images depicting pollution and the health

consequences in the surrounding neighborhoods. Pictures of children breathing

polluted air from car exhaust, homes adjacent to hazardous waste signs, and other

impactful images can draw the attention of community members to the cause.

Budget

As seen under “Timeline, Task Responsibility, and Cost” above, no single

organization will front all of the costs and burdens of maintaining this marketing plan.

The organizations; however, will spend some of their time and money for the cause.

Not including the staff volunteering to represent their organization on the committee

because a great deal of time will be volunteer-based, the only noteworthy costs are

brochures, flyers, and posters used throughout the community to stimulate

awareness of the events and of the cause. FedEx “Prices start at $29.99 for 50 one-

sided flyers” (“Flyer Printing”). USPS charges around 14 cents/letter for nonprofits

(“Business Price Calculator”). Amazon charges $29.54 for 250 business envelopes

(“Business Source”). The cost for this marketing plan is miniscule, for it focuses on

cheap and free marketing tactics in order to avoid burdening participating

organizations.
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Summary

This marketing plan is focused on increasing awareness and concern of

residents, surrounding communities, and government officials on environmental

injustices occurring in New Castle County. The plan requires the collaboration

among nonprofit organizations and individuals. Organizations must supply the

information and resources for individuals to use. These resources will include

information, inspiration, and tools for giving the seven communities a larger political

voice.
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Works Cited

Business Source No. 6 Business-weight Envelopes (99709) : Storage File Boxes :

Home & Kitchen. (n.d.). Retrieved March 03, 2018, from

https://www.amazon.com/Business-Source-Business-weight-Envelopes-

99709/dp/B003SBZYOK/ref=sr_1_42?s=home-

garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1520112277&sr=1-42&keywords=business%2Benvelopes

Flyer Printing. (n.d.). Retrieved March 03, 2018, from

http://www.fedex.com/us/office/flyer-printing.html

Grau, S. L. (2014). Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations: Insights and Innovation.

Chicago, IL: Lyceum Books, Inc.

Lerner, S. (2012). Sacrifice Zones: The Front Lines of Toxic Chemical Exposure in the

United States. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Newman, M. (2017, October 19). Report: 7 New Castle communities at greater risk for

cancer, respiratory illness. Retrieved March 02, 2018, from

https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/health/2017/10/19/report-7-new-castle-

communities-greater-risk-cancer-respiratory-illness/768971001/

Stutz, B. (2017, January 30). A Vulnerable Community Braces for the Impacts of Sea

Level Rise. Retrieved March 03, 2018, from http://e360.yale.edu/features/a-

vulnerable-community-braces-for-the-impacts-of-sea-level-rise
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U.S. Department of Commerce. (2016). QuickFacts. Retrieved March 03, 2018, from

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045216

Union of Concerned Scientists. (2017, October). Environmental Justice for

Delaware(Rep.). Retrieved March 2, 2018, from Union of Concerned Scientists

website: https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/10/ej-for-de-report-

ucs-2017.pdf

Business Price Calculator. (n.d.). Retrieved March 12, 2018, from

https://dbcalc.usps.com/CalculatorSetPage.aspx