We Need Healthy Hoods, Not Toxic Hotspots!

Arvin. Santa Fe Springs. Wildomar. Buttonwillow. Vernon. Shafter. These, and many others, are the names of communities that have had their health and quality of life impacted by some of the most toxic stuff in our state: hazardous waste. Senate Bill 812, authored by Senator De León, will create much-needed public health protections and improve hazardous waste management. But industry is fighting to kill the bill, and it will be voted on this week.

We need your help TODAY: please take one minute to send an email to the California Assembly to urge them to support SB 812 (De León).

In Vernon and Southeast Los Angeles, chronic corporate polluter Exide has contaminated the soil of nearby homes with such high levels of lead that it must be removed, on top of sky high cancer risks from arsenic emissions. In Wildomar, residents have developed inexplicable health issues and even died after living in homes built on toxic soil. All but one of California’s hazardous waste landfills are located in low-income communities or communities of color.

The agency in charge of making sure that deadly hazardous waste isn’t harming community health or the environment, the Department of Toxic Substances Control, has routinely failed at their job. As the LA Times editorialized, “multiple reports and investigations in recent years have described a department unwilling or unable to enforce environmental laws or to properly regulate hazardous waste businesses, putting the public at risk.”

Senate Bill 812 will provide relief to California residents suffering from toxic exposures from hazardous waste facilities and clean-up sites. Learn more about the bill here. SB 812 has been developed by CEJA member Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment and by communities who have been most directly impacted by hazardous waste.

Let’s show that people power is mightier than corporate polluters and their profits, and help get SB 812 to the Governor’s desk.