On Feb. 2, a community forum was held in Salt Lake City to discuss implications of the Utah inland port. Experts, professionals and residents alike aired concerns about policymakers overlooking worsened air quality and the destruction of fragile ecosystems in the name of economic development. Spokespeople from Racially Just Utah also joined the dialogue to share ways in which the port continues to be a clear instance of environmental racism.
Environmental racism refers to any act that results in disproportionate effects of environmentally hazardous conditions on communities of color. The area approved for inland port construction will take place in the northwest quadrant of Utah, near the Great Salt Lake.