SOCS 325 – Environmental Sociology
DeVry University Online

Week 1 Written Action Assignment

Environmental Injustice
Cane Run Power Plant

November 9, 2014

Environmental Injustice
Cane Run Power Plant
Introduction
For this assignment about environmental injustice I have decided on the Cane Run Power Plant, also known as the operating site for Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E), a coal-fired plant that is owned and operated by Louisville Gas and Electric in Louisville, Kentucky, located in Pleasure Ridge Park neighborhood. I will describe how the utility company LG&E is guilty of Environmental injustice to the Louisville residents of the Pleasure Ridge Park neighborhood, which Bell describes as powerless communities that suffer from human caused environmental disasters by the hands of powerful organizations and governments (Bell 2009).

Case Summary
Louisville Gas and Electric Company is a utility company that provides natural gas and electricity services for Louisville, Kentucky, which total to approx. 718,000 customers, as well the 16 surrounding counties (Unknown, Author 2014). LG&E provides these services from the Cane Run Power Plant located in the Pleasure Park Neighborhood, where the per capita income per household is approx. $21,831 per person (Unknown, Author 2013). This amount is considered considerably low. The power plant has been problematic for the residents of Pleasure Park for many years for a number of reasons, such as coal ash, which is a byproduct from burning coal, strong odors, and dust. Residents have reported burning nostrils and throat, abdominal pains, headaches, and sinus problems, eye and skin irritation, severe mental and physically stability, all of which residents are linking to the Cane Run Power Plant in their backyard (Peterson 2014). Not only have the residents affected physically, but they have