Are people aware of the Hazards Produced by Factory Pollution? By: Rosa Valdez Briones, Michael Tumagan, Karen Vaca (SOC 410 – FALL 2020 )
OVERVIEW
Our group made the decision to conduct an environmental case study on the hazards of factory pollution in the South Bay area. The reason we chose to conduct our research in the South Bay is because all three of us are currently residing in cities characterized as being part of the South Bay area. Instead of focusing on one primary city, we chose to examine each of our sites collectively. The purpose behind our choice to collectively analyze factory pollution on a grander scale is to demonstrate to the public (blog readers) that factory emissions are a bigger threat to our planet’s degradation and are mainly placed in areas of low income, minority filled communities. Most of the South Bay area cities like Long Beach, Carson, and Wilmington are considered to be one of the most diverse communities, while also having individuals that are affiliated with minority racial groups: Latinos/Hispanics, Asian Americans, African Americans, and Pacific Islanders. Ultimately we are trying to highlight the disparaging effects of environmental racism in the South Bay area, while bringing to attention the lack of knowledge and awareness produced by members living in the South Bay communities in regards to the harm of constant exposure to factory pollution.
EJ SITE PROFILE
PROFILE OF LONG BEACH, CA
The city of LONG BEACH lies in the southern region of California, and is within the region of southern Los Angeles. The port of Long Beach is one of the second busiest container ports, which is a gateway to all forms of trade within, and out of the region. As of 2019 demographics are estimated at 462,628, which consists of a diverse group of individuals, with whites at 52%, Hispanics at 42.5%, being the largest two demographics, Blacks at 12.9%, Asians at 13.1 %, and others making .09% of the population. (Census 2019 ) Whether these estimates will change with the 2020 census is yet to be foreseen. As for the environmental impact the city it has been affected by a multitude of problems such as air pollution, water pollution, and the many hazards posed from oil refineries. This poses air quality risks, alongside physical, and potential lethal endangerment, according to the Los Angles County Public Health Agency. In combination with chronic disease prevention, beach water contamination, and vector-borne illnesses, there have been many calls to action in preventing further damage to the residents of Long Beach.
PROFILE OF CARSON, CA
The City of Carson lies in the suburban area, south of downtown Los Angeles. Its population is estimated around 91,394. and is one of the most diverse regions as quarter of each demographic consists of white, black, Hispanic and Asian groups. As of 2019 whites make up 28.5%, blacks at 23.5%, Hispanics at 38.8%, Asians at 25.6%, and others around 2.6%. The main issue the city faces is the emissions distributed by coastal refineries, which in some cases have caused health problems within the community. The basins musky air can be blamed for 5,000 premature deaths and these issues will only get worse if nothing is done to fix these issues.
PROFILE OF WILMINGTON, CA
The City of Wilmington, CA borders North of Carson, East of Long Beach, Sand Pedro to the south, and west of Harbor City, known as the harbor region of Los Angeles. As of 2000, its residents consist of the highest Latino population at 86.6%, and is not diverse for the city of Los Angeles, nor for the county. Like Carson, Wilmington has suffered from terrible emission issues that plague the area. The continuous lobbying by oil intertest groups Chevron, Andeavor, and the Wester States Petroleum Association, a trade group, have invested $13.5 million in order to obtain what they want from climate legislation, which was signed by Brown July of 2017. As of today these refineries spew nearly 14 million pounds of volatile organic compounds, such as nitrogen oxides, and fine particles. Studies have shown, provided by AQMD, that the side affects of these pollutants have caused cancer, heart disease, and as well as asthma from the lack of regulation.
RAISING AWARENESS
To present the lack of awareness in the community, we are planning to interview close friends and family by asking them general question about factory pollution:
What is the history of industrial pollution problems within your community?
Have you witnessed any trends in your community, such as loss of natural resources or increase in pollution?
Are pollution problems getting better or worse in your community?
Do you believe industrial pollution problems have any relationship to health problems in your community? And if so can you describe what type of health problems?
Are you aware of any serious environmental harm to your community, and where it may be located?
Do you believe there has been a change of habits or mindset as a result of industrial pollution in your area?
Have these industrial problems had an economic impact on you or your community?
How would you describe the distance of these polluters? Do you believe you are in a safe distance from these chemicals?
What has your community done to address these environmental, health issues? How does the public health in your community compare to other areas, and nationwide?
What is your vision of the community for its future growth and protection in regard to industrial pollution
Who do you blame for the air pollution in your community
Do you ever believe air pollution will come to an end at large
How much longer do you believe we have to undergo air pollution to advocate for a better environment?
Has anyone in your household faced any health issues due to the air pollution in your community ?
To what extent do you feel pollution should be blamed for the problem in your community?
At this time, due to restrictions with COVID, we are limiting our consultation with experts, but if needed we are prepared to interview factory workers, or those associated with factory businesses to gather our info. We also have not conducted any interviews since we were still deciding on what questions are necessary to ask the interviewees, so that we are capable of obtaining what can be considered as the most essential information. Eventually we will incorporate the answers from our interviews into portions of our literature review and case study to support our hypothesis of the existence of a lack of awareness and knowledge in South Bay communities affected by environmental racism. Our decision to primarily conduct interviews with family members and close friends not just for our safety, but to also represent the reasons for the lack of awareness present in the minority families living in the South Bay area. Our group came to the conclusion that the main reason why our family is involuntary unaware and not worrisome towards the constant exposure to factory pollution is because like us, our parents or close family have not been taught properly of how dangerous factory emissions truly are.
BACKGROUND
Our group has gathered plenty of resources to draw upon that assist our case study’s efforts, but to among the resources we found, the five (5) resources we considered the most influential were:
Environmental Pollution Caused By Factories by John Peterson
This article evaluates the dangerous emissions made by factories such as greenhouse gases and ozone dangers. Peterson also brings to attention a particular source of emission that produces a significant amount of air, land and water pollution: animal factories. Peterson then explains how the factories not only pollute the Earth through gases but from water pollution as well. Peterson’s article is essential to our case study since it highlights how factories are creating different avenues to pollute our Earth and endanger individuals nearby. Most often people view factories as strictly pumping out pollution through gas emissions, but based on the reading, there are actually multiple ways.
Air Pollution: Current and Future Challenges by United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
This article makes note of the constant challenges the United States has encountered in an effort to minimize the amount of air pollution since 1970. The EPA provides background information of common pollutants and their effect on the human body. In a brief section they provide information on ways EPA is working in alignment with other tribes and states to resolve the air pollution issues. In addition, the concept of climate change and its relationship with air pollution was also explained. It was noted that climate change is not only harmful to the plant, but should also be considered as harmful to public health due to a fluctuation in climate. As a result, a rise in natural disasters such as storms, hurricanes, and floods are more likely to occur. This article is useful in our efforts to find a proper solution to bringing awareness to the communities by using a “scare tactic.” Using this methodology we will explain that without any solution or consideration for a solution in the future, they are undoubtedly putting their family’s and loved ones at risk of public health issues and natural disasters.
Health Impacts of Air Pollution by Environmental Defense Fund
This article goes more in depth on the particular chemicals commonly emitted from factories. The article lists: Black Carbon (BC), Nitrogen Oxides (NO and NO2), Ozone (O3), Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), and Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) as the five prominent “invisible” threats to the public. The Environmental Defense Fund breaks down each of the small particles based on its scientific properties and how each is dangerous when given long-term exposure. This article adds sufficient evidence for our explanation of how harmful factory emissions are, and will help us visualize a solution when speaking and warning our interviewees about factory pollution.
How Can Factory Pollution Affect Humans? By Field.Org.UK
Although this article was intended for readers in the United Kingdom, there are relevant points that highlight specific bodily harms air pollution causes. The health effects discussed in the article are caused by extreme amounts of exposure to air pollution and is said to be “one that will affect the most people each year.” The article also includes ways to fight against the air pollution in three ways: 1. Reducing the amount of energy use, 2. Limiting use of cars or automobiles, and 3. Purchasing goods and products from renewable sources. These suggestions for tackling air pollution will help us find a reasonable solution for our interviewees to apply once we explain to them ways they can help our efforts of bringing awareness about the factory pollution in the South Bay.
Effects of Heavy Industrial Pollution on Respiratory Function in the Children of Cubatao, Brazil by Spektor, D.M., Hofmeister, V.A., Artaxo, P.,Brague, J.A., Echelar, F., Nogueira, C.P., Hayes, C., THurston, G.D., and Lippmann, M.
This study incorporates a cooperative agreement between New York University and the EPA in collaboration with the University of San Paulo in the Brazilian city of Cubatao to emphasize on the exposures from industrial emissions and the resulting effects of respiratory deficiencies in school-age children. To support their analysis, they examine wind patterns in Brazil, according to geographical area. Since Cubatao is a coastal city, a constant land-sea breeze pattern occurs during the day and night giving low air dispersions in air pollution. This article will be used as a form of reference since most South Bay cities are near coastal regions like Cubatao, this makes the results and findings from the study very applicable to our case study.
Spektor, D. M., Hofmeister, V. A., Artaxo, P., Brague, J. A., Echelar, F., Nogueira, D. P., Hayes, C., Thurston, G. D., & Lippmann, M. (1991). Effects of heavy industrial pollution on respiratory function in the children of Cubatao, Brazil: a preliminary report. Environmental health perspectives, 94, 51–54. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.94-1567962
Environmental racism has been defined in several ways. It includes that it is the charge that activists’ level against the government and corporate officials whose economic and regulatory decisions yield increasingly inequitable results (Roque, 1993). Activists argue that environmental inequities are a result of institutionalized racism and manifested in poverty communities. People lack the mobility to escape polluted areas. Race plays a role rather than economic status because of the long history of housing segregation and discrimination in the United States (Roque, 1993). Minority communities suffer from weaker enforcement of environmental regulations and are often shut out of decision-making procedures because they lack political power and representation. There have been environmental exposures to toxins that contribute to these discrepancies, for example, lead poisoning that is affected by direct exposure. Minority and lower-income individuals are more likely to be exposed to toxins and those cumulative exposures could cause health effects. High percentages of Latinos and African Americans generally live in urban areas and, therefore, are routinely exposed to higher levels of air pollution. Also, in comparison with Caucasians, more Latinos and African Americans live in areas that do not meet the federal air quality standards. There are many toxic workplaces around the world but one thing that tends to go unnoticed is the relationship it has to environmental racism. The topic of environmental racism and toxic workplaces are very interconnected. As mentioned, those who live in areas that face environmental racism are often minorities. They often work in factories or other worksites that contribute to the pollution in their communities. As a result, they are often not given any other options to obtain a different job, leaving them to continue to work in an unhealthy job environment. Minorities facing environmental racism are often practically forced to work in toxic workplaces, exacerbating their conditions. Communities of color have become the dumping grounds for all kinds of deadly toxins and health-threatening environmental problems. Although, there have been significant improvements in environmental protection over the past several decades; however, millions of Americans continue to be exposed to unsafe and unhealthy physical environments. Many financially impoverished communities and their inhabitants are exposed to health hazards in their homes, on their jobs, and in their neighborhoods (Johnson, 2008). There is a health gap between white and black American citizens, and it is estimated to cause 84,000 excess deaths annually in the United States (Johnson, 2008). On the other hand, there is also an environmental racism gap and it highlights how there is a gap between whites and nonwhite communities. (Pulido, 2017). As a result, people believe that there are individuals that are privileged to have access to a healthy/good quality environment. Also known as “environmental privilege” which seeks to problematize the environmental quality enjoyed by more privileged populations compared to other populations such as communities of color (Pulido, 2017). One of the most important health equity issues impacting Latinos in California is that of concentrated and prolonged exposure to environmental toxins such as pesticides, air pollution, water contamination, and dangerous chemicals. Community members that reside and/or work in areas like Wilmington, California have to suffer health complications due to the exposure they are living and/or working in. There are inequalities based on race drive the social determinants of health, including environmental pollutant exposures, and that drastically shape health outcomes. There needs to be some kind of intervention looking to address issues of environmental racism that are impacting communities of color. However, this is not the fault of the individuals of the community but is the fault of large corporations and the government. Besides, minorities do not have a chance to vote on what is done in their community, yet they are the most exposed to the toxins and damages that are created in their environment leaving them to reside and work in unhealthy environmental conditions.
Light poles with solar panels on the opposite side of the street as refineries.
Profile of Wilmington, CA:
The city of Wilmington is a neighborhood in the Los Angeles Harbor Region area of Los Angeles, California. It is located next to the Port of Los Angeles. It is surrounded by numerous small industries, transportation corridors, and port businesses, which are located to the south of residential areas. Wilmington is also known as the third-largest oil field in the United States. This neighborhood has a high percentage of Latino and foreign-born residents. The total number of people living in Wilmington is 53,815. The population was estimated at 54,512 in 2008. However, according to the 2010 U.S. census the average number was 5,887 that is among the lowest population densities in the city as a whole (Isakov, Venkatram, Touma, Koračin, Otte, 2007). Wilmington is not considered very diverse ethnically. In 2000, Latinos made up 86.6% of the population, while whites were at 6.4%, Asians at 4.8%, blacks at 2.6% and others at 1.7% (Isakov, Venkatram, Touma, Koračin, Otte, 2007). Many of the residents in Wilmington their most common places of birth were from Mexico and Guatemala and for 44.5% of the residents who were born abroad. It was considered a high percentage of foreign-born when compared with the city and the county as a whole. The median household income in 2008 was 40,627 dollars. Renters occupied 61.5% of the housing units, with homeowners occupying the rest. In 2000 there were 1,524 military veterans which were 4.6% of the population, which was considered to be relatively low in comparison to the city and county as a whole (Isakov, Venkatram, Touma, Koračin, Otte, 2007).
An elementary school in San Pedro with the view of the Port of Los Angeles and refineries in the background.
Environmental Justice Assessment:
Interview of a former Health and Safety Engineer of the Port of Los Angeles:
*Interviewee agreed to the interview on the condition of staying anonymous
What years did you work as a Health and Safety Engineer at the Port of Los Angeles? I was a safety engineer in the private sector and then I was a Health and Safety Engineer in the Personnel department with the city of Los Angeles beginning in 1988. I then began working with the Port of Los Angeles in November of 1989.
Do you feel like your job in the Health and Safety department in the Port of Los Angeles helped you contribute a lot to society; did you find personal fulfillment in your job? I did from the personal lives that I touched. We are charged with making recommendations to prevent exposures to certain chemicals and health and safety risk factors, whether that is a physical factor or a health factor. We are charged with making sure there is minimal exposure for the employees. Part of what we do is a sales job for the people that do not believe they need to be protected or that they need to have anyone involved in making recommendations for how they can protect themselves. From the time I started in 1989 until I left the Port of Los Angeles, there was a change in the attitude of the employees. First it was me trying to win them over and when I won them over, yes I did find some fulfillment. I convinced you to wear your earplugs or to put on a respirator or to make sure you have the proper shoes on. I convinced you. Later, the attitude of the employees transitioned to taking personal responsibility and asking me for help on how they could protect themselves. I think that was more from awareness from the Internet and the information that was out there.
Was there any overlap in health and safety regulations for employees as well as the surrounding community? I can think of one area where it overlapped. It comes to mind immediately, where there is community exposures that we need to be concerned about and there were employee exposures. The community exposures were being generated by work that the employees were doing. This was having to do with noise exposure. We have an operation called pile driving, where they are taking these huge piles and driving them into the ground of the old piers or whatever else they need to do to create the wharfs and the docks in the port. So pile driving is a very dangerous activity, it is a very noisy activity and it can produce decibels in range of 100 to 120 decibels. Cal/OSHA has its limits on what you can be exposed to over an eight hour day and what you can be exposed to as an impulse noise. We were in excess of that for our employees. Now, we made sure our employees were protected. We gave them earplugs and earmuffs and reduced the time they would have exposure to those noise levels, but we were not doing anything for the community, who depending on how close they were had similar exposures. So we did get some reported concerns from the community about the noise the pile driving activity was making. So that was one area where community and the workplace crossed over in terms of health and safety.
With mentioning the noise pollution of the pile driving, was there any work done to combat environmental problems? In the early years that I was there, we initiated what was called the Hazardous Waste Contract. The port is a huge complex and there are a lot of areas where it is easy for people to dump things and have it not noticed until the next day or the next week. So, we were responsible for a contract that went around and searched the areas and picked up all the waste that was dumped and categorized it. We actually had one time what was called a Superfund site on the port for all the collected abandoned waste that was on the port’s property that we became the legal owner of and some of that had some potential negative consequences for environmental exposure. If we hadn’t picked it up it could erode away and leak into the groundwater or it could vaporize and get into the air, but we picked it up and neutralized it and sent it to the appropriate facilities for disposal or neutralization or sometimes incineration. So that is where my responsibility crossed into the environmental area.
Did the department that you worked in ever receive complaints or communication from the community and local organizations, apart from the noise pollution mentioned? Not direct to our division. It was the Harbor department and I worked in the Risk Management division. So the concerns in risk management outside of worker’s compensation and safety and health issues would be third-party claims against the port for activities we were negligent with or something we did that we shouldn’t have done or something we should have done that we did not. So, the concerns from the community regarding environmental issues that was addressed to the port that came to the Risk Management division, had to do with our truckers and the idling of the trucks in the vicinity of the neighboring communities like Wilmington and Harbor City and San Pedro. That the schoolchildren who were attending schools in these areas were being exposed to pollutants and particulates with what they call NOx (nitrous oxides) and SOx (sulphur oxides) that are emissions from the trucks that sit idling that are waiting to either pick up or drop off cargo from the port. Our director at that time, initiated a process to require all the truck drivers to convert to non-emission generating trucks, electric vehicles, by a certain year. I think at the time that I left, they had converted a certain percentage of them. I believe 40-50% of them.
Do you feel like the government actively contributed any harm to the environment or local communities? Not actively, I think actively is intentionally, so I don’t think there was ever an intent. But actively, intentionally, and negligently are related and I think they may have been aware and during the course of my time there that certainly changed, but in the early years they may have been aware and there may have been some negligence. Yes they were aware but they were not as proactive about ensuring that protocols were put in place to reduce the exposure.
At any point, did you see any department work with local organizations to implement programs or policies for the health and safety of port workers and those who live around the port? For the port workers, yes. That was definitely the Risk Management’s health and safety section. We filed the guidelines for the state which tells every employer has to have what is called an IIPP, which is an Injury and Illness Prevention Program. It is the framework for the state’s requirements for health and safety programs in organizations if you have over a certain number of employees, every employer has to have an IIPP and has to follow it. And the community, we did have a department called the Environmental division within the Port of Los Angeles, which was more responsible for ensuring we did our EIR’s [Environmental Impact Reports] prior to initiating any projects and that we were working with the Coast Guard to ensure that our ships weren’t emitting particulates and pollutants that would increase the pollutants in the water that would create additional environmental hazards and exposure.
What positives do you see the Port of Los Angeles bringing the surrounding communities? By the time that I left I think they had done a lot. They were moving towards having the ships convert from diesel to electrical, so that when they were idling on the water they weren’t any pollutants being emitted. They had moved to require a certain percentage of the trucks that were bringing in and transporting goods in and out of the port to be electric vehicles, so they weren’t diesel and weren’t emitting particulates. We also had used some of the revenue that the port generates, it’s a multi-million dollar municipality, put back into doing good for the community. There was a park in Wilmington that they built and they put up a barrier wall so that the particulates and the noise that the Wilmington community was being subjected to was lessened. They built fountains and recreational parks with the revenue so that the community residents could benefit from that and they maintained them. From the time that I came there in 1989 to when I left in 2016, the attitude about what obligations you have in the community and why it is important to engage the community in what you are doing and not just consider them casualties of your growth that changed a lot, in almost a 180 degree change. The residents themselves in the local communities have become more vocal about what their demands are and what their requirements are from the port to be a good neighbor.
Interview Takeaways:
A lot was learned from the interview with a former Health and Safety Engineer from the Port of Los Angeles. The Port of Los Angeles has many departments that each deal with very specific problems and duties. Our interviewee worked with the Port of Los Angeles from 1989 to 2016 as a Health and Safety Engineer in the Risk Management division. Working there for 27 years, she saw the transformation of the port from negligent to responsible. For example, our interviewee, mentioned the park built in Wilmington with the revenue from the port. This park, called the Wilmington Waterfront Park, was built around the community with community-based planning with aim to end the mistrust between the port and the community (Brown, Aryan-Zahlan, and Hamwey 2013). Although the Port of Los Angeles has done work to reduce their environmental impact and rebuild community ties, it is impossible to ignore the harm it has caused to the surrounding communities in the name of financial gain. An important part of the interview, is that the interviewee stated that the government may have been negligent in the past about environmental issues the Port of Los Angeles had caused and the effects on the surrounding communities. Seeing as the majority of the population in the surrounding communities of the port are minorities, this is an example of environmental racism. This is because, as Dr. Robert Bullard defines, environmental racism is any policy that affects individuals or communities of color whether it is intended or not (Bullard 2001).
View of the port from a neighborhood in San Pedro.
Field Notes:
Driving into Wilmington, one recognizes the major differences in quality of life over just a few miles. The roads are rough and need paving and the refineries and factories take up most of the view. Seeing the names of oil companies and gas companies displayed on the entrances to these establishments was a lot to take in. In fact one of the oil tanks was painted as a pumpkin; this playfulness on a structure that exemplifies the environmental problems in Wilmington shows how these problems are not taken seriously. Furthermore, driving into San Pedro, one can see the Port of Los Angeles from practically every neighborhood. Even the neighborhoods that look well kept and have solar panels on their roofs. By an elementary school in San Pedro, one can clearly see the port and refineries just down the street. On these streets, there was also a huge amount of trucks, which exacerbated traffic and thus pushed more pollutants and particulates into the atmosphere. Driving back to the Long Beach area, we saw the Wilmington Waterfront Park. However, just further down the road, we were once again met with rough roads and miles of train tracks, with the refineries always in the background. Wilmington faces extreme pollution from the Port of Los Angeles and community opposition is strong (Brown et al. 2013).
Intersection in San Pedro.
Part of the train tracks with refineries in the background.
Resistance:
The community of Wilmington and other near-by communities have expressed their concerns for their well-being and have taken action against environmental injustice. In an article which focuses on emphasizes the health risks of California’s priority railways, it’s expressed that the railways of southern California are causing health issues for low income minorities, “All of these rail yards are in southern California and serve the Ports of Los Angeles (L.A.) and Long Beach, the largest ports in the U.S. Note the large number of individuals exposed to greater than 500 in one million risk in both San Bernardino [39] and Wilmington [43].”; Furthermore, “A proposed BNSF intermodal facility in Wilmington, CA (part of the City of Los Angeles) that would be located within 1,000 feet of schools, a daycare center and a housing complex and that would bring in thousands of trucks a day to the yard, which is four miles from the local ports; emissions and truck traffic would again impact the lower-income minority community of west Long Beach.” (Hriko, Rowland, Eckel, Logan, Taher, Wilson 2014 ). Due to the large risk factor residents have tried to fight back against further construction of railways near at-risk areas with multiple lawsuits against the projects. Those supervising the projects have also begun to use “Health Impact Assessments (HIAs)” in order to test the potential impacts of projects in order to redirect a project in case the tests result in negative environmental effects (Hriko, Rowland, Eckel, Logan, Taher, Wilson 2014 ). In a Thesis project by Anabell Romero, she contributes to fighting back against environmental injustice by raising awareness of flaring that comes from the local refinery. She states “Flaring is a very event at refineries that blanket the air with black smoke when a discrepancy occurs.” (Romeo, 2013). Although this process releases chemicals into the surrounding atmosphere, it is used as a way of preventing explosions within the refinery. She developed a website titled “What You Breathe(Lo Que Respiras)” containing several videos and easy-to-read information which she obtained from the South Coast Air Quality Management Agency District (SCAQMD) and public records provided by a California environmental group known as “Communities for a Better Environment (CBE). With the information, she’s been able to distribute information about flaring such as “Five out of the 10 LA refineries surround this community of almost 54,000 people. It is the neighborhood with the highest concentration of refineries in California, producing 650,000 barrels per day of crude oil. That is about a third of the state’s total.” to Spanish only speaking communities (Romeo 2013). The endeavor is a practical one considering the population of 88.8% Latino and 79.5% percent who come from Mexican Descent (Romeo, 2013). Looking back at what people have done in the past to stop the environmental injustice on low income communities, In an article by James K. Boyce, he talks about a group known as Watchdog which was created in 1989 which identified industrial air pollution as the main problem facing low income communities of Southern California. The organization also noted negative aspects of the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) which is a California state regulatory agency that balances out smog levels in the air. The group focused its efforts on campaigns to support improve oil refineries, improving the Los Angeles transit system, as well as supporting the development of an electric vehicle industry. Interestingly, we are now in 2019 and almost every car company has developed an electric car of their own. As history writes, this group has worked to shrink the emission caused by Texaco oil refinery in Wilmington, California. The article states that they were “Building grassroots support by using a door-to-door educational campaign style.” (Boyce, 1995). An explosion in 1992 that lead to an evacuation caused their movement to gain traction. Furthermore, because Watchdog was familiar with Political dimensions of environmental policy making, they wanted to place retractions on the main economic player who have control over companies like AQMD. The group also discovered that “trip reduction policies increased parking fees” the prices that were being proposed would be too much of a burden for those low-income citizens (Boyce, 1995).The group instead proposed “on-site company-paid van pools and management – paid subsidies to employees (rather than penalties) for riding and car-pooling.”(Boyce, 1995). Lastly an article from 2011 reported that Air filters would be installed in over 40 Wilmington based schools in order to combat pollution that came directly from the Port of Los Angeles. The activist group was able to achieve this milestone by threats to halt a $274 million-dollar terminal expansion located at the port. Another operation proposed by the South Coast Air Quality Management District wants to spend $110 million on projects that will reduce the emissions created by the ports. The projects would include “alternative power sources on shore for idling tankers, ship pollution-control equipment, electric power conversions for gantry cranes and replacement of diesel trucks with electric vehicles.” (Roosevelt, 2011). The next step after the filters installed in schools would be filters installed in homes.
Take Action Plan:
The community is needed to make the necessary changes to help the residents of the Wilmington/ San Pedro area. When we take a closer look, we can see that there are many people that are affected by the environmental and health damages created. To help start the implementation of the change that is needed, we used some tactics from the article, Global Trade, Local Impacts: Lessons from California on Health Impacts and Environmental Justice Concerns for Residents Living near Freight Rail Yards, and have proposed the following actions.
First, we must conduct the research necessary to understand what the residents of Wilmington San Pedro are at risk of acquiring. As mentioned in the interview with Health and Safety Engineer, not only were his workers at risk of losing their hearing caused by pile driving, but so were the nearby residents. The decibels they were exposed to were harmful and not approved by OSHA. When we conduct our research, we can determine what is safe for the workers and residents. We will find that what we already know is in fact true: the workers and nearby residents are exposed to high risks of health hazards and environmental harm. We can use the facts to show the community and big corporations just how much damage can be done in so little time. We can also do more research to determine how much minorities and people of lower-income are exposed to the deadly toxins in the port of Los Angeles. We can compare the health of residents to the health of people living away from these dumping grounds to show the drastic differences created by the toxins.
Next, we must encourage the corporations responsible for the environmental damage in this area to find safer and more environmentally friendly ways to run their businesses. For example, the Health and Safety engineer we interviewed discussed their company’s development of a safer alternative for their employees when being exposed to high decibels. Although their employees were still at risk, the risk was greatly reduced when their exposure to the noise was minimized and safer practices were put in place. The implementation of the Hazardous Waste Contract was also a new development that helped the community. The contract ensured that hazardous dumped waste was neutralized and categorized before it could get back into the community to cause more harm. The community should take action and create protocols and regulations that will help reduce the effects of the environmental harm being done. The companies that increase this risk should implement new strategies to help minimize the harmful effect as well.
The way companies use the land should also be regulated. Schools, homes, hospitals, or anywhere children and large amounts of people are located should be built at a recommended distance away from the hazardous ports and oil refineries. The California Air Resources Board recommends that there should be at least 1,000 feet between oil drilling and sensitive land uses. Sensitive land uses are identified as schools, day care centers, hospitals, etc. However, children are still exposed to the hazardous chemicals when walking to and from school. It is the right of the people to have healthy living conditions. However, the ports of Los Angeles do not allow them to do so. The companies that contribute to these toxins should be held responsible. In addition, buildings that hold sensitive groups of people should be built away from these hazards, even if it costs more to build. The community should prioritize the health of the residents and not prioritize the profits of large companies.
For our next course of action, we should implement the environmental reviews discussed in the freight rail yards article. As they did, we should “require full Environmental Impact Statements under federal law or full reviews under state law, rather than simple Environmental Assessments” when we evaluate the impact created by the ports and oil refineries in the community. The community should also have the Health Impact Assessments in effect. When the government implements new strategies to help the workers or residents near the port, they can use the Health Impact Assessments to ensure that the hazardous waste near the sensitive groups are regulated. They can also be used on new strategies implemented by the companies, such as the Hazardous Waste Contract, to ensure that the workers and residents are actually educated on the risks and that are benefiting from the strategies.
All of the strategies mentioned will hopefully encourage the community members to take action against the environmental harm produced by the ports and oil refineries in the Wilmington/ San Pedro area. With the research that has been conducted in the past and the new research that demonstrate the hazardous effects the companies have made to the environment and health of the residents, awareness should be raised and serious action must take place to stop the irreversible effects done to the community.
References:
Brown, Chris, Aryan-Zahlan, Dina, and Hamwey, Stephen. (2013). “The Port/Community
Bullard, Robert. (2001). “Environmental Justice in the 21st Century: Race Still Matters.”
Phylon. 52 (1), 72-94.
Isakov, V., Venkatram, A., Touma, J. S., Koračin, D., & Otte, T. L. (2007). Evaluating the use of outputs from comprehensive meteorological models in air quality modeling applications. Atmospheric Environment, 41(8), 1689–1705. https://doi-org.csulb.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2006.10.043
Liévanos R. S. (2018). Retooling CalEnviroScreen: Cumulative Pollution Burden and Race-Based Environmental Health Vulnerabilities in California. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(4), 762. doi:10.3390/ijerph15040762
John Wilson. 2014. “Global Trade, Local Impacts: Lessons from California on Health Impacts and Environmental Justice Concerns for Residents Living Near Freight Rail Yards.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 11(2):1914-41
Romero, Anabell. 2013. “What You Breathe Lo Que Respiras.” University of Southern
History in racial practices against people of color prevails itself into today’s world. We may see fluctuations in progressiveness, but the core ideas, principles, and policies that were once part of history, still remain. These policies may be subtle and not viewed as “racist” by the white and the non-critical thinker. The Latinx group, is a group that is now more than ever, due to the current presidency, being marginalized; therefore, our main focus will be on this group’s struggles with environmental injustices. As stated earlier, even though not inherently visible, racism is engendered through housing, labor, education and geographical location. These issues are experienced differently by minorities through Pellow’s first pillar of intersectionality. This paper will mainly focus on the intersection between race and gender of Latinx men and women. The main type of racism we will be focusing on is environmental racism. Before we throw this word around in our post, we need to understand what racism is and its history. Racism is the oppression of a minority group by a dominant group of people. Although racism doesn’t just need to be verbal and caused by a human. Environmental practices that pollute, destroy, and affect the homes and health of a specific group of people is also a form of racial injustice. The environmental justice issue that our group is focusing on is environmental racism. Environmental racism is the idea that people of color and of low-income status are disproportionately affected by toxic waste, pollution, and other environmental issues that those that are white and of a higher social class. Environmental Racism is rooted from “public
This image shows the street sign “Evergreen” of one of the streets on which Thinkprogress’ Yvette Cabrera conducted her research, 2019.
” and “industrial [practice]” that “provide benefits for whites while shifting costs to people of color” and thus “racism influences the likelihood of exposure to environmental and health risks as well as accessibility to health care” engendering more than one problem for minorities (Bullard 82).Through a critical environmental justice framework, this issue is seen as multiscalar, meaning that each community/ neighborhood is focused on, when it comes to the environmental racism that occurs. We will be looking at this issue through a CEJ framework. We will specifically be focusing on the first pillar and the third pillar of CEJ; try to understand how race, gender, class are continuing to play a role in the environmental inequality that these communities face.
LEAD
Lead is one of the chemical elements, that comintines very heavy metal. Lead can best be described as a soft and malleable. It can also be a fairly low melting point. However, lead is something that has been commonly used by people. Egyptians used it in cosmetics, solder, and when building materials. The Romans used it to make food containers, without knowing how poisonous it was. Many also added lead to their wine to enrich the taste and to prevent the wine from going bad. Lead can be used for several other things such as; prevention of corrosion, kills mold and mildew, it is easy to shape, it is strong, it blocks radiation, and it helps paint dry faster. We see how lead is beneficial to many necessities for everyday life. As mentioned before lead is a very dangerous poison. We cannot see or feel the lead but it can be very harmful causing health problems. When being exposed to lead over a long period of time you can experience the following: coma, kidney disease, seizures, hearing problems, reproductive system damage, anemia, and permanent brain damage. If a woman is pregant lead expousre can put her at risk of having a miscarriage. It can also affect the unborn child by affecting their brain, kidney, and nervous system. If one is exposed to very high levels of lead it can also be fatal. It has been proven that lead is the most dangerous when it is in the form of fumes or dust. When lead is in the form of dust it is very tiny particles which is why we are unable to see the lead. Making it extremely easy for is to breath it. People can also be eating these lead particles if they are on food, drinks, cigarettes, and even in our fingers. The lead dust is most likely to settle on flat surfaces and when we touch these surfaces the lead then transferred onto our hands. Children are at higher risk because they are constantly putting their hands in their mouth. Lead is very easy to find, there is so much of it just within our air. People expose themselves to lead without even knowing it. Hobbies that people enjoy doing can be affecting their health due to it having lead particles. For example, someone who enjoys home remodeling is being exposed to thousands of lead particles in the process of tearing the house done.
SANTA ANA, CA
Santa Ana is a city within California, more specifically, a city that falls within Orange County. It is currently one out of many highly populated cities in the U.S. This city was in effect of a settlement by whites onto indigenous land. During its history, the Mexican-American war allowed these influx of whites into Santa Ana. This city has become subjected to a capitalist society with an increase in corporations being established such as “Behr Paint, STEC, Xerox, and T-mobile” allowing economical help. Although, as of today, this demographic is a lot different (WorldPopulationReview). Around 77% of the population is latino and one-third of this group are young adults and children. This group also makes up a majority of those living below the poverty line in this city. Santa Ana is usually one of the cities that is overlooked in Orange County.
THE DANGERS OF LEAD IN CHILDREN
Lead is a poisonous toxin that not a lot of people are educated upon. When we think of toxicity, we think of how poisonous a certain drug could be. We also quickly visualize images such as a skeleton or poisonous chemicals being blocked from human life.Sadly, this isn’t the case for poor latino communities living in Santa Ana. Before we discuss the current findings of racial injustice (of lead in soil) being discovered upon these communities, we must understand the severity of this issue. Coming in close contact (through playing on soil) with lead can affect children by causing “anemia, kidney damage, colic, muscle weakness, and brain damage” even with the slightest encounter (Butler et al). It has been proven that these children are affected by lead while in the womb. Lead contact in children can also decrease the way a student presents themselves in class and increases the chances of them to commit criminal activities.
THE CHILDREN OF SANTA ANA
A vulnerable group being affected by this environmental injustice are children. According to the EPA, children’s minimum exposure to lead in residential locations should be no more than 400 parts per million; according to an examination done by thinkprogress, in a community “between cedar and evergreen streets” lead of up to “4,049 parts per million” surpassing the standard (Thinkprogress). Unfortunately, this isn’t uncommon in Santa Ana. Children were “tested with dangerous lead levels in their blood that [exceeded] the state average by more than 64 percent” that is more than half (ThinkProgress). It was discovered that children in Santa Ana have more lead in their blood that other children in Orange County. The exact location of where this toxic is coming from has not been found. Two possibilities could be lead within paint of these older homes or the “decades of gasoline lead emissions” from the abundance of cars and transportation trucks that have been seen in these minority areas (ThinkProgress). After studying parks, public play areas, backyards and other places where children are present in 12 Santa Ana residential areas, Thinkprogress found “24 percent” of these areas to have lead levels of more than “80 parts per million” a secure level set by the california office of environmental health hazard assessment (ThinkProgress). The state government’s influence in solving this issue is low. A lot of children in California and cities like Santa Ana are left untested for lead because there’s simply no action being taken. A 2012 study found that “328 of Santa Ana children” had increased lead levels in comparison to “the state average” of children (Think Progress). This shows disparities in environmental injustice by race because Santa Ana, out of all the other cities in orange county, has the most children affected by lead, with only “one child in san clemente and nine children in Brea” (ThinkProgress). Throughout historical uses of lead through paint, leaded gasoline, “smeleters(which tend to cluster in areas that impact low-income communities), this remaining lead “has created invisible mountains” in our “urban core” of poor, low-income communities (ThinkProgress). The issue is that the state only focuses on cases where blood lead levels are 5 mcg/dl (micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood), but even concentrations below that affect children’s psychological health and IQ. Mitigating this issue shouldn’t be an option, there needs to be a way to stop people from coming into contact with lead in the first place. Through an environmental justice framework, we would look further into how class, race, gender, sexuality play a role in this issue.
CONNECTION BETWEEN RACE AND LEAD
Through a critical environmental justice framework, we understand that the environment is more than “nature” and the greenery landscapes that we see in films and when we visit national parks. The environment is also part of our everyday activities. It is where we “live,work, pray, learn, and play” (Pellow 132).One major identifier for racial disparities in housing is institutional racism. Robert Bullard said it best when he described institutional racism as “[influencing] local land use, [enforcing] environmental regulations, placing of industrial facility siting” and affecting where “people of color live, work, and play” which all connect to housing. Of course, cheaper housing will be placed in minority or hispanic environments that are surrounded by incinerators, waste dumps, “railroads,warehouses, and refineries” because that’s how environmental racism works, Santa Ana is not new to this because it was built near a transportation railway (Barragan). In fact, “lead poisoning” affects “between 3 to 4 million children in the U.S” usually those who are “African American and Latinos” which can be sourced from “lead concentration in soils” or “lead in plumbing” (Bullard 83). According to Robert Bullard, this is not due to the amount of money one makes, but more about a person’s race. According to the EPA, areas of low-income minorities within “South Los angeles, Maywood and Santa Ana” are victims of “increased risk of exposure to lead paint” (Barboza). In fact, the majority of this lead paint comes from the houses that were built using lead infused paint in the mid 1900s. These neighborhoods in Santa Ana are subjected to risk of “lead paint exposure” that is “higher than 99% of the country based on the percentage of housing units built before the 1960s”(Barboza). It has been proven that “the majority of Santa Ana houses were built prior to the” 1978 ban that stopped the use of paint containing lead (Brazil). Sadly, because of lack of money and power “communities of color and low-income residents get funneled into housing markets that are not maintained or remediated” for issues like these (Brazil). This is because there’s no economic power by the homeowners to fix the issue. Housing is in a bad state that something small such as chipped paint can have a health effect. The history of redlining and segregated real estate policies can play a role in this.
Research shows that environmental hazards have traditionally affected communities of color and low-income communities (Pastor). The lack of representation from parliament to minority cities such as Santa Ana and Flint has continued through-out America. The exposure is not only through water, but also through several pathways such as lead-based paint in older homes, soil contaminated by traffic exhaust from historical leaded gasoline, or other industrial emissions (LeBron). Roles and responsibilities of government agencies have been addressed numerous times, but the lack of scientific evidence discourages lawmakers to proceed with investigating these issues (LeBron).
GOVERNMENTAL ASSISTANCE
Focusing on this issue of race and environmental issues, a term mentioned by Pellow in his fourth pillar, racial expendability is a good reason in which why majority groups and the government continue to overlook these issues. Racial expendability views these minority groups as worthless; thus, environmental issues within low-income neighborhoods aren’t a big deal. Since white neighborhoods aren’t really being affected by these issues, there’s no reason to find a fix. This viewpoint suggests that “black and brown bodies are, in the eyes of the state and its constituent legal system, generally viewed as criminal, deficient, threatening, and deserving of violent discipline” and helping these communities will empower them more than they should be (Pellow 26). This portrayal of latinx and people of color is increasing even more in today’s society. With Trump’s presidency, we have seen an increase in the media portraying illegal immigrants as being rebellious, criminals, and a threat to safety. These images usually represent the normal hispanic; places fear on every hispanic, regardless of citizenship status. Understanding how lead poisoning affects this expendable group the most, the government isn’t placing much importance to this problem. In Santa Ana, the Orange County Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program was enacted for health professionals to increase lead examination in vulnerable children. This act places source of lead solely on mexican transported candy. This “minimization of population-based lead exposures” through “lead in paint,water,and soil” helps the government reason in their lack of aid (Lebron et al). This is because if focus is turned toward these candies bought in traditional mexican shops then this “messaging serves to blame communities of color for lead exposures” and further “[stigmatizes] engagement in practices that may affirm racial identities” portraying that it is the Mexican culture and their use of candy ingredients that contributes highly to lead exposure (Lebron et al). Although, this continuing portrayal by the Orange County Childhood Lead Poisoning program lacks evidence. To counter this idea, CEJ introduces racial indispensability. Racial indispensability states that minority groups are important to society’s success and helping these communities will allow a stronger, more effective society. It contends that being discriminatory towards another group isn’t acceptable; without the existence of minority groups, there would be a dominant white group.
THE FLINT CRISIS
Focusing on the second pillar of CEJ, we see that environmental racism and environmental injustice is multi-scalar and this lead toxin is interconnected around the world and occurs in different places. Therefore, we can connect what’s going on in Santa Ana to other areas of the world. For example, the infamous story of Flint, Michigan tells a story of environmental injustice through lead-contaminated water. After the economy went bad, Flint was lead by what are known as an emergency manager. To save money and fix the economy, the water supply from the tap water was changed from Lake Huron to a cost-friendly Flint River. Because of this, the “corrosive water caused contamination of lead and bacteria throughout the water system” leaving residents with concern and wanting governmental action (Lebron et al). Even though the EPA was notified in 2015, it did not take action until 2016. Just like lead in soil, lead in water has certain restricted levels that if passed, then action by government must be taken. For example through the lead and copper rule, both are “measured at the tap in a subsample of homes” to identify the level of contamination, which through the lead and copper rule, lead must be at 15 parts per billion or more for governmental action (Lebron et al). Although we know that any level of lead is dangerous, and mostly if it’s found in a resource that one needs to survive. The lead and copper rule also mandates that the water system testing the water must publicize the samples to the homes that were tested, even if above 15ppb or below. Of course, none of these standards were followed during Flint’s water testing. Not enough was done by the government, and the systems that did try to help ended up lying about the results. The only time this “neoliberal city government” intervened was for when it “[purchased] water from” the original source of “Lake Huron”, but only allowing the GM motors company to access this resource (Benz). It is highly “[arguable]” that the “birth of this crisis” and “the inadequate government response to the disaster” were due to “racial and economic characteristics of Flint” and similar to Santa Ana, had 63% of residents that were minorities while around 40% were poor (Lebron et al). It should be noted that “1.1 billion people” around the globe “lack access to safe drinking water” making water contamination, whether it be through other toxins like pesticides, chromium, or mercury a common issue (Mascarenhas). This publicized and became the root cause for why research in lead effects has increased and why policy has begun to change. This water crisis in Flint portrays the “importance of addressing lead exposures from multiple sources” and the continuous hardships by residents and community members to be “actively [listened]” by “governmental agencies” when it comes to environmental injustice issues (Lebron et al).This issue, just like the one in Santa Ana, is within a low-income, minority neighborhood. The two can be connected through the intersectionality of race and social class. It is widely recognized that black neighborhoods have a higher rate of bad health than their white counterparts. Looking at temporal space, the lack of response and how the lead issue was handled by the state in this part of the world because of it being a dominant black community affects the way in which, a few years later, minimal attention is given to places like Santa Ana.
FIELD NOTES:
We decided to visit one of the sites where ThinkProgress researched and sampled around 1,000 soils from different homes (this was near the streets Cedar and Evergreen). In 2012, ThinkProgress decided to test separate areas within the same zip code (92701). We therefore decided to drive around this zip code near downtown Santa Ana. While driving around, we noticed an abundance of latinx working, partying, and playing in their front yards. When stepping on the site, we noticed a shift in the air quality. A lot of the grass on the sidewalks and in front yards was cut off, exposing soil. There were also a lot of schools and many residents near them.The schools seemed underfunded, due to the old conditions of the buildings. It is unknown if the students and the families of those attending this school are aware of the dangers that lie just a few feet away. While looking through their social media accounts, it seems as if the school remains open; there was never any announcement or warning given on the lead issue.
INTERVIEW:
We were unsuccessful in reaching the only activist organization that is supporting this issue. When calling this group, The orange county environmental justice group, they repeatedly told us they were busy. Many of us tried contacting through email, which were answered, but told they were busy. Others attempted to call, but the calls were never answered. Although, this is understandable because we did decide to change our location last minute and thus contacted them at the end of the year. Even though we would’ve really enjoyed talking with them, we believe that the information we provide below is enough to understand what they contribute to the community as well as any past and current projects that they’re currently working on.
RESISTANCE:
Although there is skepticism that environmental issues are hurting the community will not ever change. There is support in the form of active resistance to reversing the injustices faced by the community. The main organization involved in this transformational resistance is, The Orange County Environmental Justice (OCEJ). The OCEJ is a grassroots community activist group that was formed in 2016 by Enrique Valencia. Since its establishment in 2016, the OCEJ has actively canvassed and surveyed around 4,000 people living in the Orange County communities that are most vulnerable to pollution and negative environmental impacts. Through these results, they have also authored an exposition of the most urgent ecological justice concerns in their region as identified by the residents that live there, not visiting researchers who have no connection to the history of the community.
The OCEJ has also established a committee of resident leaders who want to get involved in environmental justice issues, essentially allowing the community to take a proactive role in attempting to enact the changes they wanted to see in their community. This reform has empowered community members to take action for their health, communities, and ownership of their neighborhoods to be restored to the people living there. The OCEJ, along in partnership with the University of California, Irvine, has also launched “Let’s Talk EJ,” an information series based on the education of issues and the spreading of outreach events aimed at bringing together a singular broad community including activists of various groups, community leaders and ordinary residents who are concerned about environmental justice in Orange County.
According to the group, their foremost goal was to increase and continue to expand the studies and research that were started by the progressive newsgroup, ThinkProgress. Currently, the Orange County Environmental Justice mission is to assist in the development of more grassroots leadership to help advance the group’s environmental justice agenda within the ancestral Native American homelands of the Acjachemen and Tongva Nations, in areas that are now known as Orange County.
At the moment, OCEJ is currently engaged in activism and studies aimed at the lead levels in Santa Ana. The organizations’ plan of action is split into three sections to achieve recognition of the issue to gain traction and assist the residents of Santa Ana, hopefully. Their first goal is to examine current lead levels in the soil around Santa Ana (currently, the group is still studying current & historic levels of lead and will be publishing results shortly). The OCEJ has also noted some highlighted questions they wish to answer in their present study about the associations of lead exposures to educational outcomes and behaviors of children that are vulnerable in the school systems and the implications of lead exposures for health across the lifespan of people of color in Santa Ana, CA
The second goal of the OCEJ is to attempt to locate where the high level of lead is coming from and in what areas is it highly concentrated. According to the group, this includes researching levels in soil, water, housing, occupational settings, educational centers, including public daycare facilities, pre-schools, and elementary schools and consumer products that are sold in communities of color. Through the research results, the OCEJ will be able to determine what areas are the most affected and pinpoint the exact location and causes for the high levels and better inform the citizens that live there.
The third goal that the OCEJ is working on is to calculate the amount of lead that occurs in contact with children and adults in Santa Ana and the toxicity that is given off into these people. As stated earlier, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard assessment standard for communities to healthily live in is about 80 parts per million of lead as being a danger to humans. As the group notes, in a press release given by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that no level of lead in children is safe. OCEJ has noted that this news is shocking and state that the number of children tested Santa Ana communities with dangerous levels of lead in their blood exceeds the state average by 64 percent.
While still heartbreaking to hear that families, especially those of color without the resources and protections afforded to the rest of the nation are suffering and many do not know they are suffering until it’s too late. Thankfully, we have righteous, hardworking groups made of individuals who will not stop working until this issue is ended and their neighbors are healthy again.
Pictured on the left, is one of the sites that was visited in which the soil tests were conducted by ThinkProgress’ investigator, Yvette Cabrera. On the right is Thomas Edison Elementary School, one of the many schools surrounding the area.
ACTION PLAN:
As it is evident in the case of Santa Ana, environmental justice is a topic that people should be aware of due to the fact that these types of inequalities could be happening in one’s own neighborhood. Beyond that, it should concern everyone that certain people are disproportionately affected by environmental toxins like lead found in soil and people should have the right tools to act accordingly against environmental inequalities. Once people have an understanding of environmental justice and the ways to combat environmental inequalities people should take action. To support environmental justice one can begin by attempting to gain access to positions where their involvement is sufficient and purposeful and where they develop, implement, and enforce laws, regulations, and policies pertaining to the environment (Pellow 5). It would also help to be aware of leadership positions where certain groups are being excluded from and of environmental racism in general. However, searching for solutions through governmental help may not be of much assistance because this institution is the source of continued racial disparity. As some have mentioned, the EPA’s inability in the Flint water crisis reflects its loyalty to neoliberal policies, which elicit the state to stop providing environmental regulations, instead of human health and this demonstrates an outcome of what could happen if help from the government is solely sought out (Benz 2019). Since children cannot voice their opinion, it is up to families and residents to come together, which is something we are barely seeing in Santa Ana. Therefore, it would be beneficial for people to take action that limits the involvement of the government or forgoes its help completely. Action can be done through becoming educated on the issue and forming community groups such as grassroots movements. In the case of Santa Ana the community can raise awareness by holding town hall meetings where information about lead and its dangers are communicated to the public. It could also be an event where people are informed about the ways they can help and about direct democracy. A conversation about direct democracy would be essential because it would elicit practices that would likely encourage environmental and social justice in comparison to the undemocratic institution that the government can be (Pellow 24). The city of Santa Ana could benefit from environmental and social justice given that there appears to be a lead problem in the soil of some parts of the city where most of the residents are people of color and because up until two years ago it was an issue that was completely ignored.
However, the OCEJ is taking steps in the right direction by taking on this issue as a community effort to assess damage and make improvements by teaming up with UC Irvine and UC Riverside. In doing this they are asking for help from a community of students and professors in the same county and region. They are working with institutions that are demographically close to the city and together they are taking action. These groups are taking steps that the California Department of Public Health will not take due to some of the children not qualifying as lead poisoning cases (ThinkProgress). Some of the steps these groups are taking include home visits to inform those that are most exposed to lead, embarking on an environmental investigation, and expanding on the findings of a previous research study as a form of case monitoring. Rather than waiting for more children to develop lead poisoning as the federal law requires before investigating lead hazards (Benfer 2017), these groups are investigating, identifying, and attempting to control the sources of lead poisoning.
Therefore, the community in Santa Ana has already begun to take control of the situation on their own, but to witness faster and more efficient results it would help if more people in the community joined the effort of keeping Santa Ana lead free.
This image shows two hispanic women with their child shopping near the east side of downtown Santa Ana at a “tienda de descuento” or “discount store”, 2019.
The grassroots efforts of the OCEJ are an ideal blueprint for the rest of the community to follow. If it is deemed appropriate to accept governmental help down the line, then that would be a way to introduce the involvement of the government, but not in a manner that hinders the objectives of the community or perpetuates the undemocratic aspects of the state. After all, the state has been known to often fail to prevent lead poisoning through their federal laws and policies in marginalized communities of color, such as the Latinx community in Santa Ana, where poverty is pervasive (Benfer 2017). Instead the focus should remain on the community’s needs and encouraging their involvement in resolving this issue in an attempt to allow everyone’s perspectives and ideas to be heard and represented. Perhaps it would be beneficial to highlight and explicitly state that lead poisoning has adverse effects on children even at the lowest levels of exposure. The community should be aware that even if one’s own family is not personally affected by this issue the children that are affected by lead exposure are the future adult generation of the community that will represent the city and therefore it is in everyone’s best interest to ensure no one continues to be affected by lead.
References
Benfer, Emily A. 2017. “Contaminated Childhood: How the United States Failed to Prevent the Chronic Lead Poisoning of Low-Income Children and Communities of Color.” Harvard Environmental Law Review, 41(2): 493-561.
Benz, Terressa A. 2019. “Toxic Cities: Neoliberalism and Environmental Racism in Flint and Detroit Michigan.” Critical Sociology, 45(1): 49-62.
Brazil, Ben. (2019).“Toxic Soil in Santa Ana? community groups are working with UC Irvine to find out”. DailyPilot.
DataUsa.org. (2017). “Santa Ana, CA”.
Mascarenhas, Michael. (2016).“The Flint water Crisis: A case of environmental justice or environmental racism”.
Lebron, M.W., Torres, R., Valencia, E., Dominguez,M.L., Garcia-Sanchez, D.G.,Logue,M.D., Wu,J. “The State of Public Health Lead Policies: Implications for Urban health inequities and Recommendations for Health Equity”. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
Pacoima is a clear example of a toxic community as people of color and low income are being disproportionately affected by environmental hazards and pollution. This study primarily focuses on how this town is considered to have one of the highest rates of Pollution and contamination and how the people in the community strive to spread awareness in order to promote a healthy and sustainable San Fernando Valley. As a group we determined that a toxic community develops from toxic sources have connections among exposure to environmental hazards as based on our research and the information provided during the course of the semester. Our study focuses on the surroundings of Pacoima and what exactly is considered toxic affecting community members. “Pacoima long suffered from environmental neglect that can likely be blamed for the high rates of environmental health risks and the numerous sources of pollution throughout the area” (Maida 2009). There are several consequences and general causes that form a toxic community. “In addition to freeways, the airports, and a railway line, there are more than 300 industrial sites that have left contaminants behind or continue to pollute the air, soil and water” (Maida 2009). The consequences reflect upon health risks such as getting cancer or asthma. What we believed was very significant in our study was the population and the social class that lives in Pacoima. Throughout the semester we have learned about the factors of Environmental justice which is defined by Pellow as “A vision of a possible future, environmental inequality generally refers to a situation in which a particular social group is disproportionately affected by environmental hazards’ ‘ (Pellow, pg 5, 2018).”Society’s impact on the environment is best characterized by its unevenness—both within and between groups. For example, some societies pollute significantly more than other societies (Munoz 2016). Our goal in this case study is to gain an improved insight on toxic pollution that is produced and being exposed throughout Pacoima affecting physically and socially as a result of environmental inequality.
Site Profile
Pacoima is considered one of the oldest neighborhoods in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles. “The city of Pacoima has a population of over 81,000 with an 85% majority of Latinx and a relatively low median household income in LA County, according to the Los Angeles Times. Pacoima has one of the highest rates of pollution and contamination in the soil due to the clumps of industrial facilities, garbage dumps, a small commercial airport, a railroad line and the surrounding freeways that enclose the city” (Moran-Perez 2019). Based on our study, the infrastructure in Pacoima consists of more than 300 industrial facilities in which many use diesel emissions resulting in various pollutants being released into the city. Also the The Whiteman Airstrip contributes to Led intoxication being released into the city and many residents live very close to all these sources exposing them to health risks. In order for us to understand this case study and the hardships these community members of Pacoima face we decided to research and visit Pacoima Beautiful. “Pacoima Beautiful is a grassroots environmental organization that fights against environmental injustice in Pacoima.(Moran-Perez, 2019). This organization is an example of an environmental movement similar to the film Taking Root: The Vision of Environmentalist Wangari Maathai. The Green belt movement is a motivational and inspirational movement that symbolizes the positive image of women. Wangari Maathai is a hero for influencing other women to join her and make a change for their environment by planting trees. Maathai encourages women to take the role of a leader and believe in values and what you believe is right for you and others. This relates to Pacoima Beautiful because this organization also symbolizes feminism. “Pacoima Beautiful was founded in 1996 by 5 relentless mothers who became distraught by the unpleasant sight of trash and toxic smells they endured while walking their young children to school” (Pacoima Beautiful Page). These five women inspired the community to get involved and join clean up events and tree planting events. “Beginning in 1998, Pacoima Beautiful brought together residents; University faculty, including an environmental health scientist, an urban planner and a medical anthropologist; environmental and other organizations; university service-learning classes as well as representatives from governmental agencies to address environmental issues in the community” (Maida, 2009). Today, Pacoima Beautiful is still known as the only organization in the Northeast San Fernando Valley striving for community improvement by dedicating to new projects and spreading awareness throughout the valley.
Environmental Justice Assessment
When finding an environmental justice organizer, we could not have chosen a better person to interview. We met with Felipe Escobar, organizing director of Pacoima Beautiful. Felipe was able to give us insight on Pacoima Beautiful, their past, and everything they are hoping to do in the future. Pacoima Beautiful is a grassroots organization founded in 1996 by five women. These five founding women were mothers who met at a local charter school, which just so happens to be the first of its kind in California. The 5 mothers saw there was a tremendous need to make the community cleaner and greener. In order to make this happen, they started having meetings, clean ups started here and there, and more people got together as time went on. These five mothers and their need to help their community started growing little by little. Finally, they received grants and funding in order to help make a big change in the city of Pacoima. Through their fights, Pacoima Beautiful was created with the main effort being to do policy advocacy and train community members to be themselves and use their voice through change. we asked Felipe if there was a certain story or person that caused these five mothers to start helping their community and form Pacoima Beautiful. He explained to us their first secretary director was the person who really started to push in order to get their organization to receive funding and was also the person who started making meetings with elected officials. While fighting to make their group known, her first win was with a big manufacturing plant in the area. When the manufacturing plant moved to Mexico, it left a big brown field in its place. It was then found that the manufacturing company was not storing their chemicals the correct way which led to the brown field being left in its place. This brown field caused many people in the community to get sick and even get cancer due to the pollution. This relates to the video from lecture, “ “Why This Town is Dying from Cancer”. Companies and factories need to make a change and consider how these people’s health is more important than money. These deserve to live in a safe environment, being poor should not be a reason for our health to be at risk. Low-income, people of color, and tribal communities confronting environmental Stressors are beset by Stressors in both the physical and social environments (Lee,2002).The conditions in this area became very bad, so the secretary made sure to get the area cleaned up and put to good use for the community of Pacoima. The area is now a shopping center full of jobs for the people of Pacoima.
Felipe also let us know about his personal experience with the environmental justice issues in the city of Pacoima. Felipe grew up in North Hollywood not too far from Pacoima and was a runner for track and field. When he was growing up his main issue was finding a place to run and practice for track. In his school there were a lot of white kids who lived in different communities than Felipe whom had parks and other places to run and practice, but that was not the case for Felipe. Felipe’s mom would clean houses in the area and he would go with her. This allowed Felipe to really see the difference in other communities than to his and he started making connections. Something started in him that made him want to get involved. Felipe was very interested in the political science aspect and wanted to learn about the policies and how they work so he could make a change. Felip feels he is the best person to make the change in the community because he grew up there. He knows what it is like to grow up in a very polluted community. Felipe did research and when to school in order to help his community and to do work that impacts people like himself and his family in the community. Felipe knows Pacoima Beautiful is important and continues to work in the organization in order to spread awareness.
Pacoima Beautiful’s center consists of an eleven person staff, with six organizers who focus on different things relating to the community. Aside from staff, there are many people in the community who help and participate with Pacoima Beautiful without being paid. While there are some people who are not able to help directly, like mothers who want to get involved yet work and are ot able to, there are many other people who do help directly. High school students are a big help in the community of Pacoima Beautiful. There are thirty high school students who are leaders with Pacoima Beautiful and are very involved. These high school students have meetings with the staff of Pacoima Beautiful every Wednesday. High school students are very easy to get involved with this community because they have a lot of energy and often times need community service hours for school. Even after they reach their community service hours they need, they often stay and become leaders with Pacoima Beautiful because they want to stay involved with helping the community. High school students also get involved on their campus, spreading awareness by making clubs on campus and hosting community clean ups. Pacoima Beautiful also has a group called PB Kids. In this group there are children from ages 3-11 years old who meet once a month during little workshops that teach the kids certain waste exercises. Pacoima Beautiful also sets up mock camping sites in order to help show the kids how to be good to the environment while camping.
Aside from the children and high school students in the community who do their best to help their community, there are also 25 adult leaders who really want to get involved. These leaders meet every Monday and talk about how they can continue to help their community. These 25 leaders go to Sacramento and City Hall to talk to officials about the environmental justice needed in their community. At City Hall and city council meetings there are a lot of community members. Translators are also present at these meetings in order for people in the community who speak other languages to feel like their voices are heard. There is a big emotional impact with the community members who have faced traumatic experiences and do not have a lot of trust with the council members. Council members and other community members must keep in mind the trauma other members have faces due to things like inequality. One thing that has passed from these meetings is the “Don’t Waste LA” coalition. Pacoima Beautiful sees most of the waste that comes to their communities, schools, and homes, are brought by the wastelands and also by their own community members, which is very personal. In 2016 this coalition passed a zero waste policy and put in place that by 2025 there will be more recycling, more jobs, and less waste. With Don’t Waste LA, community members are in an attempt to reduce single use products in order to reduce waste.
There is not a lot of awareness in the community which is why they are there. Many community members have no idea what is happening in their city and all around them. In order to make people more aware, Pacoima Beautiful members call community members, knock on doors, and have conversations in person. While this requires a lot of work on the organization’s end, they know it is worth it in the end because they are spreading awareness about their home. The people who are most passionate and most involved in Pacoima Beautiful are the women in the organization. There is a huge female presence and once the women get involved, they feel empowered and have a big voice in the community. While most of the people involved are women, there still are men working in and with the organization. One issue that occurs with the men comes when knocking door to door and calling community members. When talking to community members, Pacoima Beautiful really advocates to get the women involved, because they are the most passionate. This causes a problem when one of the male workers, like Felipe, calls or knocks on a door asking for the woman of the house yet the man answers. In these cases, the organization makes their purpose clear with the household and tries to get more people involved.
One important factor that can help the city of Pacoima is the census. Pacoima Beautiful sees representation is very important but they know funding is very important as well. Each person who does not participate in the census loses $1,500 for the city of Pacoima. The city needs this money and funding to help their community become a healthier place to live. In order to ensure everyone is counted in the census, Pacoima Beautiful convenes everyone who wants to work with them, which ends up being around 100 people. They convene organizations, elected officials, and certain schools. These people convened helped to go around to the hard to count communities (HTC). These HTC communities consist of the homeless population, people who live in back houses, and immigrant communities. When talking to these HTC communities they make sure to count every person and provide help where they can. In order to connect with the community and get everyone to participate in the census, Pacoima Beautiful hosts a campaign for fourteen days straight where they talk to 2,000 people about the census. This year the census is online which makes it harder for the communities with no access to the internet. Pacoima Beautiful makes sure everyone in the community, especially those with no access to the internet, is aware of kiosks that are going to be stationed around the city with the census. One problem that has caused community members to not participate in past censuses was the citizenship question. This year, there will be no question regarding citizenship, and Pacoima Beautiful makes it a point to let the community know about this in hopes it will move community members to participate.
Pacoima Beautiful, as shown above, has already done many things in order to help make their community a safer place to live. One thing that really stood out to us with Pacoima Beautiful’s efforts was what is called a “green sidewalk”. As an Earth Day event Pacoima Beautiful created an edible sidewalk garden which turned a sidewalk that was known as a place to dump trash into an edible garden. This edible garden was the first of its kind, and it serves as a purpose of rehab for the community. Anyone walking the sidewalks is able to grab whatever they need from the green sidewalk and eat it. The sidewalk consists of things like avocado, lemon, etc. This really stood out to us because it shows clearly how much Pacoima Beautiful cares. For an organization to change a litter site into something useful for the community that is free and available to anyone and everyone is beautiful. Finally, one other way Pacoima Beautiful’s giving back to the community stood out to us was with the Pacoima market. Much like the green sidewalks, the Pacoima Market is completely free. The Market consists of food from community member’s yards in which they donate to the Market to make sure each community member is taken care of.
The Market takes place on the first Saturday of every month. Community members walk to the Market as an attempt to help the environment by not driving. The community members go to the market to get produce and foods that they need for their family. We felt if other communities did this, it would promote so much good in communities. More people would give back by donating from their yards and gardens to people in need.
Pacoima Beautiful has shown many changes and progress in the community. From the green sidewalks and Pacoima Markets talk about above, that is just the beginning of what Pacoima Beautiful has done for their community. Green streets have also helped the community thanks to Pacoima Beautiful. Blacktops are a big problem for the community because they take the rain and make it unusable for the community. These green streets help take the rain water and use it in a good way. Finally, Pacoima Beautiful was able to secure two million dollars in order to help the community. Pacoima Beautiful will use this money to change rooftops for the families that cannot afford to fix their houses, they will install 2,100 trees, instal solar panels, and finally will create ten electric dash busses over the span of five years. Although Pacoima Beautiful was founded over 20 years ago and have helped the community in many ways, there is still much more awareness to spread and they will not stop until their community is safe for everyone.
Resistance
Resistance is defined as trying to refuse change or accepting change. While environmental injustice is something that is being impacted in the city of Pacoima, we see the community members trying to fight for this equality. In this community in Pacoima, there is plenty of resistance to the injustice to the people and wanting to stop it from continuing. The community members of Beautiful Pacoima are doing their best to spread the word of resources for their neighbors. The population is made of hispanic, low income people who work throughout the day and cannot make it during the morning city council meetings. They are unable to utilize the resources that are being provided for them due to obligations so the community members of beautiful Pacoima are using their skills and their empathy to try to distribute the word. There are tour buses issued for traveling around the city to show the community members why the center of Beautiful Pacoima is trying to make an environmental change. They are shining light on issues that many of the community members might not know about or have not had the heart to speak about. The grassroots justice services that are being provided here in Pacoima are very supportive of their members due to the connection from their community and their backgrounds. This resistance allows them to continue shining different lights on their injustice that can help bring more people in and allow more people to speak on things that they know are not right for their community. One thing that they are trying to work on is trying to regulate the school that is built right next to the freeway off the 5. The resistance of injustice that is being placed from the school that are built next to freeways is something that many parents are fighting for because of the toxic air that is being distributed to the children. This resistance helps a lot of community members understand that their children are worth clean air and they understand that no matter what their socioeconomic status is that they are and have the same rights as everyone else. One of the many things that Pacoima has an issue with is food injustice. There are very large Supermarkets or organic food markets that do take about 20 to 30 minutes to arrive at a nearby grocery store. What the community has realized is that many of their children are not receiving the right amount of nutrients which is resulting in lack of growth. So, what the community members are now doing is making and growing organic food gardens, which anyone from the community is able to grab and help for themselves. This allows the children to see the difference in foods that they are eating from the local liquor store than ones that they are growing themselves. This gives them all food freedom to distribute and ingest anything that they know is organic and healthy and will help them with their growth.
Take Action Plan
Looking for an action plan for something long term requires some time and effort. These action steps can help the part of community members gain their access to better foods, better school systems, and better communication. One of the important things to think about is providing more food banks, grocery stores, and farmer’s markets around the area so that community members are being exposed to more organic and healthy produce. Liquor stores are the only type of grocery stores that are around the community and they usually see cheaper products because they are receiving them for even cheaper. Produce takes time to grow and maintain its full ripeness. Another action plan that can help community members is Finding a different spot for future schools and hoping that they can transfer the students that are being placed in schools next to freeways. This is allowing students to have the access and exposure of cleaner air and more likely to not develop asthma in the long run. The school is right next to the freeway, which is not a good way for a child to develop their education. This is eventually causing students to develop breathing problems earlier than they should have and by moving the direction of the school to a more open location, it can help benefit the children and their parents. This will take financial help by trying to find a new location for these new children but it will help the community in the long run. This will help their long development and will help them later in life. Another action plan for helping better communication between community and community members for those that work throughout the day is trying to schedule more outings for these community members to attend such as leader council meetings, more invoice calls in translation, and open up an online registry where they can continue their work and open any questions that they might have and cannot talk to someone directly. One difficult thing that might have to be an obstacle throughout this action plan is the language barrier. Language barrier from Spanish and English is very difficult for the Spanish-speaking members to understand or even talk to people who get or need to be talked to, this will allow for a more open, comfortable space which entails a more united community to translate for community members to communicate openly with city Council members and beautiful Pacoima . by continuing growing this action plan and realizing that these communities do need to be taken care of eventually we will see a more growing and united community that can grow and prosper to its full extent. Pacoima‘s main goal is to reduce environmental injustice for their people because they are suffering from food injustice, air pollution, and lack of communication between community and community members. We shall see the difference in Pacoima if we take the time to help adjust their living style and help them understand that they are people who deserve justice that does not rely on their social economical status that brings them back down.
Citations
Lee, C. (2002). Environmental justice: Building a unified vision of health and the environment. Environmental Health Perspectives,110, 141-144.
Collins, M., Munoz, I., & Jaja, J. (2016). Linking ‘toxic outliers’ to environmental justice communities. Environmental Research Letters, 11(1), 1-9.
Pezzullo, P., & Lucaites, J. (2007). Toxic Tourism : Rhetorics of Pollution, Travel, and Environmental Justice. Alabama: University of Alabama Press.
Cutter, S. (1995). Race, class and environmental justice. Progress in Human Geography, 19(1), 111-122.
Susan L. Cutter. (2012). Hazards Vulnerability and Environmental Justice (Earthscan Risk in Society). Taylor and Francis.
Edelstein, M., & Hartield, T. (1990). Contaminated communities – the social and psychological impacts of residential toxic exposure. Environment and Behavior, 22(5), 715.
Maida, C. (2009). Expert and lay knowledge in Pacoima: Public anthropology and an essential tension in community-based participatory action research. Anthropology in Action, 16(2),14-26.
Maida, C. (2005). Science, Schooling and Experiential Learning in Pacoima. Anthropology of Work Review, 26(2), 16-20.
In Los Angeles County, a prevalent issue of environmental racism is affecting low-income families and the homeless. The residents of Los Angeles County are experiencing obesity and food insecurity. The environmental justice concept suggests that there are health risks with exposure to fast foods, inadequate healthy choices on menus and little to no grocery stores in communities. Los Angeles County has overpopulated with food deserts than accessibility to whole foods and grocery stores that provide non-GMO produce. Food Deserts, Food Apartheid, and Food Injustice are common occurrences in cities across Los Angeles. Food deserts is described as the absence of access to healthy inexpensive foods. This phenomenon happens more frequently in areas that are disenfranchised, predominantly immigrant communities, other groups of color, and women with children. While the term food deserts assess the access or lack thereof to a well stock grocer, food apartheid explains how the root of food injustice. Food apartheid is an incessant societal construct that undervalues specific groups with the assumption that they are undeserving of having access to nutritious foods. Although food apartheid impacts individuals from all ethnicities, Black and Brown people endure the majority of environmental hazardous at an astronomical rate in comparison to their White counterparts.
Environmental Issue
Food insecurity has been a prominent environmental issue for over two decades and continues to increase throughout the United States. In the United States alone, there are approximately 12 million households that experience food insecurity (Furness, Simon, Wold, and Asarian-Anderson, 2004). The consequences of food insecurity are hunger, malnutrition, reduced health and quality of life. Households are correlated with low levels of vitamins such as vitamin A, folate, iron and magnesium. Increasing high risks of nutrient deficiencies that will affect psychosocial functioning and physical development. Children experiencing nutrient deficiencies are at risk of not learning in school compared to children that are experiencing nutrient deficiencies. Children attending class with hungry stomachs have a lower level of focus and learning. Children’s minds are focused on hunger instead of learning. According to Furness et. al colleagues study reported the prevalence of food insecurity was higher among African- American (32.8%), Latino (28.4%) and whites (17.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.9%). The studies interestly analyzed food insecurity was higher among households with children. Food insecurity affects all ages, however high concern is for pregnant women, children, elderly. There are three subgroups in higher risk of food insecurity, low income households with and without children and individuals that have prior experienced homelessness. The issue in the Los Angeles County is high housing cost with low paying jobs, families must make ends meet with necessary expenses and which then contributes to families and individuals to experience food insecurity. Transportation becomes an issue when money must be used for other expenses like food and housing (Furness, Simon, Wold, and Asarian-Anderson, 2004). Environments in the Los Angeles County are experiencing inequality among other groups. Minorities are more prominent in areas such as South East LA which are marginalized to unhealthy and unsafe communities. The area of LA is surrounded by freeways filled with trucks that are releasing emission gases into the air left for these communities inhale. Although school are participating in gardening, the air quality to garden is affecting the vegetables and fruits since its contaminated with toxics in the air. These communities have many laundromats open which can lead to exposure to toxins into the air and contamination through wastewater. Detergent components can cause eutrophication in freshwater, and it reduces oxygen, which oxygen is needed to water plants and the rest of the water is flowing to other ecosystems that will be endangered (Martin). The chain of production of fast foods are harming minority groups and the trucks used to stock up these fast foods are leaving gas emissions that are left in these communities to suffer with. Minority groups are being subjected into a toxic environment. The Los Angeles communities are less advantage to nutritional choices and along with suffering from food insecurity and obesity. The Los Angeles region is prevalent to poverty, shaping these communities into a system of despair. Families and individuals know that they are going through inequality, yet they have no other choice but to participate in the fast food industry because that is closest to their homes to work. Minorities are forced to participate in these jobs out of the necessity which keeps fast foods running, and the cycle of environmental racism existing in the Los Angeles County.
In addition, environmental racism contributes to the issues that diminish the community and our living lifestyle. This drives the people within the community to limit themselves from being able to reach out for the resources they need and move towards making a change. For example, environmental racism is constantly being tied into racial capitalism, lacking the success of understanding vulnerable communities (Pulido, 2017). This becomes a problem because instead of working on creating more resources there can not be any form of progress when the own community is not being well understood. In order to work towards creating more groceries stores and having more resources available for the community their needs to be an understanding on where it would benefit to build these resources for the people and where their is a lack of that aspect as well. When the lack of healthier options is not available within the community they usually resort to fast food restaurants which creates more health problems in the near future.
To continue, not having more food markets and grocery stores and instead having more fast food restaurants within distances from each other only harm the community from a health perspective. A lot of the fast food restaurants do not carry enough healthy nutritional options which creates health problems for children who are still within their developing stages of life. Investing more within these fast food options only harms the community more by keeping the community in a food-desert and not improving it by removing some of those restaurants and installing more healthier options for the community which can also help benefit the environment from any littering that comes from fast food restaurants. This issue keeps communities that are enduring a food desert to remain in these forms of situations instead of providing resources for them. Although these options are beneficial for areas that do not have many places to go when in need of food and nutrition. However, these places that are being avaivbale is based on racial profiling and the minority group that is usually the majority of the population. Those minority groups who are being more impacted by these unfortunate disasters and discrimination are becoming more targeted becasue of the way in which their environment is being treated and only harms the community more.
EJ Site Profile
Los Angeles is the largest county with approximately 10 million inhabitants and 3.5 foreign-born residents. Demographically Los Angeles is prominently a diverse community with minority groups subjected into the low-income areas. Minorities are subjected into low-income communities surrounded by fast food chains, freeways, and factories that are harming these environments. Inequality is shaping these families lives to suffer from food security, lack of nutritional foods that are a high concern of health for adults and children. There are an abundance of fast food chains surrounding these communities in the Los Angeles region. Populace are minorities marginalized into the ghettos creating environmental racism. These families living in the Los Angeles have to deal with having no other choice than to settle for a job in the fast food industry or work in factories. This issue of food insecurity is affecting the working class people, they are working hard in these jobs that are helping multi billion companies to then experience food insecurity and health issues. Fast foods are the nearest to communities than groceries stores. Los Angeles is a food desert environment contributing issues further than food insecurity. There are millions of individuals suffering from food insecurity, that are working hard and still suffer security of food and home. The working class is contributing to the wealthy communities by inhabiting these fast food chains to profit and exploit working class people. Along with having factories that are in the Los Angeles region and contributing to corporations and the toxins are left in these communities. It’s environmental exploitation because it’s inhabited by subgroup of minorities that are suffering the injustice and inequality of life compared to wealthy regions. The community is cluttered with fast foods and stores, but not groceries that have quality foods. There are no open spaces that are not filled with fast foods, shopping centers or a gas stations. Parks are rare in these communities because the quality of life and exposure to toxins would make it challenging to keep and maintain a park in shape. The parks have homeless people inhabiting them. Therefore recreational centers would not invest in parks and funds would not be there to open more parks with trees to help the environment.
The city of Commerce, mainly a city of industry and a large Latino populace, encompasses a disproportionately amount of businesses that radiate harmful chemicals to its residents. There is a strong history of poor zone planning that produced one of the region’s most polluted areas. Furthermore, the construction of one of the busiest freeways, the 710, has perpetually added to cancer causing agents by way of the thousands of trucks that haul goods from the Long Beach port to distribution centers twenty hours a day and seven days a week. The 710 freeway and 4 large rail yards are situated through and within the city. It is no coincidence that most of the residents of Commerce are of a minority group exemplifying a classic case of environmental injustice. According to the United States Census Bureau, roughly 13,000 individuals reside in the city of Commerce with 93 percent of them being of Latino descent. The insalubrious environmental practices have rendered the air, soil, water, and foods contaminated leading to major health issues for those citizens residing and working in and around the neighborhood of Commerce.
Environment Justice Assessment:
In the case of the citizens of Commerce, there are several factors that relate environmental to inequality. To begin, The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) definiens a portion of environmental justice as: “The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless or race, color, national origin, or income with respect to development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies.” Yet. Access to fresh healthy food is limited. The soil in which people grow their own produce is contaminated after years of unregulated lethal emissions. Although 40 percent of America is fed through the haul and distribution of good through Commerce, the citizens living there is negatively impacted as a result. The definition goes on to state that fair treatment translates as no inhabitants, because of policy or economic disempowerment, is obligated to endure an unequal amount of destructive ecological outcomes, pollution, or human health hazards. Race is salient in the issues surrounding food injustice. According to an intensive study conducted in the 1980s, “Environmental hazards, like minority populations, are not distributed evenly in cities. Often, poor and minority communities are burdened with a disproportionate share of environmental problems” (As cited in Boone & Modarres 1999). Gender is a predictor of issues endure in environmental inequities. 50.1 percent of the residents in Commerce are women. “Women, often working-class and women of color, become involved in environmental justice out of the necessity to protect their families, making up an incredible percentage of active members in neighborhood environmental justice groups” (Thomas 2018). One such groupMothers of East Los Angeles (MELA) is an environmental justice grassroots organization initiated by Mexican women in response to prevention of a California state prison in their community. Although they began their work contesting additional prisons, MELA has expanded to include various forms of social ecological justice activism. In addition to collaboration with other ethnic social groups such as Concerned Citizens of South Central Los Angeles and Hollenbeck Youth Center, Mothers of East Los Angeles have helped with housing, public school system, beautification of neighbors, parks, and other recreation activities.
1.What is something you notice growing up in your community?
Growing up in this community, I noticed there was always a lack of resources such as healthy food options, unsanitary streets, and programs where parents can enroll kids in activities such as the YMCA.
2.Was there any inequalities you witnessed in your community?
There were inequalities compared to other neighborhoods. For example, the schools I went to did not have teachers who cared about teaching our demographic. There was a lack of resources at our schools. The walls were peeling, the books were torn apart, the ceilings were coming down. I was on the dance team, when we would compete against predominantly white schools, they had a brand new classrooms, pretty lawns, and freshly painted buildings. We lacked after school programs that allowed us to get ahead in other aspects such as the arts.
3.How did your community members treat your environment and how did it look like?
Our community members mistreated our environment due to the lack of education we had. We would have graffiti walls because of the gang related violence that surrounded the area. Yet, most cities have implemented street cleaning and trash pickups but our trash never seemed to get picked up. We had a lack of knowledge as to where drop off our recycling, our trash such as mattresses we no longer wanted. Parents lacked this knowledge so the children did as well.
4.How do you believe your environment has disproportionately affected minority groups?
My environment has disproportionately affected minority groups because south La was built off of segregation. We were pushed out into the “ghettos” & forced to live here due to our low-income background. People of color are often pushed out into these communities because it is what we can afford with the way we have been systematically oppressed. Like I stated before, there are no healthy food options such as trader joes or whole foods. The closest one is inside of USC & was only built because the predominantly white or well off students in that area needed one. There are no areas to study such as coffee shops because that is non existent here. LAUSD lacks funding. The schools are falling apart and the staff only cares about students who are already doing well. We lack so much and part of it is due to discrimination.
5.How has your experience shaped or affected you as a woman?
My experience has allowed me to become resilient and independent. I only realized I became that way in college. My mind was always “find a way out.” College was my escape, it took a lot of hardships but I was able to “escape.” Now, I see that the world treats women as less than a man. As a woman growing up in an impoverished environment allowed me to develop certain cognitive skills needed to be persistent in job searching, my academics, and my relationships with peers/mentors. I am able to ask questions without fear of rejection because my community was and has been rejected for so long.
Resistance
Other social activist such as East Yard Communities for Environmental justice has worked to create a fair and balanced ecosystem. Created in 2001 by residents of the Commerce/East Los Angeles Area, EYCEJ was created by worried residents who had endured the increasing environmental health influences due to industries in and around their communities. The citizens began to rebuke expansions projects that were slated to be built next to their homes, schools, and community facilities. In 2002, EYCEJ was officially funded as a non-profit organization under the financial sponsorship of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE) and since its creation, EYCEJ have attained various vital successes that include highlighting ecological justice and adequate air quality to the forefront.
Eastside Bike Toxic Tours and Food Sovereignty
One of the ways in which community members and citizens can give back and resistance the travesties that occurs in their communities is participating in one of EYCEJ’s events. One of these events are called the Eastside Bike toxic tours. During one of these tours, participants get a chance to visit the sites (homes & of the many resistance negatively impact by the noxious waste industries perpetually pollute. Other ways in which citizens can resist is by becoming food independent of grocers and industries. Janet Valenzuela, a community member from EYCEJ explained that one of the ways they teach residents of Commerce to sustain is by growing their own vegetables and fruit. They have taught the member how to grow and cultivate indigenous fruit since much of the native plants and vegetables were replaced by European angiosperms. Miss Valenzuela shared during her interview that Due to the high contamination of the soil in citizens backyards, soil is taken from the many cemeteries in the city to put in their gardens. Many people of Commerce are simply not waiting for a Grocer to make its way to their city. Rather they are taking charge of their own lives and health by becoming food knowledgeable and food independent from the very entity that displaced them in the first place.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program (SNAP) is one of the largest food assistant programs serving 48 million low income families. SNAP has been correlated with obesity, an interest in women obesity. The participants in SNAP have been found to be obese because of not so much accessibility of quality SNAP stores and the affect it has on the participants weight. The participants are low income families that rely on SNAP for food and the food environment they are relying on is causing obesity. Food assistance programs should provide adequate nutritional foods for families than providing foods that are not nutritional for growth and development. The prevalence of obesity insists in Los Angeles communities and supplemental nutritional programs are allowing a health crisis like obesity to increase. There is a 25% prevalence of obesity among adults in Los Angeles. These programs can be there for minority groups to have a support system however the quality of food is affecting the health adults. Obesity is a high concern of health risk. Adults and children are being affected by inadequate programs that are not offering nutritional foods to these families. SNAP is a program designed to help low income families and a result of the food being provided to these families is instead harming their health. Families will be deficient in vitamins and then causing other health issues relating to malnutrition. It is important for food programs to aim for quality food or fundings to open grocery stores than fast foods in Los Angeles communities. Creating a livable and equitable environment like other well off environments. Other environments are taking advantage of the working class to work fast food chains and not understand the issue it is causing in the Los Angeles region.
It is apparent that the community is aware of the injustice that is occurring within their own community. It becomes difficult and discouraging for individuals who witness their own environment be stripped from resources and limited to the access of grocery stores and healthy food from supermarkets within the community. In Los Angeles in particular, the access to having healthy food choices are very limited and creates more resistance towards the community members. Being aware of the injustice that is occurring is one of the factors that has managed to rise up in order to create some change within the environment and expanding their resources.
Take Action Plan
In order to create change we need to become aware of the access we do and do not have within the community. We analyze that there is more access to fast food restaurants then there is to super markets. For example, Women, Infants, and Children Programs (WIC) have more contributing participants located in food-desert areas to provide nutrition for families who are in need of the access (Wu, Saitone, Sexton, 2017). This need for programs that provide the resources that are needed for a community to survive instead of having the resources already accessible is a factor that should be changed. Building more programs with resources to an environment that lacks this aspect of a community is important to build upon. These programs, WIC for example, are constructed to provide help and assistance for those who are in need of the resources.
Another action that needs to be taken should be organizing “Clean up” groups that provide time back to their community to remove any unwanted build up. Removing the unwanted trash that builds up throughout the community provides more room for the initiation of creating more available markets and resources the community needs. Focusing on food-deserts in particular and eliminating the stigma placed on these targeted communities and investing more into the environment. The involvement of the homeless population also has an impact on the food-desert not being able to progress into further change. It is acknowledged that homlessness involves both chronically and acutely homeless who are elderly veterans (van den Berk-Clark, McGuire, 52). Homeless population makes the environments that unfortunately falls under the food-desert community more difficult to build on resources for the location because of those who reside there. Instead the action that needs to partake in this scenario means that there needs to be more investment within the homeless veterans who have contributed towards the country and should be receiving some form of benefits from the state. By providing some form of shelter and rehabilitation centers, we can provide more purpose for the homeless and get many off the streets and into a healthier environment and living life style.
By working within the homeless populations and investing on getting them out of the streets and into a shelter that will provide resources for them, we can then work on creating more resources for their own community. The next action should involve awareness and becoming more outspoken towards the issues that need to be taken care of in order to bring in more resources and support from outside areas that do have the support from the law and their own community. Which leads to the next action that should be taken which involves the community itself. Everyone within the community needs to be involved and remain aware of the topics and issues of their own environment. For example,if a community is being racially profiled then their needs to be more conversations towards this specific issue in order to remove the stigma of the environment, which would allow more resources and contribution to be placed and considered within the community. Creating more discussion brings in more awareness towards a particular issue, food deserts in this case, and pushing the issue to become more of a focus that needs change. Lastly, profiling a community also makes the issue become more intense to work on because of the stereotypical misconceptions of the population with no form of understanding that should be well understood at this day an age.
By: Thuy Tran, Shane Weaver, Cassidey Svedeen, and Benjamin Wilson
Environmental Justice: An Overview
Environmental justice, as defined by EJ Studies scholar Robert Bullard is the principle that “all people and communities are entitled to equal protection of environmental and public health laws and regulations” (Bullard 1996). In the context of air pollution in Long Beach, Environmental justice for those who are disproportionately affected by poor air quality would refer to an improvement of air quality for the demographics that suffer the consequences most. Environmental racism is a concept in the environmental justice movement, which developed throughout the 1970s and 1980s in the United States. The term is used to describe environmental injustice that occurs in practice and policy within a racialized context. In the context of air pollution, environmental racism is the reason why Black and Latino communities are exposed to significantly higher levels of pollution than that of White neighborhoods. Some causes of environmental racism include corporate greed, disproportionate toxicity, and improper infrastructure. The consequences of environmental racism include health issues for members of a particular community as well as unsafe living conditions. The framework of critical environmental justice is an essential method for alleviating the damage of these injustices. Pellow’s critical environmental justice framework is built upon four pillars. The first pillar of Critical EJ Studies involves the recognition that social inequality and oppression in all forms intersect, and that actors in the more-than-human world are subjects of oppression and frequently agents of social change. (Pellow 2018) Essentially, this pillar is the acknowledgment of the fact that intersectionality is prevalent in the environmental justice arena. The second pillar of Critical EJ Studies is a focus on the role of scale in the production and possible resolution of environmental injustices. (Pellow 2018) This pillar focuses on the expansion of scale. For instance, the impacts of air pollution are not the sole issues of a particular neighborhood, but they are the problems faced by the whole of humanity. The third pillar of Critical EJ Studies is the view that social inequalities – from racism to speciesism – are deeply embedded in society (rather than aberrations) and reinforced by state power, and that therefore the current social order stands as a fundamental obstacle to social and environmental justice. (Pellow 2018) This pillar essentially states that social inequalities are amplified due to the institutions that perpetuate them, and have been reinforced through the construction of racist and classist regimes. The fourth and final pillar of Critical Environmental Justice is centered around the concept of indispensability. This concept, built in direct response to the white supremacist framework that is perpetuated throughout society, exists as a means of combatting the dominant ideology that Black and People of Color are expendable by asserting them as indispensable to humanity.
Long Beach Demography
Long Beach is a busy coastal city located in Southern California. The city belongs to Los Angeles county with a population of more than 462,000 people, according to Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services (Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services 2013). The percentage of female residents in 2010 was more than fifty percent compared to forty-nine percent of males. The largest age group of Long Beach population ranged from 25 to 44 years old, which accounted for one-third of its population. Long Beach is a diverse city in which Hispanics or Latinos account for 40%, according to the 2010 Census (Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services 2013).
Additionally, White community is the second-largest occupant, which makes up 29% of the population. African/ Americans and Asians account for approximately 13% of Long Beach population (Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services 2013). It is noticeable that there is a pattern of ethnic dispersion in accordance with the zip codes or areas. Notably, the majority of Hispanics/ Latinos reside in the North of Long Beach (zip code 90805), West Central (90806, 90810), and Southwest (90813). These three areas are also mainly occupied by African/ Americans (approximately 14% to 21%). Asian community primarily represents in West Central and Southwest region. In contrast, most of the Whites reside in the South (90814), Southeast (90803), and the East of Long Beach (90808, 90815).
Figure 1. Long Beach zip codes. Credit: City of Long Beach
In terms of its primary industries, Long Beach is also known for its oil refinery industry and specialization in transportation and warehouse services. Concentrated with a complex system of highways and railroads, Long Beach is deemed a hub of California’s economy. The Port of Long Beach, located in the south of the city, has become one of the largest seaports in the US and an essential factor of the regional and national economy. Built in 1911, Port of Long Beach is one of the busiest ports in the United States, which accepts at least 20% of containers moving through the country. Every year, the port processes no less than seven million container units (TEUs). Annually, the port reports to receive an estimate of 2,000 vessel calls and handle a high volume of cargo that is loaded and unloaded simultaneously per day (Port of Long Beach n.d.). The port is also built to accommodate petroleum bulk shipment and crude oil import. In general, it is considered the connecting point within trading between North America and the Asian continent.
The high demand for consumption in California and the U.S directly links to the development of retailing companies, which increases the need for inventory storage. To cut operating expenses, people have built many major warehouses close to the POLB. These areas often become the hot spot for goods movement activities. Diesel trucks are regularly seen entering and exiting to handle transportation. Such concentration leads to a broad emission of carbon dioxide gaseous pollutants, which deem dangerous to the adjacent residence.
The highway system also plays a significant role in supporting the economy of Long Beach. The construction of the I-710 freeway in the 1940s has transformed the whole transportation and manufacturing industry of Los Angeles (LA) county. The highway, which connects the central manufacturing district (CMD) in LA to the POLB, is perceived as a crucial part of the development of the regional economy. On average, there are at least 800 heavy-duty trucks carrying containers traveling on I-710, according to Rudick (2015).
Figure 2. Morning Traffic on North I-710 South of Willow St. Credit: Caltrans Live Camera
The freeway is facilitating the transportation of cargo between the CMD and the ports. It also cuts across the neighborhood, particularly the North of Long Beach and East LA. The majority of the I-710 is located close to many public and private schools. The presence of the freeway raises a profound concern from the neighborhood regarding air pollution and health safety to the locals.
Figure 2. Satellite and Map View of I-710 and Nearby Schools. Credit: LA Times.com
The existence of the freeway within the neighborhood triggers public concerns in terms of air quality and health problems. Recently, there has been empirical evidence showing that the condensed traffic of heavy-duty trucks leads to a massive emission of toxic smoke, which can deteriorate the human respiratory system and act as potential carcinogens. The presence of the I-710 within the disenfranchised communities, particularly people of color, has been causing frustration from the corridor locals over time as their health starts to be affected negatively.
Environmental Racism and Long Beach Disenfranchised Neighborhoods
The growth of manufacturing and industrialization, poses a threat to the sustainability of the ecosystem due to the high level of toxic pollutant emission from factories and goods transportation. The areas surrounding the port which has a high concentration of cargo ships and major freeways are often reported to have exceeded the acceptable level of toxins. Specifically, the POLB shipment terminals and the neighborhood near the I-710 freeway were places with high level of toxic pollutants recorded, approximately overall particulate matter (PM2.5), particle number (PN), and black carbon (BC) emission rates of 97.8 ± 9.8 kg day−1, 91.6 ± 10.6 × 1019 particles day−1, and 60.3 ± 5.3 kg day−1 in sequence (Mousavi et al. 2018). A high degree of air contamination can lead to severe health issues such as increasing the prevalence of asthma in children and adults, lung diseases, and the risk of cancers. Besides, there have been more studies confirming the correlation between living close to hazardous sites and health deterioration.
The impact of particulate matter (PM) from the heavy-duty trucks lingers around the Port of Long Beach, the 710 Freeway, and the businesses that operate in Long Beach’s industrial zones. Heavy-duty vehicles produce black carbon, a particulate pollutant released by ships, trains, and heavy-duty vehicles, which is known amongst risks in cancer and respiratory diseases (Wu et al. 2009). The Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles represent the busiest ports in terms of cargo and transactions in the U.S. While the western portion of Long Beach is directly impacted by the air quality from the port, Communities of Color are found more prevalent in these areas. Our group argues how the discrepancy in air quality in Long Beach is an Environmental Racism issue and how little has been done to reverse these effects.
Figure 3. Pollution Score of South California. Credit: OC Register
It is observable that the residents of the North, Southwest, and West Central of Long Beach suffer from a high level of air pollution compared to other regions of the city. These areas are homes to hundreds of thousands of Hispanics/Latinos, African/Americans, and Asians. Noticeably, the area where the White community resides has fewer pollution scores than the opposite sites of Long Beach, where the majority of marginalized groups are located. It is not a coincidence that there is a severe issue related to racism and environmental injustice that is taking place in Long Beach. The allocation of noxious facilities such as oil refineries, the ports, and the freeway system in poor communities has been planned on purpose because these communities are often at a considerable disadvantage to acknowledge the severity of the environmental issues that are taking place right in their backyards. Apparently, from the pollution score map, communities located on the west side of Long Beach are facing much more severe air pollution than the folks coming from the east side of the city, which is highly dominated by Whites. Angelo Logan, an activist, coming from the East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, argued that these minorities suffered the most from air pollution. Those people have become vulnerable targets of corporations and fallen victims of environmental racism due to their low socioeconomic status. Minor communities cannot often resist unfair decisions because of their language limitations. Such barriers refrain them from joining the decision-making process when it comes to environmental issues which have direct consequences on their life (Orlowski 2014).
In Critical Environmental Justice studies, researchers encourage to examine the issues of environmental injustices on the scalar level (Pellow 2018). In other words, it is essential to take into account the role of scale in the cause and finding a solution for such discrepancies. The problems that the residents of disenfranchised communities in West Long Beach are facing can have enormous impacts on a larger scale. Since the ecology that humans are living in is a connected circle, no one can be immune from the problems created by air pollution. The accelerating rate of air contamination suffered by marginalized communities may soon become a regional issue faced by Californians and proximal state residences.
The discrepancy in terms of air quality among regions in Long Beach triggers the anger from advocacy groups and the impacted locals. For the people of these communities, it is believed that the city has not made its best effort to ensure environmental justice for everyone. Hence, there are callings to action from grassroots organizations to demand the attention of the city and sufficient resource allocation to alleviate the alarming stage of air pollution. In March 2018, the board of Metro began the voting process for the improvement project of the I-710. The approval of this project would increase the capacity of the road to accommodate more trucks and vehicles, which ultimately brought benefits to LA manufacturing and shipping industry. However, the public concerns related to this expansion also began to grow as more trucks meant the increasing amount of toxic pollutants and the pressure of displacement on disenfranchised communities who lived close to the freeway. Having acknowledged the severity of the problem, those communities have opposed the project and demanded that they are parts of the committee when it comes to planning and executing the plan. Despite such requests, their participation is often disregarded by the decision-makers. In the positive statement, the Coalition for Environmental Health and Justice expressed their disappointment as they were set aside from public participation to Caltrans’ proposal to expand the I-710 (2019). This dismissal coincides with the third pillar embedded in the Critical Environmental Justice study by Pellow (2018) regarding the reinforcement of state power when it comes to social inequality.
The proposal to expand the I-710 came with the suggestion that specific neighborhoods had to be relocated. The forced dislocation showcases the phenomenon that Dr. Pulido (2017) has tapped into when it comes to racial capitalism. Land ownership, according to Dr. Pulido (2017), is closely related to racism. Shifting the burden to the people of color to further advance the benefits of certain groups represents the severe issues of environmental racism.
Racial indispensability is coined by Pellow (2018) to address the necessity to include everyone in the efforts to protect the environment. The construction of toxic facilities such as the port, oil refineries, factories, and highways deliberately targets disenfranchised communities as an assurance of the racial dispensability ideology. However, it is contended that People of Color are also part of the “socioecological systems” and their presence ensures the sustainability and survival of the whole human society (Pellow 2018). Recent grassroots movements have absorbed the idea of indispensability as momentum to engage people in their campaigns against the issues of environmental injustices. Notably, the continuum of grassroots movements has been placing their focus on the benefit of the impacted residents who are members of low SES and racialized communities. Many coalitions that have been actively involving in advocating the public regarding the issues of air pollution in West Long Beach are the Coalition for Environmental Health and Justice, the Greater Long Beach Interfaith Community Organization, the California Coalition for Clean Air, and more. These groups take into account the value of racialized people and place them as the pioneers who have the voices in matters of environmental issues.
To further illustrate the impacts of environmental issues on disenfranchised communities, we used Google My Maps to construct this visual to replicate the outline of Long Beach, while highlighting industrial business areas, freeways, public middle schools and parks with the most amount of green space.
According to City of Long Beach’s Department of Health and Human Services (LBDHHS) 2013 Community Health Assessment, Long Beach’s population was at 462,000 (Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services 2013). With the increase of residents and immigrant populations that are undocumented, Long Beach is estimated to have nearly half a million residents by 2020. The data used to construct the map and the statistics we used are from the 2013 Community Health Assessment.
First, our map labels areas of interest inside the city, such as CSULB, Long Beach Airport, Port of Long Beach, and the three largest land uses that make up industrial businesses inside city limits. CSULB, Long Beach Airport, and the Port of Long Beach are labeled in yellow. The industrial areas located in West Long Beach are marked by the color brown. Next, we labeled the three freeways in Long Beach: 405, 710, and 91 using the color red as an indicator. We used the color green for parks and orange for public middle schools as our next key to determine the proximity between industrial areas and the freeways and parks and schools. While our group is studying air quality in Long Beach, we believed it was important to identify the statistics of asthma and heart disease hospitalization rates per 10,000 by zip code in Long Beach. We chose the color blue to shade the zip codes and the darker the shade, the higher amounts of hospitalization rates. By selecting each zip code, the number of asthma and heart disease hospitalization rates per 10,000 will appear. Our last indicator, socioeconomic status, signifies statuses that are labeled as low-average and low according to the 2013 Community Health Assessment. Socioeconomic status is an important indicator because it measures a person’s income, educational attainment, and occupation. Socioeconomic statuses often reveal discrepancies in privileges, health, and access to resources. We chose this darker shade of pink to signify the low-average and low socioeconomic statuses. The darker the color pink, the lower socioeconomic statuses are. The areas that are not marked by the color pink are labeled as average, high-average, or high, according to the 2013 Community Health Assessment. If you click on the socioeconomic status (SES), a brief description determining the socioeconomic level appears.
Using the City of Long Beach’s Department of Health and Human Services 2013 Community Health Assessment, our group found how asthma and heart disease hospitalization rates, along with low-average and low socioeconomic statuses, correlates where the industrial businesses are located, where freeways are placed, and the lack of green space in certain areas of Long Beach. The statistics from the Community Health Assessment shows a positive correlation between low-average and low socioeconomic statuses and high levels of hospitalization rates caused by asthma and heart disease. The 2013 Community Health Assessment also provides statistics of where populations live by race and ethnicity. Communities of Color, specifically Asian, Black, and Latinx make up large populations of Western Long Beach. While in Eastern Long Beach, Whites are found more prevalent (Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services 2013). As we were making our map, we decided to use socioeconomic status as a measurement against asthma rates and heart disease. The statistics from the Community Health Assessment shows a positive correlation between low-average and low socioeconomic statuses and high levels of hospitalization rates caused by asthma and heart disease. The area codes 90805 and 90813 have the lowest socioeconomic statuses in the city, while also having the highest rates of asthma and heart disease.
Our map points out how West Long Beach has the most amount of industrial businesses and the lowest amounts of park and green space. According to LBDHHS, the western portion of Long Beach has 1,089 hazardous sites, compared to 390 in eastern Long Beach (Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services 2013). This contributes to higher levels of air pollution, while not supplying youth with equal access to green space. With little green space on the west side, this contributes to unhealthy levels of asthma and heart related diseases within the population. The photo below illustrates Edison Elementary illustrates Edison Elementary School, located on the west side of Long Beach. Edison is home to nearly 95% students of Color, specifically Latinx, while nearly 95% are from low socioeconomic backgrounds (CA Dept. of Education 2019). What is also alarming is the location of where Edison is located. The photo depicts Edison being located at the onramp of the 710 freeway, leaving Daisy Avenue as the last turnoff before entering the 710. Located only half a mile apart south, Chavez Elementary is located off of 3rd street, the off ramp of the 710 Freeway that brings traffic into Downtown Long Beach. Chavez Elementary is home to around 75% of students of Color, while nearly 90% are from low socioeconomic backgrounds (CA Dept. of Education 2019).
Photo of Edison Elementary School, located near the on-ramp of 710 Freeway.
When the Community Takes the Lead
Racial indispensability is to address the necessity to include everyone in the efforts to protect the environment (Pellow 2018). The construction of toxic facilities such as the port, oil refineries, factories, and highways deliberately targets disenfranchised communities as an assurance of the racial dispensability ideology. However, as Pellow contended, people of color were also parts of the “socioecological systems” and their presence ensured the sustainability and survival of the whole human society (Pellow 2018). Recent grassroots movements have absorbed the idea of indispensability as momentum to engage people in their campaigns against the issues of environmental injustices. Particularly, the continuum of grassroots movements has been placing their focus on the benefit of the impacted residents who are members of low SES and racialized communities. A number of coalitions that have been actively involved in advocating the public regarding the issues of air pollution in West Long Beach are the Coalition for Environmental Health and Justice, the Greater Long Beach Interfaith Community Organization, the California Coalition for Clean Air, and more. These groups take into account the value of racialized people and place them as the pioneers who have the voices in matters of environmental issues.
East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice Supporting SB 811Photo of Drake/Chavez soccer field, with the Port of Long Beach and industrial businesses in background.
Our first interview was with Blanca, a mother of two that lives in southwest Long Beach near the Drake/Chavez soccer field pictured above. With one of our group members working for the City of Long Beach, they have worked with Blanca before on environmental issues that impact her community. While having to incorporate an interview with a community member, our group thought Blanca would be the perfect candidate. Our group reached out to Blanca for an interview and she kindly accepted. Blanca lives in the Willmore City Historic District, which is located in the southwest portion of Long Beach, one of the oldest parts of the city. Willmore is situated between the 710 Freeway and Pacific Avenue and between 7th Street and Anaheim Street.
When asked what the major issues are around her neighborhood, Blanca believes the industrial businesses, especially the glass business that is pictured next to the Drake/Chavez soccer field. Blanca expressed how the heavy duty trucks often occupy the road below her neighborhood and operate next to the soccer field where the community’s youth come to play. Over the years as a Long Beach resident, Blanca has grown frustrated with the lack of change that is not occurring in her backyard. She believes the local government is only occupied with generating revenue from the port and the downtown Pine area. When asked what change she would like to receive, Blanca mentioned for harsher penalties for businesses that attribute to pollution. While discussing the lack of green space the west part of Long Beach has in relation to the eastern part, Blanca expressed that even with more parks greenspace, the pollutants still cause asthma and health issues in the community, especially amongst the youth and older populations.
For our second interview, our group met with Chris Chavez, community activist and deputy policy director for California Coalition for Clean Air. Chris lives in West Long Beach where he is an active member within the community in the fight for air quality. Founded in 1971, CCA is California’s only statewide organization that works primarily on issues involving air quality, protecting public health, and preventing climate change. With offices in Sacramento and Los Angeles, CCA focuses on policy that shapes air quality locally and nationally. Some of the policy the CCA focuses on is the port and freight transportation in Southern California. CCA works on initiatives to better assess the environmental impacts that trucks have while they transport goods along the 710 freeway into the Port.
Chris was able to answer questions that he has witnessed firsthand by growing up in Long Beach, attending and serving as an ASI Senator at CSULB, and advocating for clean air as a Long Beach resident and as a deputy policy director. Starting off our interview, Chris agreed that there is a correlation amongst race and quality of air in Long Beach neighborhoods. Chris mentioned that western Long Beach suffers the worst air quality in the city. Chris sited the 710 freeway and the frequent usage of heavy-duty trucks that occupy the freeway. When asked which policies have been enacted due to air quality, Chris mentioned Senate Bill 535, Senate Bill 210, and Assembly Bill 1550.
In 2012, Senator Kevin de Leon introduced SB 535: 25% of cap and trade profits must be used in projects that benefit disadvantaged communities.
In 2016, Congressman Jimmy Gomez introduced AB 1550. Similar to SB 535, requiring 25% of cap and trade funds to be funded in disadvantaged communities, AB 1550 requires at least an additional 10% for low-income communities.
Earlier this year, 2019, Senator Connie Leyva introduced SB 210, a pilot program that directs California Air Resources Board (CARB) to develop and implement a new smog inspection program for heavy-duty diesel on-road trucks. This policy authorizes CARB to assess fees and penalties as part of the program and would create the Truck Emission Check Fund.
While California is keeping up with their commitments for greenhouse gas reductions by 2020, there are still discrepancies in local communities, especially communities with larger populations of Black and Latinx residents and immigrants. When asked if there is a lack of collective collaboration among impacted communities in their efforts to address the problem of air quality and their health, Chris believes the average resident is not educated on environmental issues, hence the lack of participation. Chris advises residents to research and gather information that factors into their daily lives and reach out to their local elected officials. When our group mentioned Pulido and her stance on the states roles in the community’s air quality, Chris does believe the state or government has a large role to play. Chris stated how it’s a “double edge sword,” the 2006 green port initiative reduces emissions, although it does not go as far as what Chris would like to see. Chris stated how California is the leader and will continue to lead in regards to air quality in the U.S., but there is still much to accomplish with climate change.
In The Climate Gap: Environmental Health and Equity Implications of Climate Change and Mitigation Policies in California, the authors discuss the benefits that cap and trade has on reducing greenhouse gases and the positive impact it would have on low socioeconomic communities and communities of color who are disproportionately segregated in neighborhoods close to freeways and ports where goods are transported (Shonkoff et al. 2011). In Blanca’s case, it’s imperative that policy is researched and enacted in local communities, especially communities that have higher risks to health effects due to the surrounding environment.
A Call To Action
The issue of air pollution is not only an environmental issue in certain areas, but it is also considered a matter of environmental racism. These issues linger in marginalized communities due to social inequality. Democracy in decision making must be maintained so that no group is excluded from the procedure. The emergence of grassroots movements in recent years signals the growing awareness of the environmental impacts on the community’s health. Grassroots activism focuses on unity and gathering community members together to promote their message. From there, a call to action and showing their dissents toward unjust decisions can serve as the voice to protect marginalized communities. Still, there is a lack of collaboration among disenfranchised groups, which consequently becomes one of the weaknesses preventing their voices to be heard. Representation amongst Communities of Color is important to outline and address the issues that have and are currently taking place in West Long Beach. Finally, a more collaborative approach from members of different coalitions and movements is needed to gather a much stronger message to put the pressure on policymakers to do the right thing for all.
References
Bullard, Robert. 2001. “Environmental Justice in the 21st Century: Race Still Matters.” Phylon 49(3):72-94.
Mousavi, A., Sowlat, M., Hasheminassab, S., Pikelnaya, O., Polidori, A., Ban-Weiss, G., & Sioutas, C. 2018. “Impact of Particulate Matter (PM) Emissions from Ships, Locomotives, and Freeways in the Communities near the Ports of Los Angeles (POLA) and Long Beach (POLB) on the Air Quality in the Los Angeles County.” Atmospheric Environment, 195:159-169.
Pulido, Laura. 2017. “Geographies of Race and Ethnicity II: Environmental Racism, Racial Capitalism and State-sanctioned Violence.” Progress in Human Geography 41(4):524–33.
Shonkoff, S., Morello-Frosch, B., Pastor, R., & Sadd, M. 2011. “The Climate Gap: Environmental Health and Equity Implications of Climate Change and Mitigation Policies in California—A Review of the Literature.” Climatic Change, 109:485-503.
Wu, J., Houston, D., Lurmann, F., Ong, P., & Winer, A. 2009. “Exposure of PM 2.5 and EC fromDiesel and Gasoline Vehicles in Communities near the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California.” Atmospheric Environment,43(12):1962-1971.
This project focuses on the intensely dangerous air pollution that is caused by the Exxon-Mobil Refinery in Torrance, California. Through extensive research, our group has found that this refinery has been known to emit an outrageous amount of greenhouse gases and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) for years. Not only this, but the refinery is as well infamous for its use of Modified Hydrofluoric Acid (MHF), which is abundantly dangerous and potentially life-threatening to not only the residents of Torrance, but also the residents of nearby cities, such as: Lawndale, El Segundo, Gardena, Carson, West Carson, Los Angeles, Lomita, Hawthorne, Long Beach, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Hermosa Beach. Our environmental case study will focus on the oil refinery in this community and how it is inherently racist to the community in which it is located. Our goal for this case study is to raise awareness for the types of contaminants that refineries, such as this one, produce and how these toxic chemicals affect the surrounding environment, both physically, as well as socially. We plan to go in depth about the potential health issues that can be caused by living in the vicinity of this refinery. Additionally, our group will discuss the grassroots organization that is vehemently opposed to the refinery, as well as what they do/are doing to protest this refinery.
We chose to study this refinery because though we may think that we are far away from it and that it does not affect us in our everyday lives, it does. The pollution that this refinery causes is extremely close to the communities that we live in and can affect the health and wellbeing of our friends, our families, and ourselves. Many of our lectures, reading, and learning activities this semester have gone on to discuss how big-profit companies are to blame for the destruction that they are ensue not only on our land, but onto us as individuals. To these big-profit companies, us, as individuals, are seen only as moneymakers for bigger companies’ corporate greed, not human beings.
Site Profile
As we delve into this paper and discuss how air pollution caused by the oil refinery in Torrance has and continues to actively impact and harm surrounding communities and residents by its use of dangerous chemicals such as Modified Hydrofluoric Acid, it is equally important to have an understanding and be informed about the communities being impacted, as well as learn about the history of the city itself.
The city of Torrance, California began as “a model city where planners hoped industrialists and laborers would find reprieve from the seemingly endless battle over the open shop in the Los Angeles Area,” and in “1912 a model factory town built for corporate developers and planned for a total population of 15,000 people” (Phelps 1995:503). The idea behind this “Modern Industrial City” was to provide a location where businesses could establish themselves without having to comply with city or government zoning laws that would prevent businesses from operating elsewhere, all while simultaneously “reviving the real estate market by assuring upper and middle class home seekers and their lending institutions that the city would remain a ‘residential paradise of spacious homes in quiet, clean surroundings” (Phelps 1995:504). Although this was the initial vision for the “Model Industrial City”, it failed, as there were only roughly 2,500 residents at the time.
We went on to learn that in cities where these “visions” were not in practice or incorporated into selling the “Modern Industrial City-Residential Paradise”, is exactly where oil companies began establishing themselves, such as with “the Union Tool Company, a subsidiary of Lyman Stewart’s Union Oil Company”, originally located in Ventura County become making the move to the Los Angeles Area. What is important to know is that the Union Tool Company, having grounded itself in the Los Angeles area, leading the oil industry, is what helped catapult the oil industry in Torrance, California, today. Additionally, this “Model Industrial City” that is now known as Torrance, California remained grounded in the oil industry through Jared S. Torrance’s efforts, “a prominent southern California subdivided and vice-president and major stockholder of the union and union tool companies,” whom removed “Robert Bard from the presidency of Union Oil in 1990, a move that secured the more aggressive Stewart’s hold on the company and assured Torrance’s own position in one of the few California oil companies beyond the reach of standard oil and the ubiquitous tentacles of the southern pacific” (Phelps 1995:509). Ultimately, this hold on the oil industry and the decision to expand in southern California is what led to the creation of what is now known as Torrance, California, home to several oil refineries that bring with it many forms of environmental racism and harms to its communities through the chemicals and pollutants released in the air.
Upon arriving to the Torrance Oil Refinery, shortly after exiting the 405 North, and even from a freeway view, you are met with massive machinery belonging to the refineries and can visibly see the black clouds of pollution that are being released into the air. To get a visual, we know that the refinery covers 700 acres of land, and employs “more than 570 employees, and another 300-500 contractors daily” (TORC Admin 2019). Immediately outside of the Torrance Refinery boundaries are homes, local shops, and parks, all of which are exposed to the daily chemicals and pollutants that are being released from the refinery.
As we look at the demographic makeup of Torrance, as reported by the Los Angeles County in July 2018, Torrance has a population of 146,686 individuals, and further divided by age, we learn that 19 percent of the population ranges from 0-17 years old, 64 percent of the population ranges from 18-64 years old, and lastly, 17 percent of the population range from 65 years and older. Looking at the population by race and ethnicity, 2.70 percent of the population is Black, 16.9 percent of the population is Latinx, 41.57 percent of the population is White, 38.21 percent of the population is Asian, 0.21 percent is American Indian, 0.19 percent is Alaska Native, 1.19 percent, 0.33 percent is Native Hawaiian, and 0.24 percent is other/Pacific Islander (Anon 2019). Although the largest population seems to be White, upon visiting the neighboring park, which was surprisingly big and mid-kept, and interviewing people, those we saw as a group and interacted with were predominantly Latinx. From this, it is possible to make the presumption that Latinx, in this case, as well as low-income individuals and families are more likely to live in the beginning streets/communities that are closest to the Torrance Refinery.
Why is this, though? Well, according to Robert Bullard, minorities do not have the power to prevent refineries from being built in their communities. As a result, minority groups are left facing many health issues due to the harmful pollutants being emitted into the air. Bullard states, “zip code is still the most potent predictor of an individual’s health and well-being. Individuals who physically live on the “wrong side of the tracks” are subjected to elevated environmental health threats and more than their fair share of preventable diseases. Still, too many people and communities have the “wrong complexion for protection” (Bullard 2018).
While capitalism comes at a cost, certain communities are being targeted, exploited, and used as waste dumps at the hands of big corporations. Just as the air and water of these individuals are being drastically polluted, so are their bodies, and these residents are disproportionately paying the price with their health and lives.
Now that there is background on the city and its demographics, we can move forward and begin discussing the harms that the refinery presents, not only for immediate community members, but for neighboring communities as well, with a focus on the harms of Modified Hydrofluoric Acid.
Health Effects
The Torrance Refinery’s use of Modified Hydrofluoric Acid (MHF) impacts our environment in several ways, such as by contributing to greenhouse gases, as well as by impacting and compromising the health and well-being of neighboring communities. There are many harmful consequences that community members face as a result from being exposed to the chemical, particularly, pertaining to their health, which is what will be covered moving forward, demonstrating just how harmful and severe the consequences can be. However, we will first provide a brief background explaining what exactly MHF is.
In Emilija Bajraktarova-Valjakova’s, Vesna Korunoska-Stevkovska’s, Silvana Georgieva’s, Kiro Ivanovski’s, Cvetanka Bajraktarova-Misevska’s, Aneta Mijoska’s, and Anita Grozdano’s 2018 article titled, “Hydrofluoric Acid: Burns and Systemic Toxicity, Protective Measures, Immediate and Hospital Medical Treatment,” we learn about the chemical compounds of MHF, the harmful, health related impacts that result from exposure to the chemical, and extensively learn about medical treatment, however, what I was most focused was learning about the nature of the chemical and it’s harmful health-related effects.
In the article, it is stated that MHF “is a compound of hydrogen and fluorine atoms, white as a liquid, it is a polymeric compound with string hydrogen bonds between the chains . . . ” and it is “characterized by high reactivity with metals, glass, concrete, enamels, pottery, rubber, leather and many organic compounds” (Bajraktarova-Valjakova, et al 2018:2258). In simpler terms, we essentially learn that MHF is commonly found and used as a liquid or gas chemical, and is both colorless and is highly “corrosive [with] high local systemic toxicity” (Bajraktarova-Valjakova, et al 2018:2258).
We go on to learn about the three primary ways that one can be exposed to the chemical, and these are through skin and eye contact, inhalation, and digestion. These cause effects and symptoms that neighboring community residents of the Torrance Refinery are very well susceptible to. Looking at the effects of eye exposure to the chemical, we learn that a burning sensation, irritation, discomfort, and severe pain are some of the very basic signs of eye exposure. The exposure to the chemical can lead to “corneal opacification and non-visible iris complications…” which can contribute to vision loss (Bajraktarova-Valjakova, et al 2018:2260).
On the matter of ingestion, the symptoms and effects that are possible can burn one’s mouth and throat, cause lesions on the mouth, and can also lead to abdominal pain and nausea. On the matter if inhalation, we learn that some health effects consists nasal irritation, and that continued exposure can result in dryness and bleeding of the nose, coughing, laryngitis, chills, and more, which can prove to be fatal. All in all, this article provides a background on the chemical, to better understand what it is, and the article is very informative on the health effects from exposure to MHF can result in, which is imperative to know as we continue to learn about the overall harms of the chemical, as it impacts the surrounding communities of the Torrance Refinery.
In “Dangers of Hydrofluoric Acid,” an article published by The British Medical Journal, we continue to learn more about the harmful, health related problems that may arise from being exposed to MHF. As we began reading more on chemical, we learned that along with being used in glass works and in the pottery and china industries, it is also “becoming essential in the oil industry in the production of certain motor fuels, in the engineering industry as a rust and scale remover, in the development of new plastic materials, in silk dyeing, and for the manufacturers of refrigerants” (Anon 1951:750). Important here is learning that the chemical is used at refineries to produce motor fuel, a necessary product that helps to make car engines run. However, this should not outweigh the health of people. We continue to learn that some of the health effects and hazards that people can develop as a result of exposure consist of “bronchitis, pneumonitis, or pulmonary oedema, from inhalation of the vapor” (Özcan, Arezo, and Mine 2011:15). While many more health effects have been reported, this article outlines a very brief, though very important, set of developmental health problems that can result from being exposed to MHF, which is not safe, and can be lethal in some cases. All this to say, these articles provide important information, as it is relative to the environmental racism and inequalities, as well as among the health effects that many Torrance community inhabitants face, and they clarify the extensive damage that the use of this chemical can cause.
This environmental injustice issue has affected the surrounding community to the point of action. These people have had to change their lives, their daily routines, in regard to the site in question. The Torrance community lives in fear through the subordination of big companies disregarding their health and overall wellbeing. Fortunately, we were able to sit down with a few different members of the community; from strong, loud-voiced long-time residents, to worried family members awaiting health issues.
Action has been taken from group meetings at a local Sizzler, to simple acts of driving with the windows down through community members’ own town. The first interview we held was with a couple from the Torrance Refinery Action Alliance, or the TRAA for short. Every first and second Monday of the month, since 2015, a group of affected community members have been meeting in order to encourage their policy makers to make the right choice. The couple interviewed had been a part of the group since they first formed. However, having lived in Torrance for over forty years they were no strangers to the issues of MHF. When they first moved in, only a couple blocks from the refinery, they were assured that it was well run. They thought they were safe moving into that house, and fully believed that the industry meant no harm to its surrounding neighbors. They explained how even though the refinery was there before the community, the issues that they would come to face should have never happened.
The couple pointed out the fact that they drive cars, they understood then, and they understand now that a refinery in itself is necessary. It is the means in which it is run that they care about, and what they worry about. They are not advocating for shutting down the refinery, it is MHF that is their, and everyone else’s, problem. Something that they, and their neighbors didn’t find out about until after accidents started to happen. Accidents, they explained, that were removed from public record. They are now a strong voice in the fight towards a ban on MHF. Standing as two of the longest members of the TRAA.
The next interview was held with community members Jose Berganza and Ana Sanchez. Living in fear, as their friends and family attempt to grow up and thrive in a community that is tainted with the threat of death just around the corner. Having lived here for almost thirty years, they are aware of the city’s condition, and call it ‘unclean’. Saying that they can frequently see the release of black, smoggy smoke into the air as they navigate through their own neighborhood. A community that they are expected to live in and air they are expected to breathe in every day. Stating that “the air is as clean as these factories allow it to be,” and that there “is no off switch.” Their everyday lives have become affected to the point that their daily routines are forever changed in regard to the air quality. They pointed out that if they had the chance to move, they would. However, like many living under these horrible conditions, due to financial reasons they are stuck. The air smells so strong, and the community is beginning to change because of it. They spoke about how they saw that their neighbors were coughing more frequently and commonly; asthma has become a ramped issue among people living there. This is not just a coincidence. They drive with their windows up, accepting that the air surrounding their home and children’s schools is filled with harmful chemicals. This showcases how members are affected by the actions of the refinery even without massive explosions. These are issues that come before it is too late.
According to a recent TRAA meeting, discourse between the refinery and a company based out of China, with a location in Canada, about a new piping system had been in the works last spring. This system is supposed to be more sustainable in regard to corrosion. Which is a highly regarded cause towards the unattended exposure of this chemical. However, according to the Chinese-Canadian company, that discourse abruptly ended at the end of the summer due to new business deals more profitable to the ExxonMobil Company. Demonstrating the value of profit over an individual’s life. Neither neighbor nor worker is cared for when it comes to the industry of big oil.. Laura Pulido, among others, dove into the historical background of environmental racism that has occurred in the Los Angeles area. Her team spent time focusing on the city of Torrance, depicting it as one of the most polluted communities in the entire county. They point out how development of the city itself was based on racist practices. City planners attempt to control and dominate an entire racialized population of people in order to exploit them for dangerous labor (Pulido et al, 1996). This proves that the refinery, even though existing before the community, has always been more important than the residents who live around it. The city was built on the exploitation of working class people. In order for big companies to continue these practices, the community has to stay silent. However, you’ll come to read that that is not necessarily the case anymore.
Resistance
One of the strongest fights against the Refinery is the TRAA, a grassroots, community-based and volunteer-run group that was formed after the 2015 explosion at the Torrance Refinery. The explosion left the surrounding area under a blanket of grey, intoxicating dust. Prompting the community to stand up towards the Torrance Refinery as well as the Wilmington Refinery in their use of the toxic chemical MHF. The February explosion was just a glimpse into the possibilities that have the potential of happening on this site. February 18th, however, was not the beginning. Community members have had an issue with the use of MHF at the refinery ever since it came to their attention in the mid 80s. This chemical can leave those who encounter it with irreversible injuries, if not death, as mentioned above. And community members were expected to accept this as their new reality. However, that day of the explosion prompted the formation of a group that now is taking major actions towards the misuse of MHF. Working with each other as the residents and business owners of the neighborhoods that surround both refineries; they demand a ban on the use of MHF in order to protect their families and community.
The TRAA is currently fighting against the refinery through the use of local resources such as environmental lawyers, political affiliates, and their own voices. They are proposing a new and safer alternative to the use of, and ultimately a ban on, MHF and HF. The TRAA is not letting the city of Torrance stand by as this continues to happen, bringing their group to the forefront of all decision-making when it comes to the public’s health and safety. The section of a safe and secure community was being addressed at the Torrance city strategic planning meeting that was held at the beginning of this month. The group had a proposal letter, modeling legal standpoints, including action plans, and articles of inquiry to present to the public council. Arguments toward a positive future for their community’s safety and wellbeing were being addressed. The group hoped to gain grounds by entering into the strategic plan for the next ten years of Torrance. This would make their fight more powerful. Going as far to state that this is cause for legal action, begging for members of the councils, and any other political affiliate present, commitment and support on this issue. Asking for their approval, explaining that their group, along with the surrounding community, is begging them for them to do something where other politicians have failed.
Take Action
According to David Pellow, environmental justice is the “fair treatment of all people regardless of race, color, and national origin. It is also mentioned that environmental justice is a vision of a possible future” (Pellow 2018:5). As you drive by the Torrance Refinery, and look at all the pollution being released into the air, do you see any possible future? Have you noticed more communities getting sick? Community members are being exposed to these outrageous amounts of greenhouse gases and not all of them are even aware of the toxic air they are exposed to. According to revision 1 of the Torrance Refinery Rule 1180 Plan, “141,234 pounds of emissions of external combustion, 678,573 pounds of emissions of fugitive components, 32,312 pounds of emissions of internal combustion, 378,204 pounds of emissions of other process emissions, 139 pounds of emissions of spray coatings/booths, 18,973 pounds of emissions from startup/shutdown/turnaround and upsets, and 72,086 pounds of emissions from storage tanks” are emitted from the Torrance Refinery every year (Anon 2018:13). As well, it was found that the Torrance Refinery emits six times more sulfur oxide (SOx) into the air than what is required from air quality regulators. The pollution outstrips the annual target and therefore, the refinery owner (PBF Energy) has the possibility to face up to 13 million dollars in fees. SOx levels are to be below 55,000 pounds per year, but the Torrance Refinery had released 323,370 pounds in 2017. As well, we find that the Torrance Refinery is currently under an abatement order from the South Coast Air Quality Management (AQMD) hearing board to reduce flaring caused by power outages (Southern Radio and McNary 2017).
People inside and outside of the community must become involved and take action. One way it can be done is by creating informative brochures or pop-up stands onsite at the Torrance Refinery, to display all of the harmful doings that are being imposed onto the community. We can also place these brochures and pop-up stands in nearby parks, community centers, and around the city, we can involve the community by asking residents if they would allow us to put signs in front of their yards informing them about these life threatening toxins that are being exposed into the air, as many have already done. A pop-up booth will be efficient in order to hand out informative flyers about the unhealthy pollution that is being released by the Torrance Refinery. Of course, it would take away time from our busy schedules to inform the community and talk about ways to minimize exposure. However, this is an important topic that must be addressed and taken seriously to prevent serious illnesses. Forming a social media account addressing the harmful ways in which the refinery is affecting the community is also a great way to inform those living around the refinery, as well as other community members, since we can post pictures, including videos, and write what is happening in the pictures/videos.
Another way community members can get involved is by participating and attending a TRAA meeting. As stated before this community-based group meets the first and third Monday of every month. These meetings are full of useful information in regard to the issue. Be sure to check their website for further information. By taking a couple of hours out of your day, only twice a month, you have the capability to become informed on the refinery which can not only be life changing, but can help you take a stand towards this issue. Starting a campaign can have a great impact on the community and the refinery itself, the goal is to get community members informed and on board that the Torrance Refinery needs to cut down on, and ultimately end, their use of MHF. A chemical that is not only toxic but harmful to the surrounding communities health and way of life. Environmental activist groups such as the TRAA have the opportunity to put stress on their cities representatives so that they can enforce current environmental laws. As well as have the opportunity to promote new laws that will be able to discipline the Torrance Refinery, and hopefully others to follow.
Bajraktarova-Valjakova E, Korunoska-Stevkovska V, Georgieva S. “Hydrofluoric Acid: Burns and Systemic Toxicity, Protective Measures, Immediate and Hospital Medical Treatment.” Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences. 2018 6(11):2257–2269
Özcan, Mutlu, Arezo Allahbeickaraghi, and Mine Dündar. 2011. “Possible Hazardous Effects of Hydrofluoric Acid and Recommendations for Treatment Approach: A Review.” Clinical Oral Investigations. 16(1):15-23.
Phelps, Robert. 1995. “The Search For A Modern Industrial City: Urban Planning, The Open Shop, And The Founding Of Torrance, California.” Pacific Historical Review 64(4):503-535.
Pulido, Laura, Steve Sidawi & Robert O. Vos. 1996. An Archaeology of Environmental Racism in Los Angeles. Urban Geography. 17(5): 419-439.
Similar to the entirety of California, Long Beach is home to an extremely diverse population of people. Because of this diversity, there is a tendency for people of different racial and cultural backgrounds to be centered in the same areas, or for the sake of this case study, in different zip codes across Long Beach. These zip code areas are home to populations who are not very different from another in many ways beside racial and class-wise. For example, the U.S. Census Bureau’s statistics on the populations within zip code 90815 (Los Alamitos) and 90810 (West Side of Long Beach, or Carson City) show that the majority population in Los Alamitos is white at 64.8% while the West Side is 37.9% Latino, 23.5% Black, and 26.8% Asian. The Port of Long Beach and oil refineries such as Valero, Chemoil, World Oil Terminals, and others are industries that have a great effect on Long Beach residents and those surrounding.
These sites have been sources of various issues for the residents in Long Beach. The previously mentioned Port of Long Beach and oil refineries have historically been contributing to significant air pollution in or around these areas. The Ports of Long Beach and Ports of Los Angeles are the biggest handling facility in the United States. Many studies have been conducted in order to study the extent of the pollution and further to how it affects the residents and workers. In a study investigating the Ports of Los Angeles, Ports of Long Beach, and overall air quality in Los Angeles County, it brings up specific air pollutants including black carbon and the amount of fine particle matter mass and particle number coming from these ports. Within these ports, it includes ships, heavy-duty vehicles, locomotives, and cargo equipment used for importing items (Mousavi et al, 2018). These sources and air pollutants were analyzed to see how they impact the overall air quality. The study showed a significant effect of air quality around the port terminals, as well as the car emissions coming from the I-105, I-710, and I-110 freeways. Together the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles accounted for 97% of black carbon emissions in their general “impact zone,” which consists of 500,000 people (Mousavi et al, 2018). With the significant emissions from both the ports and freeways together pose a significant threat to not only the earth but the people who live around these sources. This study points out an important fact that the statistics about particulate matter mass and particle number in these community are significant to help analyze the health impacts on this community.
Different studies have suggested that one of the most affected communities of color and one who has spoken on the severity of environmental toxins is the Latino community, which is one of the larger communities in Long Beach as well. “We find people of color are dis- proportionately affected by TRI facility proximity in California, with Latinos the most disproportionately affected,” (Pastor, Sadd, & Morello, 2004:422). Toxic Release Inventory, TRI, facilities are extremely integrated in Long Beach, which is home to 21 of these facilities. Ironically, the very fact that these individuals and families are residents of low-income communities does not place them in a position where they may afford frequent and expensive medical bills. “We estimated that a single episode of bronchitic symptoms costs on average […] The costs that a child with asthma incurred due to related conditions (sinus and ear infections and bronchitic symptoms) totalled […] US$926 in Long Beach and accounted for 25% of the typical annual costs in both communities’ (Brandt et al., 2012:367). These two factors perpetuate a continuous cycle of toxic facilities being placed in your neighborhood, becoming ill because of them, and later becoming overwhelmed by hospital visits and bills.
These toxins inflicted on to both people of color and poor people are reflected in many health issues. In the 2013 Health Assessment of Long Beach, there are various statistics that provide a clear picture of this environmental racism occuring in Long Beach. These overall health issues related to this toxic environment due to pollutants and other factors, are reflected in the difference in life expectancy for different communities in Long Beach. The assessment states that people living in North, West Central, and Southwest Long Beach have a life expectancy of 75.6-77 years while people living in Southeast and East Long Beach have a life expectancy of 81.5-82.8 (Department of Health and Human Services, 2013). Although there are many factors going into this, the assessment points out that there are “social problems that are associated with poor health such as high unemployment, low education, and high crime are prevalent in different geographical sections of Long Beach. Long Beach consists of a higher percent of individuals living in poverty (19.1%) than either Los Angeles County (15.7%) or the State of California (13.7%)” (Department of Health and Human Services, 2013). It continues to describe environmental health disparities including hazardous waste generators and specifically air quality. The issues in air quality in the North, West Central, and Southwest Long Beach are attributed to severe issues, such as asthma and even further connecting to issues like obesity. Due to the geographics of this area people of color, specifically young children going up in these areas are going to show significant health issues. These people are constantly exposed to these toxins and are even prevented from doing things like recreational activities which connect to obesity and other possible health issues. This is one very specific example of environmental racism people of color and poor people face.
Furthermore there has been proposals of expanding the port of Long Beach which is the largest complex in the country, (Perez et al, 2009). Long Beach has a total population of 136,000 people. A recent study has been conducted to estimate the increase in air pollution the expansion of the port will cause. Not only that, but air pollution causes many chronic illnesses among the community. Children in particular are most vulnerable; developing diseases such as asthma and bronchitis, (Perez et al, 2009). Due to automobile and other mobile sources related to the movement of goods, there are high levels of Nitrogen Oxide and Ozone Concentration in the air.
Resistance Against Air Pollution
In such a large and diverse community, we see various groups and organizations pushing for changes in their community. There are many examples of organizations or council meetings to push for the changes they want to see, such as improving the air quality that has proven to cause numerous health issues as mentioned previously. We see one example of this with the Willmington, Carson, and West Long Beach (WCWLB) community. They have organized meetings to discuss a Community Air Monitoring Plan in these areas. This plan consists of assessing the current situation with significant monitoring to identify the communities impacted the most. This detailed information is intended to be published so it is easily accessible to everyone and further used as a source for what changes need to be made. This is important that this information is easily accessible because so many people are unaware of the issues or to what extent they are happening.
Furthermore, there are many Allies Against Asthma (Allies) Coalitions fighting to reduce the indoor and outdoor environment exposure to air pollution that affect children’s health. The leading chronic disease in the United States with the highest mortality rates is asthma, which is disproportionately affecting low-income people of color (Nicholas et al, 2006).
(The Long Beach Alliance for Children with Asthma, LBACA)
The Long Beach Alliance for Children with Asthma, LBACA, is a coalition that is a group that works together in improving the lives of children with asthma within the community of Long Beach. In particular, LBACA has been working to educate students and the community about this issue by teaching interventions. They first have developed a handout pertaining to the triggers of asthma that is also translated in Spanish to educate students and people in the community (Nicholas et al, 2006). LBACA has also partnered up with a local university to educate high school students in science classes about indoor air pollution, (Nicholas et al, 2006). The students have been able to conduct a study to assess the matter level on their campus; which has helped administration respond to parental concerns about building construction dust on campus, (Nicholas et al, 2006).
LBACA has also hosted five community forums on the topic of housing. They also provide testimony to the city council about twice per year regarding the lack of safe and affordable housing and systematic code enforcement. In addition, LBACA has helped educate legislators about local and state policies that address school indoor air quality, tenant protections, smoke-free beaches, building entryways, and apartments. They have also testified in the first-ever California legislative hearing on asthma going above and beyond by hosting a tour for legislators on asthma. In the end, asthma is a preventable childhood chronic disease that must be addressed by the community.
We interviewed Maricela Cardenas a resident of West Long Beach (90810) whom her children have developed asthma after years of moving into the area. West side Long Beach is in the neighboring city of Carson in where Marathon Petroleum is located nearly less than 3 blocks from Maricela’s family home. Marathon Petroleum is a refinerythat produces gasoline, petroleum, and petrochemicals. It has become one of the largest refineries within the past few years providing nearly 50,000 jobs for people all over the United States, (Providing Energy Solutions, 2019). Their headquarters are in Ohio, but they have 16 locations spread across the country. The Carson location produces nearly 260,000 barrels a day, (Providing Energy Solutions, 2019). They give back to the community by sponsoring events, investing in STEM programs in the educational system, and they give out grants as well, (Providing Energy Solutions, 2019).
(The Marathon Petroleum Refinery )
Interview Questions
For how long has your child had asthma for?
-Asthma runs in my family. My kids have had asthma for most of their lives, but my daughter only recently diagnosed.
At what age was he/she diagnosed?
-My eldest child developed asthma symptoms when she was about fifteen and my youngest son has had asthma since he was a toddler.
How long after moving into West Long Beach did you realize something was abnormal in your child’s health? What were the symptoms/ signs?
-Since asthma has been in my family for some time I’ve always known it might be a problem, but since we live in Long Beach and the air isn’t so great, my kids sometimes have coughing fits because that’s something that happens when you can’t catch your breath, or sometimes there is a lot of wheezing. Some days you can smell it a lot more, when you breathe dry air like that it makes you want to stay inside.
When moving into West Long Beach did you ever notice the Refinery or were you aware of the damages refineries can cause to one’s health and the air?
-When we moved, I knew about the refineries and of course I had seen them, but it isn’t something I thought would be so important in my life. I moved here mostly because I could afford it and I want my kids to live in a decent home, but I didn’t realize how bad it gets sometimes. I guess it’s because my family already had respiratory problems that I didn’t think it could get worse and I had never heard of any extreme cases, but that doesn’t mean it’s not taking some sort of toll on my family.
How has your child having asthma impacted his/her life? How has it impacted the family?
-My daughter’s case is a little more mild, but my son has had a few asthma attacks. My son doesn’t really participate in sports and doesn’t like to play with the other kids because he says he gets tired. It really affects him in that way because he’s a child and he wants to do certain things that he can’t because of his breathing problems, and it’s a traumatic experience because having an asthma attack is a literal emergency and it can happen at any moment.
How costly is it to treat your child with asthma?, Have you had any financial support or found helpful resources?
-When you can’t make it to the hospital there’s this machine called a nebulizer that’s around $50. You’re supposed to have the person having an asthma attack breathe out of it. Plus there is the cost of the liquid to fill the machine with which is about $20 a pack. This doesn’t include the fact that sometimes the attack is more severe so a trip to urgent care still costs more money. We also have to refill inhalers regularly.
How often does your child suffer from asthma attacks?
-It can be unpredictable, he can go months without one and other times he’ll have up to two a month.
How would you rate or describe the quality of air in West Long Beach?
-I don’t think we have the best air quality. We’re near Los Angeles, so I would imagine it’s not the best air to breathe in California.
What are things you notice about the air that makes you know it is polluted? Or how is it different from other Communities you have visited?
-We live right near a freeway entrance and the train tracks are really close to us, too. I think because we’re living in a big city and there’s a lot of traffic and businesses like the oil refineries it must be a lot being put into our air.
Have you ever thought of leaving the area? If so where would you go? If not why would you stay?
-I have thought of leaving to somewhere that just isn’t as busy as it is here. I think I’m scared of picking up and moving my kids into a new house, new school, away from their families. I’ve lived in Southern California for so long, I don’t think I should be left with no choice but to leave. I have a life here.
What do you think has let air pollution become such a great issue?
-I don’t think anyone has done much to address it. I just see the streets getting busier and the cargo trains rolling in everyday. I think we’re just letting it keep happening because not a lot of people think that it might be doing something to us and our communities.
What do you think you can do to help with this environmental issue? What can the community do? Or what have you done to help improve this issue?
-I know that people protest and things like that and I think that’s all we can do. I know there are people who might have more time on their hands that are out there trying to get things done, I haven’t done as much as I would have liked about this problem because I have my kids and job, I find it hard to make time.
Do you think people in your community are aware of the issue? Or do they ignore it? Would they take action if they were aware?
-I know that especially the younger adults are concerned about our future. Not just with pollution but education and things like that, I know a family who told me their son is in college and studying political science specifically to work in local government and change these things.
How do you feel about refineries?
They’ve always been here so I hadn’t given them a lot of thought. When my son’s asthma started to get really bad is when people brought it to my attention along with other problems Long Beach has with pollution, and it scares me to know they’re here and they’re just up in smoke every day.
Do you think air pollution can ever be fixed?
-A part of me thinks it’s impossible. Those places are huge, the businesses I’m sure are very wealthy. I think there’s too much damage to fix completely, but people are trying and if there’s at least some sort of progress that’s all we can hope for. I think that people either need to get completely aggressive to be heard and get things done fast, or they need to find their way into the system, government, and take their time making these changes. But that could be years.
Taking Action
There are many ways to get involved in your community to support environmental justice. These actions can range from getting in touch with city council, leading protests, or can be as small as starting a conversation about it with others. Creating awareness of environmental injustices is the first step in helping the community fight back against air pollution in Long Beach and the ramifications it has on its people of this community. This lack of awareness or lack of access to resources is a huge part of why we see these pollutants centered in certain areas and not in others. Finding ways to reduce the amount of pollution released into the air within your daily life is also a great way to take action in reducing air pollution. The increase in the use of cars as a person’s mode of transportation can contribute to air pollution that negatively impacts health (Shobha, Liam, & Allen, 2003). A high dependence on motor vehicles has resulted in higher levels of congestion, so walking instead of driving or bicycling every once in a while can only help in combating air pollution (Shobha et al, 2003). Taking action at a micro-level can be very useful in making connections, educating people in order for them to educate others, and can make a great impact in not only informing the public but getting others to take part in reducing air pollution.
The Children’s Clinic (TCC) is another good way to help your community if you are looking to help by treating children diagnosed with asthma. The Children’s Clinic has helped in designing better programs that educate patients on asthma and have changed the way doctors are trained for dealing with patients pertaining to the diagnosis and treatment of asthma. Although the damage has already been done for these children it’s important that there are resources for them and their families in possibly reducing their asthma. The Children’s Clinic also provides workshops, educational classes, and presentations on various health topics pertaining to Long Beach in order to increase awareness not only for asthma but other health issues known within the community.
As noted earlier, getting in touch with Long Beach Alliance For Children With Asthma, LBACA, could also be beneficial to those who want to partake in the coalition towards helping to educate the public and create awareness of toxic air in Long Beach affecting children. Partnered with University of Southern California air quality researchers, LBACA have developed a monitoring device for air pollution in schools. The findings are being used to educate the community and are being presented to legislators. LBACA have worked with other justice groups, researchers, and community residents, which have continued to produce successful stories. Concerning a Long Beach proposal to expand highways, which would increase the amount of pollution, LBACA mobilized to spread the word to the media for public attention. They mobilized by participating in activities such as testifying at meetings and hearings, holding forums to educate the community from a health and environmental justice perspective, sitting on panels, and submitting written recommendations (Nicholas et al, 2006). As a result, their efforts achieved the discarding of the expansion highway design and allowed community members to be involved in the redrawing process to the portion of the highway that belonged to them.
EndOil/Communities for Clean Ports is another organization that is working towards creating clean air for Long Beach and clean ports. Air pollution is caused partly by the cargo that comes in and out of the Long Beach/Los Angeles port as it is the nation’s two busiest seaports. Working with this organization could be a great way in getting involved to help improve the lives of people who live in proximity to these ports. This can also have a drastic impact of the workers of these ports. The workers and the nearby residents can create a powerful alliance to improve their conditions and protect themselves from many of these linked health issues. They have helped the community so far by developing a grant program that would fund air filtration systems for schools, mobile care clinics, and other community projects in Long Beach.
Theoretical Perspectives
Pellows’(2018) second pillar of environmental justice studies focuses on the idea of scale being important in analyzing the causes, consequences, and possible resolutions of environmental injustice. When Pellows (2018) talks about scale, he shows that the multi-scale dimension is a very important model to use because it helps to challenges us into rethinking how environmental concepts from a cellular level expand towards a global level. These are environmental issues that we study that range from affecting our bodies to our neighborhoods, and as far out as the country or the world (Pellows, 2018). In this case, Pellows’ second pillar allows us to examine how air pollution generated by freeways and ports can emit black carbon, fine particle mass, and other substances that contribute to respiratory disorders like asthma and bronchitis in Long Beach, but also how this air pollution aggravates climate change from a global level. When discussing the expanded outlook on what constitutes the environment, Pellow (2018) also mentions the workplace in this. Through this framework we are able to see the extent of who’s affected by these ports and in what ways we can fight against them.
Another theoretical perspective that is applicable to environmental racism (more specifically, to the issue of health disparities due to air quality in Long Beach) is Laura Pulido’s idea that capitalism is largely at fault for the exploitation of people of color. Exploitation, in this case, does not necessarily always refer to labor, rather communities of color are suffering consequences due to the devaluing of their communities and families. The relationship between racism and capitalism is adjoined through several structures and institutions of society, but environmental racism is another in which assigning a lesser value to certain groups of people allows businesses to prevail; for example, the Port of Long Beach is undoubtedly linked to the business of global trade, the business of delivery, etc., and it is able to be as profitable as it is. Pulido explains that, “the elaborate ideology that constructed indigenous people as less than fully human was entirely necessary for the colonial project,” (Pulido, 2017:527). This is not only relevant to the beginning of colonialism, but also (and perhaps equally as significant) it is a beginning to the development of capitalism in its many forms and phases. Throughout history environmental racism has been prevelant through slavery, one of the moer blatant forms of racism, and in recent years through residental segregation and health disparities in communities of color.
References
Houston, D., Wei Li, & Jun Wu. (2014). Disparities in Exposure to Automobile and Truck
Mousavi, A., Mohammad, S., Hasheminassab, S., Pikelnaya, O., Polidori, A., Ban-Weiss, G., Sioutas, C. (2018). Impact of particulate matter (PM) emissions from ships, locomotives, and freeways in the communities near the ports of Los Angeles (POLA) and Long Beach (POLB) on the air quality in the Los Angeles county. Atmospheric Environment. 195,
Nicholas, E. A., Dwyer, M., Murphy, A., Taylor-Fishwick, J. C., Cohn, J. H., Kelly, C. S., Di
Stefano, D. (2006). Coalition-Based Approaches for Addressing Environmental Issues in Childhood Asthma. Health Promotion Practice, 7(2), 108S-116S. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839906287060
Pastor, M., Sadd, J. L., & Morello, F. R. (2004). Waiting to Inhale: The Demographics of Toxic
Pulido, L. (2017). “Geographies of Race and Ethnicity II: Environmental Racism, Racial
Capitalism and State-Sanctioned Violence.” Progress in Human Geography, 41(4): 524-533.
Shobha Srinivasan, Liam R. O’Fallon, Allen Dearry. (2003) “Creating Healthy Communities,
Healthy Homes, Healthy People: Initiating a Research Agenda on the Built Environment and Public Health.” American Journal of Public Health. 93(9). 1446-1450. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.93.9.1446
Our Environment is in danger and it is affecting everyone living on this planet. Something clearly needs to be done to fix this issue. Environmental Racism is an issue that takes place all over the world. Among many of the injustices that take place around the world, racial and ethnic minority communities is one aspect that is often overlooked from the effects of discrimination on the environment that the community is based in (The Lancet Planetary. 2018). Many people are being exposed to environmental hazards in lower-income communities and communities of color compared to non-whites. According to Pellow, Environmental racism is racial discrimination in environmental policymaking, the enforcement of regulations and laws, the deliberate targeting of communities of color for toxic waste facilities, and it is also the official sanctioning of the life-threatening presence of people who are in prisons and the pollutants in our communities (Pellow 2018). Environmental racism “refers to any policy, practice, or directive that differentially affects or disadvantages (whether intended or unintended) individuals, groups or communities based on race, or color” (Pellow 2018). Environmental privilege is becoming more prominent as the surrounding socioecological spaces are declining in health/prosperity (Pulido 2017). Many of privileged communities see people of color as threatening to their well-being, and therefore demonstrate their implicit biases by creating red tape in the form of expensive communities (Pulido 2017). To have a better understanding of Environmental racism, Pellow looks at Critical Environmental Justice and the framework built on the four pillars that is meant to help us understand environmental issues more clearly. The first pillars of Critical Environmental Justice gives attention to differences in social categories in the production of environmental injust from all angles of race, gender, sexuality, ability, and classes to species (Pellow 2018). The second pillar looks to have a better understanding of the consequences and the possible resolution for the problems taking place. Environmental racism must be theorized through a multi-scalar spatial and temporal approach (Pellow 2018). The third pillar looks at social inequalities that take place in society, and the reinforcement from the power of the state (Pellow 2018). Lastly the fourth pillar focuses on concept Pellow calls indispensability (Pellow 2018).
Overview
California is known to be one of the most significant contributors to air pollution in the United States, and According to the American Lung Association, Los Angeles and Long Beach are one of the most polluted cities that has a negative outcome on the surrounding communities. There have been six systematic studies of environmental racism in Los Angeles examining three environmental hazards: uncontrolled toxic waste sites, TSDFs, and air toxins based on the Toxic Release Inventory. All studies showed that nonwhites were disproportionately exposed. Most vulnerable were working class Latinos (Pulido 2000). Statistically wise, we see that low income and minority-based communities are dealing with the worst of environmental hazards. We will be studying communities such as Wilmington and our site will be Wilmington, which is home to Latinos and African Americans, are inhaling toxic fumes and are living in what is considered as the Diesel Death Zone. Wilmington has two of the largest US ports, four major oil refineries, four asphalt refineries, an oil field, and other industries. The Port of Los Angeles is also close by Wilmington, adding to the environmental hazards this community is facing. Environmental problems like this is not something that will not be found in predominantly white communities like Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Calabasas, etc. It’s up to the community to raise awareness, but the city of Wilmington is continuously shut down by saying that that the environmental hazard is a sign and cost of ecological growth. This feeds into the concept of environmental racism but racial capitalism treating Wilmington as dumping grounds for environmental waste and using and abusing the people for cheap labor and their health. This is an issue that hits home being that Wilmington is only thirteen miles away from CSULB and should be covered in understanding the environmental hazards in our environment. When it comes to environmental racism Wilmington plays a good example of how environmental injustice occurs in minority-based communities. Wilmington is home to many Latinos and African Americans of lower-income, and many industries see this as dumping ground for their industrial waste such as smog, water, and soil contamination because the lack of education that usually comes from these communities. Many corporations feel that because of it being a lower-income community, the people who are living there might lack education and therefore will not fight back to them placing their plants and factories near their homes that is releasing toxins into the air. Communities that have prominently white do not experience this type of treatment as they are more willing to fight back and not taken advantage of as communities of color and lower income would. Without regard to the possible hazards it can cause to one’s health, many industries such as refineries in Wilmington does not look into the consequences of their output and go based on who lives in what community, as well as if they can take over their homes. Many of these refineries are in such to just keep making money and ignore the real issues that are affecting the people living in the surrounding city. Furthermore, with the growing population over the last few decades, there has been an increase in mass production for the consumer market. This increase in manufacturing has inevitably contributed to the degradation of the environment over time as our water, air, and communities are polluted with toxins. Environmental racism then is interconnected with environmental capitalism, for the majority populations impacted by the effects of mass manufacturing and the environmental racism gap are low-income communities of color. Capitalist ideologies fuel corporations to increase profit with little to no concern for surrounding communities, human and non-human (ecosystems), and how pollutive manufacturing practices are. Consumerism is ceaseless today; therefore, capitalism is constant.
History of Change
The city of Wilmington has endured many changes over time, and these changes were brought on by those in power. The first major change within the city occurred in 1909 when representatives of Wilmington were convinced to consolidate the town to be considered as part of the city of Los Angeles (Fogelson and Fishman 1993). A once independent city was now absorbed by a powerful metropolitan city, and this set the tone for future developments within Wilmington. All control was now in the hands of Los Angeles, which was perceived as a promising thing considering the Consolidation Commission Wilmington would receive. People of the once independent town presumed the consolidation would bring more funding for schools, better law enforcement, etc. and this proved to be correct, but in addition to these improvements there was also funding being put into the port systems and oil refineries. Wilmington Oil Field was founded in 1932, and since then the city has been plagued with hundreds of oil wells pumping oil (longbeach.gov). In 2006, there was approval for an additional 540 oil wells in Wilmington (Boxall and Mozingo 2016). A Los Angeles Times interview captured a statement from a zoning administrator that was overseeing this project, and his words are exemplary of capitalistic greed. It was stated, “In a time where dependence on foreign oil comes at an increasingly higher social, economic, political and human cost, it can be found that this approval, by encouraging and facilitating local oil production, under strict controls …. will be of direct benefit to the general public convenience and welfare,” (Boxall and Mozingo 2016). This blatantly illustrates corporate ideologies – in public statements the general public is always discussed as the priority point, but in truth the developments are for-profit, and they are implementing these oil wells in low-income, minority neighborhoods without taking into consideration the negative long-term effects. Once Wilmington signed its control away to Los Angeles, residents of the town lost their rights to good air quality and to be considered prior to large scale developments.
The Presence of Inequality
Wilmington is composed of majority minority groups, with a city median household income of $45k, majority of which are also utilizing food stamps under the conditions of: single-parent household, having children, disability, and poverty (statisticalatlas.com). These people are exposed to the toxic chemicals that are exuding from all the oil refineries and as an effect from the high traffic at the ports. In an article examining the correlation between climate change and poverty, discussed data compared the wealth gap of several nations including the U.S. (Shapiro 2011). This data revealed that instances where the gap was greater between the rich and poor, the chances of health were likely to be worse amongst other social indicators (Shapiro 2011). When considering this gap and correlating health to socioeconomic status, it is clear why communities like Wilmington are seen to have high rates of asthma and other lung diseases; Moreover, residents of Wilmington are already established in the community and likely cannot afford to upheave everything, so they inevitably stay because there are fewer alternatives. This puts into perspective the amount of environmental inequality that is present. In a comparative study that analyzed the characteristics of environmental inequality, it was found that proximity to industrial pollution was amongst the myriad indicators; including local park access and of course pollution (Kruize et. al 2014). With this in mind, Wilmington’s neighbors, Eastside Long Beach and Rancho Palos Verdes further illustrate this disparity of environments; for Eastside has acres of shrubbery at their local El Dorado Regional Park while Rancho Palos Verdes has eighteen local parks open to residents (cityofrpv.maps.arcgis.com). Currently, Wilmington has few parks with as much greenery as its neighbors, and with a copious amount of pollution being inhaled more tree-filled parks would be beneficial; yet, it is clear that efforts would rather be spent in areas that are more affluent.
Environmental Racism and For- Profit Ideologies
Environmental inequality is heavily associated with communities of low-class with the majority population being minority groups, and this is a key indicator of environmental racism As touched on earlier in this post, environmental racism is the issue at hand in Wilmington, in addition to the repercussions of classist motives. Environmental racism is best defined as “the differential distribution of environmental burdens according to race, perpetuated by the exclusion of people of color from environmental decision-making (Opperman 2019).” Industrial oil refineries and port companies are negatively affecting Wilmington more than the surrounding areas. The people with decision-making abilities are choosing to prioritize profit over environmental health, and those who are trying to instill laws that will benefit the environment are trying to gain profit, as demonstrated by the cap and trade laws. Lawmakers behind cap and trade laws would rather have pollutive companies purchase/trade ‘pollution allowances’ than have their emissions confined to the cap limit per state (Ahmed 2018). This allows money to buy more room for pollution, which is capitalist to say the least. There are several reasons to point the blame at those who allow such decisions to be made, but the root of the issue is our societal values and ideologies. According to Terressa Benz in her study on ‘toxic cities,’ a resonating perspective was given concerning how environmental racism should be approached (Benz 2019). Benz discusses the common accusatory methods that our society uses when trying to pin the blame on someone, which are not helping the actual root of the issue, which is institutionally embedded (Benz 2019). This reconfigures what the focus should be on, institutional racism and classism, so that the occurrences currently going on in Wilmington are not duplicated and are prevented.
Wilmington, CA Air Quality USA.com
Causes
The issue around environmental racism is that it is a social issue and it cannot be neatly separated from each other (The Lancet Planetary. 2018). Independent civilizations gathered in gaining knowledge and many resources to agrarian societies with complex government and different opportunities for caloric energy to be expanded, and social hierarchies. The result was ruling upper class, a limited middle class, and the working class in which supported the entire civilization (Mclntyre-Brewer 2019). A force on racial capitalism requires greater attention to the essential processes that shaped the modern world, such as colonization, primitive accumulation, slavery, and imperialism (Pulido 2017). Activists have appealed to the state in a lawsuit that was filed based on the Equal Protection clause of the 14th amendment to the US constitution. All have failed (Pulido 2017). People in society are still living with the legacy of these processes, racial capitalism requires inequality in a materialist, ideological and historical framework (Pulido 2017). “Capitalism is racial capitalism and it suggest that racism predates capitalism and therefore can be used by diverse economic system including colonization and slavery” (Pulido 2017). If environmental racism is part of racial capitalism it ends up reflecting regulation to the province of the state and yet the state is not invested into solving the environmental racism gap because it would be too costly and would reflect in disrupting the industry, the larger political system, and the state itself (Pulido 2017). The problem with environmental racism is not a lack of knowledge from people, but it is more on the lack of political will that needs to be attributed to racial capitalism Environmental racism needs to be seen in a larger context of a long line of diverse forms of state-sanctioned violence that is facilitating racial capitalism (Pulido 2017). It is important to focus on how white privilege enables development of a more structural, less conscious, and more deeply historicized understanding of racism (Pulido 2000). The system and the state reinforce this cycle. White privilege reveals how racism shapes places that are institutionalized (Pulido 2000).
Consequences
Racism influences the likelihood of exposure to environmental and health risk as well as accessibility to any type of health care for people (Bullard 2001). With this taking place in societies all over the world people are dying and many peoples living conditions are getting worse and worse everyday. It is commonplace to find that many homes and schools are surrounded by hazardous manufacturing or service operations, and equally close to waste facilities as close a half a mile (Westra 1996). There have been numerous studies done that ended up revealing that people of color have borne greater health and environmental risk burdens compared to a society at large (Bullard 2001). Bullard (20101), points out that public health risk in some populations is higher when social class is held constant. He uses an example that race has been found to be independent of class in the distribution of air pollution, as well as contaminated fish, location of municipal landfills and incinerators, toxic waste dumps, cleanup of superfund sites, and lead poisoning of children. Lead affects between 3 to 4 million children who are living in the United States and the majority of these children are African American and Latinos who are living in urban areas. Among children who are the age of 5 or younger have higher percentages of lead in their blood when compared to white children levels of lead (Bullard 2001).
Site Profile
The city of Wilmington is located in the Los Angeles Harbor region of Los Angeles, California. Wilmington has a high concentration of industrialization and home to the third-largest oil field in the United States. Wilmington has a population of 51,517 people, according to the U.S. Census, with the demographics being 86.6% Latinos, 6.4% White, 2.7% Asians, and 2.6% Black. The city of Wilmington is majority Latino based with low socioeconomic status and education. The average annual household income for the city is around $20,000, and a low percentage of the residents have a high school education. Still, crime rates are significantly higher than in the surrounding cities. Wilmington has two of the largest U.S ports, four major oil refineries, four asphalt refineries, an oil field, recycling refineries, and three major freeways. With the refineries and the port of Los Angeles all within a couple of miles of Wilmington, the city has been classified as the “Diesel Death Zone.” Being known as California’s most industrialized zones, it is not an ideal place to live by constantly being exposed to toxic chemicals daily that cause long-term irreparable damage to the people living there. With Los Angeles-Long Beach area being known as one of the most polluted cities, according to the American Lung Association, it also has the highest cancer rates and asthma rates in California. With the port of Los Angeles and the city of Wilmington being so close to CSULB, it is crucial to learn of the environmental consequences it has to the people of Wilmington but of the surrounding cities.
Field Notes
When arriving at the site, I was surrounded by smog coming out of the refineries and from the port. It fascinated how quickly the scenery changed one second I am in Long Beach surrounded by a reasonable amount of greenery, and then the next thing you know, I am in a city that looks like it came out of apocalypse movie. The surrounding residential neighborhoods have graffiti on the fences and walls and are cluttered with trash coming from the surrounding refineries with tires and waste along the sides of the roads and streets. There was a lack of plants and trees, and everything seemed very industrialized with huge semi-trucks driving down the roads adding more smog into the air. I rolled down my window as I was driving through the city, and the smell that was in the air was nauseating and made me dizzy after ten minutes. Even after rolling up my window, I feel like I still breathing and smelling the terrible air. Each direction I turned, I can see the Port of Los Angeles and the smog it’s spewing into the air, which smells like petroleum and burned plastic. It shocked me how anyone would be able to live here with such a nasty stench covering the city, but I thought of how cheap it also might be to live in such an undesirable city. To get a better understanding of what is going on in Wilmington, I was on my way to interview my friend, who lives about fifteen minutes away from the Los Angeles port and hear her experiences with living in Wilmington.
These images down below were taken during the site visit, which shows how industrialized the city of Wilmington is with numerous refineries and chemical plants showing in both the left and right photos. The first photo shows one of the refineries and the graffitied fence and trash located near it. The second photo shows the type of trucks/ cars you will run into when driving through Wilmington going in and out of the refineries.
Photos taken by:Sidney Ramos
Interviewing Wilmington Locals
In trying to get a better understanding of how it is like living in Wilmington we decided to interview locals who live in the city and listen to their experiences. I decided to interview Justine Morales and her mother, Barbara Morales, to see if there is a generational difference between both their experiences.
Justine Morales, 23
How long have you been living in this neighborhood?
I have lived in Wilmington for 19 years since I was 4.
How does it feel living near the Port of LA, four major oil refineries, four asphalt refineries, a large oil field, as well as other factories?
It honestly depresses me when I come home from school, and I see that I am driving into this huge cloud of smog. The area that CSULB is in is nothing compared to Wilmington, and the difference between the two cities amazes me despite that it is less than fifteen miles away. Hearing you say the numerous environmental hazards near makes my heart drop because they are the reason why my city is known as a toxic wasteland. I remember reading in the newspaper that the ports were going to try to reduce smog output, but I haven’t seen a change for as long as I have been here. It still feels like the same amount of pollution is out not only in the air but in the streets as well. It honestly sucks that on a warm summer day, I have to either deal with the heat in my room or smell all the chemicals they are burning outside, causing me to get a headache and feel dizzy.
Do you know anyone or have you experienced any problems in your health in relation to the quality of air?
Other than dealing with the headaches from the burning chemicals outside, my little brother who is ten years old is dealing with asthma. Watching him play at his soccer games hurts my heart hearing him wheezing and pulling out his inhaler, but I also noticed that he’s not the only one either, a good amount of the boys on the team have asthma or some kind of breathing problem.
Do you feel you are well informed about the air quality in your city? If so what do you think are the main causes of air pollution in your city?
I don’t think I am well informed enough about anything that is going on in my city. I am well aware that the ports and all the refineries are the cause for these health problems, but I feel like myself and my community are not shown statistics of the harm this environmental issue is causing. In addition, I want to know what the Port of LA is doing to minimize the smog output into our air.
Barbara Morales, 52
How long have you been living in this neighborhood?
I have lived in Wilmington for 32 years now. I migrated to California from Mexico when I was twenty. The reason I chose to come to Wilmington was because I had a cousin who lived here when I first got here and rent always seemed to be cheaper here as well.
How does it feel living near the Port of LA, four major oil refineries, four asphalt refineries, a large oil field, as well as other factories?
I always knew that living next to these refineries was not good for my health, but I feel trapped here. I have no education past middle school and my job pays me minimum wage, but for my husband it is easy access to his job since he is a truck driver and constantly drives in and out of the Los Angeles port. With his job and my job we are able to make rent and pay our bills to support our family, but I do understand living here can affect my families health drastically.
Do you know anyone or have you experienced any problems in your health in relation to the quality of air?
It makes me feel like a bad mother for raising my kids in such an environmentally hazardous city and seeing my son and husband face the consequences. My son has developed Asthma and we constantly have to check smog reports for our city to see how bad the air is going to be for him. My husband on the other hand is facing health problems to the extensive work he does at the LA port. He is constantly in and out and different hours of the day trying to make meet he always tired and is now facing high blood pressure. I believe that living in this city has brought down the health of my family and knowing that the long term effects can cause cancer makes me even more scared for my family.
Do you feel you are well informed about the air quality in your city? If so what do you think are the main causes of air pollution in your city?
No, I believe more can be done to let the community know what is going on environmentally wise. At the same time I blame myself for never going out of my way to make a change in my community. Rather than joining a local organization or rallying, I live here and suffer the consequences and so does my family. I just have this mentality that these huge corporations have the upper hand over me that leads me into thinking what power do I have to them and what kind of change can I make?
Justine Morales, 23
How long have you been living in this neighborhood?
I have lived in Wilmington for 19 years since I was 4.
How does it feel living near the Port of LA, four major oil refineries, four asphalt refineries, a large oil field, as well as other factories?
It honestly depresses me on my way to and from school I will see all this smog coming from these refineries. I remember reading in the newspaper that the ports were going to try to reduce smog output, but I haven’t seen a change for as long as I have been here. It honestly sucks that on a warm summer day I have to either deal with the heat in my room or smell all the chemicals they are burning outside and having to deal with a headache in results of the fumes.
Do you know anyone or have you experienced any problems in your health in relation to the quality of air?
Other than dealing with the headaches from the outside burning chemicals my little brother who is 10 years old is dealing with asthma. Watching him play at his soccer games it hurts my heart hearing him wheezing and pulling out his inhaler and I noticed he’s not the only one either a good amount of the boys on the team have asthma.
Do you feel you are well informed about the air quality in your city? If so what do you think are the main causes of air pollution in your city?
I don’t think I am well informed enough about anything that is going on in my city. I am well aware that the ports and all the refineries are the cause for these health problems but I feel like my community including I are not shown statistics of the harm this environmental issue is causing. In addition, I want to know what the Port of LA is doing to minimize the smog output into our air.
Resistance
Through the commonalities of lower class, communities and their environmental injustices it is exemplified that for-profit, pollutive companies tend to select sites for their toxic waste based on the area’s level of resistance (Lancet Public Health 2018). This lack of resistance has also been associated with the lack of representation for people of color in leadership positions. Wilmington has been the hub of new wave environmental activists for the past few years, as the children who grew up next to oil refineries grew up. Many of these activists are supporting environmental organizations such as Communities for a Better Environment, who has taken legal actions against Southern California Air Quality Management District (Valdez 2018). This organization has also paved the way for some improvements including the Los Angeles City Council ruling for oil drilling proximity restrictions (Valdez 2018)). Though there are strides in the right direction these strides are small compared to the corporate vantage points that control the areas of pollution (McIntyre-Brewer 2019). To have an impact on reformative legislation it will take more organizations like those present in Wilmington to educate communities to generate a greater force of resistance.
Take Action Plan
Environmental justice issues are a world wide issues that everyone needs to be on board with. We are destroying the planet as we know it and it’s only going to keep getting worse. Many activists have come together to support this issue, but there hasn’t been much to show from it. Critical Environmental Justice came to be because it looked at assumptions and gaps in other earlier work in the field of social science (Pellow 2018). A Take Action Plan in getting everyone involved would be making and spreading the word. Teaching students in k-12 about this issue is a way to make change in our society. Anyone can take action by contributing a little each day to the environment. Teaching students at a young ages gives them awareness to help them think differently on how much this issue is going to take a toll on their lives as they grow. Allowing for environmental clubs in school, and each day taking notes on issue that could be addressed in schools and how to fix their environment there is a good start in taking action. The best way in taking action is to spread awareness on this issue and starting with the children of our future is a great start. Activist has in the past developed that facilities improve their operational safety but everything that has been a fight for has been shut down (Pellow 2018). Having a voice and standing together can help in achieving a heard voice.
References
Ahmed, A. (2018, July 12). California Cap-and-Trade is Working – For Other States.
By: Bonnie Raunau, Selina Rivas, Alejandra Sanchez, Sydney Schueller
Food Insecurity: What is it? What causes it?
Food insecurity is a prevalent issue in communities across the globe. People who are food insecure lack the ability to access food due to insufficient financial means. The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food insecure households as those who, at times, are “unable to acquire adequate food for one or more household members because they had insufficient money and other resources for food” (Coleman-Jensen & Steffen, 2017). In the United States alone, “more than 50 million people are…food insecure and one in nine Americans are on food stamps” (Holt-Giménez & Wang, 2011). According to the U.S. Census, in 2018, the United States population was about 320 million. Comparing the total population of the U.S. to the number of citizens that are food insecure, it was found that about 15 percent of the country’s population is food insecure.
Food insecurity leads to a variety of problems for those who face it. Oftentimes, buying food cannot be made a priority. Individuals are faced with the difficult decision of choosing between using their money to buy food to sustain themselves or paying for their housing, education, or other living expenses. It is not uncommon for those suffering from food insecurity to report cutting down the size of their meals or skipping meals entirely (Coleman-Jensen & Steffen, 2017). Financial obligations aside, lack of access to food can also lead to serious health problems. Food insecurity additionally contributes to “reduced nutrient intake, postponing medical care, inability to afford prescriptions, diabetes…and poor mental health” (Coleman-Jensen & Steffen, 2017). Because food insecure individuals have access only to cheap, unhealthy options, it is associated with increased obesity. Children are especially at risk of health problems when they lack access to adequate and healthy food. Studies have shown that children who live in lower-income, food insecure households have poorer health that leads to problems in school, like tardiness and absences (Alaimo, 2001).
Race and class are perhaps the most important factors contributing to food insecurity. Because people of color are more likely than people of other races to live in poverty in the United States, race, class, and food insecurity go hand in hand. Class affects food access because people often cannot afford the time and money required to travel to locations with healthier food. Food insecurity is a part of critical environmental justice because of the intersectionality between these inequalities of race and class. In the United States, past discrimination and historical institutions still currently affect people of color, making their communities more likely to have high rates of poverty (Weber & Miller, 2017). Hunger and malnutrition are prominent in working-class communities of color because large food corporations are in control of food systems in these areas and prioritize creating profit rather than adequately feeding the local communities (Pellow, 2018). Cheap, highly processed foods are created and distributed in these communities, making these foods more accessible than fresh, nutritious foods. In contrast, middle- and upper-class white communities have access to grocery stores and farmer’s markets selling healthy, fresh foods. By examining the way that these corporations thrive in poor communities of color, it is shown that urban zoning also contributes to food insecurity.
Residential segregation has been a persistent problem in the United States since the beginning. Zoning leads to exclusionary practices and to “differential exposure to neighborhood stressors, and unhealthy land uses and limited access to salutogenic resources (i.e., medical facilities, grocery stores, parks, open space, healthy schools)” for communities of color (Wilson, Hutson, & Mujahid, 2008). People belonging to the same racial groups tend to live and work in the same communities. These communities are often from lower socioeconomic classes, and the urban development in these areas disproportionately consists of fast food, liquor stores, and other infrastructure that promotes negative health habits (Wilson, Hutson, & Mujahid, 2008). With such businesses dominating these communities of color, food insecurity is common. These areas have disproportionately fewer resources, such as farmer’s markets, which provide fresh, organic produce to local communities. Such nutritious foods can help ward off diet-related illnesses, such as obesity and cardiovascular disease (Sage & McCracken, 2013). Due to a lack of access to fresh, healthy foods, these urban zones are commonly considered food deserts.
Food deserts are areas within cities where fresh food is unavailable or unaffordable for its residents. Following patterns of food insecurity, food deserts exist in areas of poverty and communities of color. In food deserts, food access is “often limited to the cheap, high-fat, high-salt, high-calorie, processed food available at gas stations, liquor stores, corner stores, and fast food outlets” (Holt-Giménez & Wang, 2011). Even if healthy foods are available in these food deserts, they are too expensive, making cheaper, unhealthy alternatives more appealing to the residents. Many people who live in food deserts do not have the means of transportation to seek grocery stores or farmer’s markets that are outside of their communities, giving them limited options for where to buy food. Though the processed foods in gas stations and liquor stores are still technically all edible food, the food available in food deserts lacks proper nutrition. Consumption of these unhealthy foods leads to increased occurrences of diet-related diseases in these areas.
Site Profile: Long Beach and North Long Beach
According to the United States Census Bureau, Long Beach has an estimate of 467,354 residents (2018). Out of all of those residents, 52.5% are white alone, 12.9% are Black or African American, 1.2% are American Indian and Alaskan Native, 13.2% are Asian, 0.9% are Native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander, 4.7% are two or more races, 42.8% are Hispanic or Latino, and 27.6% are White (non-Hispanic or Latino). Within the city of Long Beach, the median household income in 2017 was $58,314 as compared to the national median household income of $63,179. The U.S. Census Bureau created three categories for the breakdown in the different age brackets: 7.0% of the population were under the age of 5 years, 23.7% were individuals under the age of 18 years, and 10.7% were individuals over the age of 65 years. Women make up about half the population or 50.7%. Within the city, the average person per household size in 2013-2017 was 2.80. About 29.9% of the population for persons who are 25 years or older have a bachelor’s degree (or higher) as their highest level of education. The percentage of people who are high school graduates (or higher) for those ages 25 or older were at 79.8% during 2013-2017. As far as the national poverty rate goes, in 2018, there were approximately 38.1 million people in poverty (11.8%). Compared to the national poverty rate, Long Beach is higher, with 19.1% of the community living in poverty.
Specifically, in North Long Beach, the U.S Census Bureau stated that the population was around 93,000 in 2010 or approximately one-fifth of the entire city. Because North Long Beach is a neighborhood/area of Long Beach, population and ethnic diversity estimates vary. According to some estimates, North Long Beach is home to 56.9% Hispanic residents, 8% White residents, 20.2% Black or African American, 11.1% Asian, 1.8% mixed race, and 2% are other racial identities. The median income for the neighborhoods of North Long Beach is $52,878. A majority of the households are married (41.7%), but the next highest household type is single women, which is 24.8% (higher than Long Beach as a whole). For family households, 56.2 % are married, 33.7% are single moms, and 10.1% are single dads (Statistical Atlas). The age distribution for men in North Long Beach: ages 20-24 is 9.6%, ages 25-34 is 15.1%, 35-44 is 14.1%, and 45-54 is 12.6%. As for women, 9.3% are 20-24, 15.9% are 35-44, 12.3% are 35-44, and 12% are 45-54. According to Niche, 3% of residents from North Long Beach have an education of a master’s degree or higher, only 10% have a bachelor’s degree, and 31% have some college or an associate degree (2019).
The Los Angeles Department of Public Health found that “food insecurity affected more than half a million households in the county during 2010” (2015). Although the city of Long Beach can be very diverse, some lower-income communities in Long Beach lack the fresh, organic produce that other upper-class communities have. In Long Beach, 20.3% of African American residents are on food stamps, followed by 18.4% of Hispanic, while only 3.6% of White residents are on food stamps (Statistical Atlas). North Long Beach has higher rates of food stamp usage for every category: 29.4% for African American residents, 19.3% for Hispanic, and 8.8% for White (Statistical Atlas). Many of the food deserts in Long Beach exist in areas that are predominantly poor and communities of color. Specifically, North Long Beach is home to many impoverished people of color, who have struggled to find fresh food because of the lack of accessibility and low value of what is available (Nguyen, 2018). Even though accessibility is one of the problems creating food deserts, the cost of healthy, fresh produce can burden low-income individuals and keep them from purchasing these goods, leaving them to rely on what their food stamps can purchase.
Food Insecurity in Long Beach: A Case of Environmental Injustice
According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Long Beach is part of the South Bay Service Planning area, which has the highest percentage of low-income households experiencing both food insecurity (36.9%) and very low food security (16.2%) (2015). Food insecurity in Long Beach is closely linked to the income level of families because it affects their ability to afford food. The LA County Department of Public Health found that as income increased, the level of food insecurity decreases for households (2015). Food insecurity has become a progressively worse issue for communities across Los Angeles County, which has seen a relative increase of 40% among those living in extreme poverty. Food insecure households tend to be limited to specific areas, such as West and North Long Beach, which leads to food deserts. North Long Beach is a good example because it contains both high-income neighborhoods (like Bixby Knolls) and many low-income ones. Grocery stores chains in North Long Beach are centered around the wealthy areas, leaving other neighborhoods with primarily fast food and liquor stores. When driving around North Long Beach, there are many fast-food restaurants, dollar stores, and coupon markets.
Locals in North Long Beach complain about the increasing development in the area, which tends to bring in more unhealthy food establishments. At a neighborhood association meeting, locals called for a new grocery store. They said that they did not need any more fast-food restaurants when a city planner discussed the expansion of a nearby shopping center, which would include a new Burger King. They also wanted to use their empty lots for green spaces and community gardens instead of building more apartments. North Long Beach is also where the only housing projects of the city are located, Carmelitos. While talking with the program coordinator, Yancy Comins, of the Growing Experience Urban Farm, which is funded by the city and located within Carmelitos, it was striking to hear how a majority of the people who come there are from higher-income areas. Those who live in subsidized housing are primarily people of color, elderly, and single parents, but they do not utilize this nearby resource for fresh and healthy food even though they need it the most. The farm offers programs to outreach to members of the community specifically, but Yancy said they still have a lot to do to connect with them and build trust. Yancy stated that there was a lack of knowledge about how to get fresh food and what to do with it once they have it. It is a question of time, ability, and ease of access.
Even though alternative food institutions (urban farms, farmer’s markets, and community gardens) are created to help alleviate food insecurity, they have become overwhelmingly “white spaces” because of the people that occupy them and the discourse surrounding them (Guthman, 2008). For farmers, they need a consistent source of income, so they go to the communities where there will be a high demand for their goods. This trend is apparent in Long Beach, where the nearest farmer’s market to North Long Beach is located in a higher-income neighborhood. It is also at a time that is inconvenient for working-class families since it occurs on Thursdays from 2:00-7:00 PM. Although they are required to accept forms of food stamps, this is not obviously advertised, and there was only one stand that had signs explaining how to use WIC as a form of payment. WIC is a form of welfare for women, infants, and children, and it is prevalent in communities of color where there are specialized stores and nutrition centers for them to use.
Poverty has a significant impact on food insecurity, and it is linked to urban segregation and environmental racism. With a poverty rate higher than the national average, Long Beach has concentrations of poverty in areas where the population is primarily people of color. This racial discrepancy between those living in poverty with limited access to food and those who can go to the nearby farmer’s market or grocery stores is apparent both in North and West Long Beach, where either Hispanics or African Americans represent more than half the population in most neighborhoods. These communities tend to be working-class, so they have limited time and resources to buy and cook healthy food. Even if the local community knows how to cook fresh food and how to get it, they spend the majority of their time working and taking care of their families. Fast-food restaurants capitalize on the need for fast and easy food, and they prey on low-income residents by advertising their acceptance of EBT and other forms of food stamps. The areas plagued by food insecurity also experience a disproportionate amount of other environmental hazards as well, such as air pollution from nearby freeways.
Long Beach is an example of how food access intersects with larger inequalities and injustices, especially those centered around race and class. As previously shown, the people in Long Beach who suffer the most from food insecurity are poor communities of color. Racial and class differences are deeply embedded into the food system, creating structural inequalities that affect who can access healthy food, who can grow it, where they can grow it, and what they can do with it. Capitalism and the global economic system produce food insecurity through their exploitation of both land and people (Brown & Getz, 2011). Agribusinesses and food corporations have monopolies on the global food market, which is reflected in terrible working conditions and low wages for workers as well as the high-priced and overly processed foods found for sale throughout low-income communities. On a more immediate and fundamental level, food insecurity influences the individual: their health and bodies. The food institutions created to help alleviate food insecurity are highly racialized and predominately white, and the communities lack access to the necessary healthcare services that treat their diet-related illnesses, like obesity, anemia, cancer, and hypertension (Gottlieb & Fisher, 2000).
Land use patterns and the lack of public transportation further exacerbate the barriers faced by low-income communities of color in coping with the consequences of food insecurity (McEntee, 2011). The geographic layout of food deserts typically shows an unequal distribution of discount stores, liquor stores, corner markets, and fast-food restaurants. North Long Beach has a Family Dollar and Dollar Tree that both share the same parking lot as well as four fast-food restaurants within one block of one another. The problem of food insecurity calls for a focus on all the contributing factors, including the multiple inequalities (race, class), levels of scale (global, economic, health, individual, local, geographic), and the role of the state, which are all pillars of critical environmental justice (Pellow, 2018). Food justice movements have relied too heavily on the state to make changes to the global food regime and on the market-economy to bring about shifts in local demand (Holt-Giménez & Wang, 2011). The final pillar of CEJ states that these communities suffering from food insecurity are indispensable, which means that gentrifying their neighborhoods and ignoring their problems will only harm any hope for a more sustainable and just future. The demand for better quality and healthy food already exists in Long Beach, and all places with food deserts, so there is a need for new and more extensive approaches to change.
Local Resistance
North Long Beach is considered a food desert and currently lacks adequate access to healthy, nutritional foods for many of its low-income residents. As a result, the community has begun to resist these conditions through involvement with non-profit organizations, community planning, and changing policies. It is important to acknowledge that the residents of this community are collectively creating better conditions for themselves and their neighbors. Access to proper nutrition and health foods should not be influenced by income or where one lives: it should be a right and readily available for everyone.
One of the ways North Long Beach is aiming to combat food deserts is through collaboration with non-profit organizations. Due to the lack of grocery stores and markets, many are left with highly processed unhealthy foods as their only option. Some non-profit organizations aim to provide fresh items, such as fruits and vegetables, in order for individuals and families to create balanced meals. A non-profit organization called Food Finders has a primary focus on distributing donated perishable food to pantries and shelters for those in need. Their Food Rescue Program is supported by donations from grocery stores, restaurants, bakeries, and markets. They receive average donations of 22,000 meals worth of perishable foods daily. Not only do they provide fresh items, but they also help reduce food waste by salvaging perfectly edible food that otherwise would have ended up in a landfill (Food Finders). Like Food Finders, Food Forward is another organization working throughout Los Angeles county that collects fruits and vegetables that would otherwise go to waste. They collect these items from backyards, farmer’s markets, public orchards, and the Los Angeles Wholesale produce market (Food Forward). These non-profit organizations are just two examples of the many organizations whose mission is to collect fresh produce and distribute it to those in need.
Another form of resistance against food deserts in Long Beach is the emergence of urban farms and community gardens. According to Long Beach Fresh’s “Food Oasis LB” interactive map, there are currently 20 community and urban farms that grow their own food with the aim of improving the local food economy (Nguyen, 2018). Long Beach Fresh focuses on expanding the local food economy through growing food, selling it, and distributing it (Long Beach Fresh). “The Growing Experience” is a large, urban community farm that provides organic, natural food for the neighboring communities. Their goal is to provide social justice through a sustainable and ethical food system that encourages community engagement. They provide their community with organic foods, meanwhile promoting healthy snacking habits for families. They also work with youth from low-income families in order to help them develop work and food growing skills. The food they grow is sold weekly at affordable pricing, but they also accept food welfare, such as EBT and CalFresh (Growing Experience, 2018). Organizations such as these give communities the knowledge and tools they need to understand and cultivate their own food.
Although these approaches have become increasingly popular, many community members have not yet taken advantage of their options or are not aware of them. At the Growing Experience, Yancy further elaborated on how much of the community, unfortunately, has a lack of food knowledge. Organizations have started outreach so that they can teach people healthier recipes using the products accessible to them. This approach gives families a greater idea of how to prepare their foods while constructing a well-balanced meal. Although lack of access to fresh food is an issue, it is also important to address cultural views about food, which affect how people think of food and their relationship to it. Many may not be informed on nutrition or simply do not know how to utilize the healthy food provided. For example, if you are given food you are not familiar with, such as eggplant, you may not have the slightest clue how to prepare a meal from it. It then becomes easier, cheaper, and less time consuming to buy processed options rather than spending time growing, collecting, and preparing food. The Growing Experience tackles these issues by teaching community members how to utilize fresh foods and creating programs that teach low-income youths how to build a business with the resources from the farm to create natural products that are sustainable and accessible.
Until recently, North Long Beach was isolated from farmer’s markets. In 2018, the city introduced a new farmers market in Houghton Park with the hopes of bringing a lively atmosphere for community engagement as well as providing fresh produce to the community (Nguyen, 2018). There are several other farmer’s markets located throughout Long Beach city, but this one is most accessible to the North Long Beach community. While the community’s resistance from within has begun to improve certain food conditions by providing, distributing, and growing fresh food, there have also been different policies created that aim to eliminate the issue of food insecurity. The California Market Match program was created “in order to promote fresh, local food to low-income individuals…the program aims to make those foods from farmer’s markets affordable, which matches customers’ federal nutrition assistance benefits, like CalFresh and WIC, at farmer’s markets” (Ecology Center). This policy allows those who normally would not be able to afford products at a farmer’s market to shop there and buy fresh produce. The program provides a 10-dollar market match coupon per visit.
The city also introduced the Urban Agriculture Incentive Zone Program (UAIZ) in 2017, which offers vacant lot owners benefits and tax cuts if they provide space for urban food cultivation, such as farms and gardens. These lots are used to fill gaps within the food deserts, instead of leaving them to be developed and gentrified. The purpose of this program is to create a food system that sustains the local community and empowers those living there. Policies like these are created as a way for communities to resist food insecurity in North Long Beach, where citizens have struggled to find fresh food due to issues of accessibility and the value that is placed on people who live there by corporations and the state (Nguyen, 2019).
Although the community continues to strive for food security by creating alternative food systems and introducing new policies, it is essential to acknowledge that some of these solutions do not address deep-rooted issues within our current food system. The fact of the matter is that food distribution centers, food banks, and alternative food institutions exist because individuals are still going hungry. There is an imbalance in the distribution of resources influenced by socioeconomic status and other structural forces beyond individual control. However, this point is not meant to underestimate the progress North Long Beach has achieved and will continue to do so their struggle against food deserts and food insecurity.
Taking Action Against Food Insecurity
Ending food insecurity begins with increasing access to fresh foods within food deserts and making these foods more affordable. Communities must search for environmentally sustainable and socially just alternatives to bring healthy food into their communities. One approach is to introduce fresh, healthy foods into existing establishments in these communities, such as gas stations and liquor stores, which would be a good start to making these nutritious foods more widely available and affordable. This strategy focuses on improving the locations that residents of these communities typically turn to for food, without the need for creating a completely new infrastructure. A research project for the Los Angeles Food Policy Council in 2012 has begun to act in this way, referring to the strategy as “corner store conversion.” Corner store conversion works to address “concerns about public health, demand generation, economic development, and community engagement” (Azrilian et al., 2012). While increasing the number of healthy foods available in disadvantaged communities, this approach can also eventually make these areas appealing for grocery stores to move into, as the eating habits of those within the community gradually change, and the demand for the products increases. The success of these programs relies on the community support of local businesses that provide healthy and fresh food within food deserts.
Any attempts at change also need to address the structural problems that lead to food insecurity. As previously stated, residential segregation is a prevalent problem in the United States. Communities of similar socioeconomic backgrounds and races have been segregated from other neighborhoods, which compounds the inequalities faced by these groups. According to Wilson et al., urban planning and zoning has caused people of color and low-income individuals to encounter disproportionate environmental hazards, health risks, and left them with minimal access to ways to prevent these issues (2008). Unfortunately, people in these communities have been ignored by most programs, including urban revitalization programs that are meant to help prevent injustices, like pricing out lower-income individuals, since revitalization is closely followed by gentrification. Planning and zoning have resulted in environmental injustices by limiting the distribution of resources and consequences between neighborhoods (Wilson, Hutson, & Mujahid, 2008). One suggestion made by Wilson et al. is to mobilize residents at the grassroots level in hopes of addressing public policy, utilizing segregation created by planning and zoning as an advantage (2008). Public health, urban planning, and environmental law must work together to decrease the inequitable development and health disparities in urban environments (Wilson, Hutson, & Mujahid, 2008). In addition, they argue that green planning and zoning should be implemented within urban neighborhoods and include urban agriculture and farmer’s markets. Individuals can attend local meetings and advocate for sustainable changes in upcoming development projects.
Many people suffer from food insecurity because of the current global food regime. The state has taken an approach that consists of reforming this system, but it has only had minimal progression. Therefore, Holt-Giménez and Wang argue that the food movement must transform the food regime since reformation only continues to work within the same flawed system (2011). The way to do this is through local and grassroots transformations. North Long Beach can transform by providing the residents with their own autonomy in producing food outside the market economy. Communities need to push for more food sovereignty movements, which would essentially allow people to produce and consume their own food instead of relying on the state to provide food stamps or other programs, like WIC and food banks. People should support community farms, food justice movements, and local organizations that strive to empower marginalized people, who are indispensable for the future. Advocating for a just and sustainable food system would help every individual facing the food crisis. As Pellow argues, “the harms suffered by ecosystems today are closely linked to and mirror the harms experienced by the most marginalized human beings across the planet- what many scholars call the problem of environmental justice” (2018). Thus, promoting better food systems would help protect ecosystems and marginalized people across the world.
References
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Weber, Bruce, and Kathleen Miller. 2017. “Poverty in Rural America: Then and Now.” Pp. 28-64 in Rural Poverty in the United States edited by A. R. Tickamyer, J. Sherman, and J. L. Warlick. New York: Columbia University Press.
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CSULB Environmental Sociology 