(Full post) US Rep Nanette Diaz Barragán and EPA Administrator Michael Regan visited Wilmington and South East Los Angeles on August 19th, 2021 to see and hear about the health impacts that locals face due to their proximity to dangerous pollution. They visited oil drilling sites, a few refineries, and Central Metal in #SELA. We appreciate their leadership and look forward to creating real health protective solutions.

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Check out this article that was published that morning.
“Ashley Hernandez, 28, grew up in the area. Now she’s the Wilmington youth organizer with Communities for a Better Environment, and she recalled suffering health problems as a girl.

“One of the first experiences that I had living within this site was having an eye infection, or what I would consider it is an eye infection,” Hernandez said. “I had to miss around two weeks of school.”

During a visit to the pediatrician, she said, the doctor said, “You live in an area where there’s so much going on that it’s really important that you sleep with … your windows closed.”

She said her mother and sister attended a meeting organized by Communities for a Better Environment. They learned that other people were having similar health problems.

“A lot of kids were dealing with either rashes or, like, hollowed-out eyes, nosebleeds, and this was also a part of my history growing up here,” Hernandez said. “I had low heart palpitations. I had nosebleeds that would take over entire pillowcases. I had entire classrooms of peers in elementary school dealing with either asthma or nosebleeds.”