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Eco-hero, minus the cape

TEMPE — Steve Brittle once marshaled an entire Arizona town to shoot video of an environmental catastrophe to get the attention of the authorities.

Eleven years later, this self-proclaimed “hell-raiser” is still digging up dirt on industrial contamination around Arizona, and he shared his adventures at a recent Arizona State University lecture entitled, “Seeking Justice in Arizona.”

Brittle, now 57, is the co-founder and president of Don’t Waste Arizona, a nonprofit that promotes public awareness of environmental hazards facing Arizona’s natural resources by tracking the activities of big polluters since 1990.

“It was a matter of keeping the issues in front of the public, and not letting them get away with it,” Brittle said.

As an Air force brat, Brittle says he quickly learned about racism at a young age. He attended to a segregated school for part of his life in Florida. Brittle said this became an integral part of his social upbringing before heading to college at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history there in 1973 and also studied environmental science.

His activist track record spans several Arizona issues and towns. Brittle says he has worked to help get 180 homes and four schools decontaminated. Some very specific movements he is known for are Victims of the ‘92 Toxic Fires, What Goes on at Night Can Kill You and Hayden’s Nightmare. All of them deal with various toxic pollutants creating a public health scare.

In 1992, he helped form a group called the Concerned Residents of South Phoenix (CRSP) to inform people of the environmental issues that were occurring from a toxic chemical fire there. Brittle says the chemicals affected a predominantly black and Hispanic neighborhood.

Brittle said most of the houses were filled with chemicals in the air ducts. Hydrogen fluoride was produced, and four years later, the chemicals were still there. When Brittle noticed he had a sore that didn’t heal, he went to a meeting with other neighbors to, “raise hell.”

“I’ve always been a hell-raiser, never been arrested for it,” Brittle quipped.

The CRSP, Concerned Residents of South Phoenix, confirmed that the death percentage increased in their neighborhood. Researchers also proved that the death rate rose since the incident.

Another awareness project Brittle was involved in focused on sand and gravel industry on 51st Avenue, along the Salt River bed and Sun City. It was called What Goes on at Night Can Kill You, based on a video that shows the dust spewed from the projects at overnight.

Hayden’s Nightmare is also an area that many citizens have a high risk of obtaining lung cancer. Brittle said companies tried to blame it on smoking, but that a testing center which analyzed blood from newborn babies in the area were inconclusive. Brittle said when he goes to Hayden; he has to sleep the next day because of all the chemicals.

Regardless of the outcome, Brittle’s tactics are what draws headlines. During the Hayden project, he, his camera crew, and several Hayden residents went around town videotaping environmental issues associated with toxic chemicals.

The town council called an emergency meeting because its members saw the camera crew. Police officers stopped by and ran his plates. The whole operation with the toxic chemicals in Hayden turned off and they have significantly won the battle.

“People want us to do something, so they call and we go after things,” Brittle said.

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.