Engaging the Past: Integrating Oral Histories and Archival Records into a Cumulative Impact Assessment for Port St. Joe, Florida

Overburdened and fenceline communities have historically experienced multiple disproportionate impacts from pollution. These communities continue to live with the impacts of pollution, which manifest as disparities in health outcomes. These realities necessitate a need to study the interrelated aspects of the built, natural, and social environments that ultimately shape the quality-of-life outcomes of residents. However, traditional impact assessments rely heavily on quantitative data and contemporary environmental monitoring data, often missing historical records and the evolution of industrial activities and the regulatory landscape. This omission increases the demand to shift methodological approaches from single-medium sources focusing on quantitative environmental monitoring and its attendant impacts to approaches integrating situated and local knowledge and considering social and economic factors. This study presents a cumulative impact assessment case study of the environmental injustices of Port St. Joe (PSJ), FL. The study systematically incorporates oral history interviews and archival records to highlight the need for incorporating diverse sources into cumulative impact assessments. PSJ, particularly North Port St. Joe (NPSJ)—a historically African American fenceline community—has endured a disproportionate burden of environmental risks due to nearby chemical industries. Today, NPSJ faces challenges such as frequent flooding, degrading lands, and the contamination of water, all of which were further intensified by the impacts of Hurricane Michael in 2018 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. This study demonstrates how oral histories and archival records can enrich cumulative impact assessments, reveal underestimated impacts, and amplify the voices of those most affected.