The records of the Saint Francis Prayer Center document the activities of this organization particularly in its efforts to fight environmental racism the during the decade of the 1990s. This collection is organized into three series which represent two of the most important legal and political battles in which the Saint Francis Prayer Center has participated as well as other activities. The series in the record group are: Genesee County Power Station; Select Steel Plant; and Other Activities.
The Saint Francis Prayer Center of Flint, Michigan is a donation supported Catholic retreat center founded in 1975 by Father Philip Schmitter and Sister Joanne Chiaverini. The goals of the Saint Francis Prayer Center were to provide a central location for the local community to walk, to provide spiritual guidance, and to bridge gaps that exists between religious and racial lines. Over the years the Fr. Schmitter and Sr. Chiaverini have expanded the mission of the Center to include advocacy on environmental justice issues facing Flint.
The Saint Francis Prayer Center was deeply involved in two important legal cases regarding environmental justice and racism. In NAACP v. John Engler et al. the Center was a plaintiff in the attempt to close the Genesee Power Station in Flint. It was also a part of a 1998 filing of a Title VI complaint (part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) which claimed that the construction of the Select Steel Mill violated the civil rights of the residents in Flint.
In 1993 the Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) issued a permit to the Genesee Power Station, whose fuel supply included construction and demolition wood containing lead based paint. The permit allowed lead emissions of 2.4 tons per year into the local, already highly polluted, mostly African-American community. After several years of litigation the court issued an injunction prohibiting the State of Michigan from granting any more permits until it had reformed its system of environmental protections, including requirements that the state perform risk assessments and reform its public hearing process, which the court found was not "meaningful." Throughout this process the Saint Francis Prayer Center opened its doors to the litigation team of the Sugar Law Center and Fr. Schmitter and Sr. Chiaverini were highly involved in the legal process, appearing at trial every day.
In June of 1998, the MDEQ granted a permit to the Select Steel Corporation to build a steel recycling plant in northern Flint, Michigan, again adjacent to a largely African-American neighborhood. The residents of the community, along with two community-based organizations filed a Title VI administrative complaint. In August 1998, the EPA Office of Civil Rights accepted the complaint for investigation. On October 30, 1998, 74 days after it accepted the Select Steel complaint, the OCR issued its first and only substantive Title VI decision in the 25 years that EPA's paragraph 602 regulations had been in effect. In its decision, the EPA found no Title VI violation and ruled in favor of the State. In March, 1999, sixteen, of the more than 20 groups of complainants from the still-pending administrative actions, jointly filed a Petition with the EPA seeking to have the Select Steel decision reconsidered. This appeal was also denied.
These important cases as well as other community issues in which the Center has been involved demonstrate the commitment that the staff at the Saint Francis Prayer Center has to issues of environmental justice and community well-being. The Saint Francis Prayer Center continues to be a source of spiritual and material assistance to the city of Flint and the surrounding area.
