It has taken a very long time, but environmental justice has moved to the center of the environmental policy agenda. Here in New York City, the environmental justice movement spent decades fighting the siting of the North River sewage treatment plant in West Harlem. Having lost the siting battle, activists pushed to improve the treatment plant and reduce its environmental impact. They worked to design Riverbank State Park, a wonderful facility that sits on top of the plant. Percy Sutton and David Dinkins and most of Harlem's political establishment fought the plant's siting in Harlem. West Harlem Environmental Action, the predecessor of WEACT, and its visionary head Peggy Shepard partnered with NRDC and successfully sued New York City to minimize the negative impact of the plant on the Harlem community. The history of the plant and its siting is thoroughly analyzed in a terrific 1994 case study published in the Fordham Law Review and authored by environmental justice pioneer Vernice D. Miller (now Miller-Travis). Miller's case study details the terms of New York City's settlement with the Harlem community: