Webinar on Demand: Environmental Justice and Mental Health in Niagara Falls

On June 11, 2026, the Pulitzer Center held a webinar exploring the connection between pollution, environmental justice, and mental health in Niagara Falls. The conversation featured Pulitzer Center Reporting Fellow Jennifer Wybieracki alongside Niagara Falls activist Brian Archie, environmental justice organizer Bridge Rauch, and environmental lawyer Christen E. Civiletto.

The webinar drew 87 registrants and 28 live attendees from Niagara Falls, which spans the border between the U.S. and Canada.

The discussion began with an overview of Wybieracki’s article “How Two Teens in Niagara Falls Are Confronting Pollution and a Mental Health Crisis,” for which she investigated how environmental conditions in Niagara Falls affect the mental health and daily lives of local youth and community members. 

The panelists then drew on their expertise in journalism, environmental law, and advocacy, as well as their lived experiences, to discuss how environmental harm affects communities emotionally and psychologically and is rooted in the area's history of environmental injustice. The webinar culminated in a discussion among the panelists about how communities can be engaged in conversation about these issues and what it takes to turn dialogue into action.

Pollution called a mental health issue

A key theme explored in the conversation was that pollution in Niagara Falls is not only an environmental and physical health issue but also a mental health issue. The panelists pointed out that the mental health impacts of environmental issues are often overlooked, even though they have profound effects on communities' mental well-being.

“We know that lead … causes a higher rate of violent crime later in a person's life if they are exposed when they are a young person,” Civiletto said.  She highlighted growing research that shows chemical exposure is associated with adverse mental health outcomes in young people.

Rauch also mentioned the burden that young people are carrying in the face of environmental degradation. 

“Among youth, there's a growing epidemic of climate grief,” Rauch said, noting that environmental harms in Niagara Falls are “stacked on top of existing traumas” and physical health impacts that also affect mental well-being.

Additionally, panelists argued that the mental health impacts of long-term exposure to environmental contamination in Niagara Falls extend beyond anxiety and could contribute to broader community mental health challenges that deserve greater attention.

“If we're going to talk about mental health in Niagara Falls, and we're going to talk about this very high suicide rate, then we've got to talk about one of the potential causes,” Civiletto said. “To me, that is the exposure to the incredible number of chemicals that are in and around Niagara Falls, both in the air, in the soil, and in the waterways.”

She also pointed out the broader public health burdens the region faces with respect to poor health outcomes and alarming mental health indicators: “Niagara County is leading [New York state] in all the ways we don't want to lead the state.”

These observations are why the panelists stressed that environmental contamination should not only be seen as a physical health concern but also as a community mental health issue.

Archie emphasized the importance of taking mental health seriously when discussing environmental issues. “Mental health is health,” he said.

Archie reminded attendees that pollution is a present-day issue, recalling the Love Canal disaster in the 1970s in which a neighborhood and school were built on a buried toxic chemical dump, leading to devastating health impacts. 

“Environmental injustice is not … in the past, it's actually happening currently.”

Storytelling and organizing

The discussion concluded with a conversation about how storytelling, organizing, and accountability can help communities confront issues of environmental injustice and advocate for change. Wybieracki reflected on the importance of journalism in centering voices that are often overlooked in reporting.

“Don't leave any voices out of the story,” Wybieracki said. ”Young adults are so often left out of the conversation.”

The panelists also emphasized the importance of community engagement toward action. Rauch encouraged attendees to “find an organizing home” and “talk to your neighbors,” emphasizing the importance of community building and organizing in environmental justice work.

Civiletto urged participants to document experiences when facing environmental injustice and to demand accountability from public officials. “Put it in writing,” Civiletto said. “They need to be accountable to us.”

The discussion highlighted that awareness is the first step to addressing environmental injustice, but also emphasized the need to make spaces for communities to tell their stories and organize together to push for a healthier future.

Audience reflections

Audience feedback confirmed the impact of the discussion. In a post-event survey, more than 88% of respondents reported that the discussion increased their understanding of the connection between environmental issues and mental health challenges in Niagara Falls. 

Over 88% reported that they learned one or more ways they can take action to address environmental injustices, and 87% strongly agreed that they would recommend the session to others in their community.

One attendee, an educator, shared that the conversation inspired them to “connect with more people, listen to more people with these experiences, and connect my students to more people,” noting that they teach high school environmental science and cover environmental justice in the classroom.