CBE is one of four community groups working in three LA neighborhoods burdened by a concentration of local pollution sources—Boyle Heights, Pacoima and Wilmington. The residents in those areas have organized and proposed a Los Angeles city policy to address the cumulative impacts of the accumulation of pollution sources adjacent to residential areas that put neighbors at higher risk for asthma, lung disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer.
The proposal is Clean Up Green Up, a ground-breaking environmental justice strategy that will reduce and prevent pollution throughout a community while marshaling support to help local businesses clean and green up. It’s a collaborative approach that would create green zones in the polluted neighborhoods to:
- Prevent worsening conditions in our over-burdened neighborhoods;
- Reduce the amount of existing pollution that is making our children sick; and,
- Revitalize and invest in our communities to make the healthier, with green businesses and green spaces.
The Clean Up Green Up motion was introduced in Los Angeles City Council in 2011, and since then CBE has been working with residents to identify the most noxious local polluters and make sure the new policy addresses them.
Adrian Martinez, staff attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, puts Clean Up Green Up “amongst the most innovative programs I’ve seen in a long while, with implications for the entire nation.”
On June 19th, the Los Angeles City Council voted 12-0 to direct the City Planning Department to research, analyze and draft Clean Up Green Up policy recommendations for Boyle Heights, Pacoima and Wilmington.