By Patricia Bilgin and Contessa Mankiewicz
In the late 80’s, in South Gate, CA, Tweedy Elementary School (above) was closed due to toxic exposures (chlorine gas; highly carcinogenic hexavalent chromium etc.) from adjacent industrial plants and facilities. Today the new schoolyard is located just a block from the original location. Tweedy Elementary School still faces heavy pollution from industry and diesel trucks that plague the area.
It's a compelling plot line for a Hollywood movie: a community of poor families surrounded by hazardous waste facilities, chemical plants and landfills is plagued by high rates of cancer, asthma, respiratory disease, birth defects and infertility. After years of abnormally high rates of illness and death, an investigation is launched which finds that pollutants released by manufacturing plants and landfills in the area have created a toxic environment that is literally poisoning residents. Sadly, this script could be based on a number of real communities, usually minority or low income communities throughout the nation.
Unfortunately, African Americans and Latinos, particularly lowincome, are more likely to live near sources of pollution and are subject to weaker environmental enforcement. Instead of enjoying good schools and multiple parks, residents are subjected to lung searing fumes, toxic dust on windows and noxious air. These contaminants, poisonous byproducts of the manufacturing plants and landfills near their homes, have turned residents in low-income communities into de facto hostages of environmental injustice. Some attribute this to market forces, pushing the idea that minorities and the poor choose to live in industrial areas. However, research suggests that manufacturing plants and landfills often seek such communities to do business in, practicing a type of “pollution profiling.”
In 2001, the University of California at Los Angeles' Institute of the Environment explored the relationship between ethnicity, income and proximity to polluting sources and determined that low income neighborhoods, many predominantly Latino and African-American, are more likely to host major sources of toxic air pollution than other communities in Los Angeles County. Latinos and African-Americans are three times more likely than whites to live near facilities with the worst air emissions and six in ten of such facilities are surrounded by neighborhoods with a higher proportion of minorities than the countywide average. The study, while stopping just short of concluding that Southern California has a problem with “environmental racism” did show a preponderance of evidence that belied “environmental classism.” Whatever the term, the end result is environmental injustice perpetrated upon low-income and as a consequence, often voiceless communities.
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The community of Sun Valley is situated in the Northeast San Fernando Valley. Along with a population that is approximately 70% Latino, Sun Valley has a high asthma prevalence rate. Not coincidentally, the community also hosts numerous industrial sites, including dozens of auto dismantlers, gravel pits, marble operations, thirty-three waste transfer stations, open and closed landfills and solid waste vehicle yards. Sun Valley is also home to a chrome plating facility, a business that routinely releases lead, arsenic, cadmium and cyanide into the environment, that shares a common backyard fence with a day care center. While unfortunate, it is not uncommon as many such facilities are close to residential areas or sensitive populations.
Environmental justice is the fair treatment of people of all races, cultures and income with respect to development, adoption and implementation of environmental laws, regulations and policies. In an effort to bring environmental justice to undeserved communities, Los Angeles City Attorney, Rocky J. Delgadillo, created the Environmental Justice Initiative (“EJ Initiative”).
The EJ initiative is the first pro-active neighborhood based task force that focuses on compliance, enforcement and prosecution by combining multiple agencies including the California Environmental Protection Agency, California Department of Toxic Substances Control and the Los Angeles City Department of Building and Safety. Since it's formation in January 2003, the EJ Initiative has identified areas within the city of Los Angeles plagued by issues of environmental injustice, coordinated multi-agency inspections and aggressively pursued criminal and civil enforcement of the law and public outreach to improve environmental quality in neighborhoods with demonstrated environmental problems.
Through the EJ initiative, Delgadillo's team has a singular opportunity to empower residents and improve the quality of life in low income, urban neighborhoods. Perhaps the most important aspect of the initiative is that it takes deputy City Attorneys out of City Hall and into affected neighborhoods where they learn directly from residents about their environmental priorities, making it easy for residents to work with the prosecutors to improve their communities. Once a problem has been identified,attorneys will work with the Neighborhood Council and other concerned organizations to demystify the applicable regulatory scheme and find a balanced approach to dispute resolution.
Initial EJ Initiatives were launched in Sun Valley and Wilmington; both communities with sizable minority populations, both communities that had been overlooked in the past.
Wilmington hosts multiple oil refineries with a combined refining capacity of over 250,000 barrels per day. Although research is ongoing, exposure to diesel fumes, a byproduct of oil refining, has been shown to quadruple cancer risk in exposed populations. When diesel fuel is burned, exhaust containing thousands of different chemical substances, including formaldehyde, benzene, sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide are released into the air.
In April 2004, an EJ Initiative inspection in Sun Valley led to a six-count criminal misdemeanor filing against the chrome plating facility adjacent to the day care center. Penalties resulting from these charges may include a fine of up to one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) and one year in jail. Thus far in Sun Valley, the task force has inspected 238 sites, prosecuted 57 facilities and collected more than $130,000 in fines and penalties. In the Wilmington area, the task force inspected 233 sites resulting in over $287,000 in fines and penalties. In the course of their duties, the EJ Task Force also inspected a major oil refinery and a sulfur plant and closed down a chrome plater posing a risk to nearby residents.
Chrome plating facilities were a regular feature in communities where the EJ Task Force was dispatched. Los Angeles has a higher concentration of chrome platers than any other city in California. In order to ensure that these businesses complied with environmental law, the City Attorney's Office launched a Chrome Platers Initiative in 2003. Just like the facilities next to the day care center in Sun Valley, these plants specialize in a finishing treatment using electricity and chromium to produce a mirror-like finish on items such as metal furniture frames and automotive trim. To prevent pollutants from getting into the air, water and soil, EJ has made inspections of chrome platers a priority, identifying potential polluters and prosecuting those who violate environmental law.
The City Attorney’s Office has also partnered with the Los Angeles Environmental Affairs Department and the American Lung Association of Los Angles to launch Green Team LA. An environmental and educational program to help reduce and eliminate environmental hazards within childcare facilities and homes, Green Team LA is a voluntary program that educates caregivers and families about the dangers and safe management of household toxins such as lead, radon, mold and pesticides.
Launched in May 2005, Green Team LA will focus on the population most vulnerable to pollution, children up to five years of age. Studies show that children under the age of five are more susceptible than adults to environmental toxins, which have an irreversible effect on the brain and organ development and can lead to detrimental health effects. By targeting childcare facilities deemed to be in need of environmental justice, it is approximated that 1,200 to 1,500 families will directly benefit from Green Team LAin the coming year.
The Environmental Justice Initiative has created a new vision for Los Angeles. Much remains to be done and the initiative may soon expand to other unfairly impacted communities in the City of Los Angeles. The success of the Los Angeles City Attorney's initiatives demonstrate that the challenge of securing environmental justice for every resident, regardless of income or race, is not insurmountable. EJ will continue to confront polluters using innovative thought, creative partnerships and legislative means to ensure that heavy industry respects and honors not only the law, but also and more importantly, the health of the people.
Copyright © 2005 Environmental Media Association
For more information about how to get involved and/or support Green Team LA, please call 1-877 LACARES or visit: www.la-cares.com To learn more about the City Attorney’s Office and the EJ Task Force |
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