Only a small chain-link fence  separates children at the  Mercado Apartments Head Start  facility from the dangers of  the polluting Caltrans facility.

Childhood should be a time of imagination and wonder. But for the children in the Mercado Apartments Head Start Program, a safe place to play remains a dream.

On Oct. 8, more than 150 Barrio Logan residents and members of Environmental Health Coalition’s Sustainable Community Development Action Team held a public meeting with San Diego City Councilmember Ralph Inzunza and Maria Elena Castellanos from Mayor Dick Murphy’s office to ask for help in relocating a nearby Caltrans storage and staging area that adds pollution and hazards to already overburdened Barrio Logan neighborhoods. Residents hope to see the area converted into a recreational area for all neighborhood children.

Just a few steps down the street from the Mercado Apartments stands roughly one and a half acres of land currently used as a staging and storage area for Caltrans bridge and road repair equipment. Noise and diesel emissions from seemingly constant work activity affect the quality of life for Mercado residents and pose health risks to residents and children attending the Head Start childcare facility at the Mercado. Only a small chain-link fence separates the Head Start facility’s small playground from the Caltrans equipment and operations. Because of the location and size of the area, Caltrans operations also pose a safety threat to children who ride bikes, roller skate and skateboard across the street on a small paved area of Chicano park.

Children at Risk
During the meeting, residents shared stories of the dangers their children face in the absence of a safe playground and asked for help in working to relocate Caltrans operations. They also delivered to Inzunza a card with signatures from 450 community members demanding that the city work with residents to protect their children’s health.

Maria Osorio, manager of the Mercado Apartments, said many of the children play in the streets near the Mercado in order to stay close to the safety of their homes. "These children risk being hit by the Caltrans vehicles every day. And the emissions from these trucks are a health risk to this community. Caltrans needs to be relocated, and these children need a safe and appropriate place to play," she said.

Mercado resident Elena Molina spoke about the impacts air pollution and diesel emissions from Caltrans operations are having on the health of her two asthmatic children. The windows of Molina’s apartment in the Mercado face directly towards the Caltrans yard. "The trucks release a lot of emissions and my daughters are constantly sick," she said. Molina said she has considered taking legal action because of the health hazards her family is forced to face.

A Matter of Money
Inzunza was responsive to residents concerns and agreed that Barrio Logan children need more safe recreation areas. He pledged to meet with Caltrans to discuss the issue. A possible solution could be the relocation of Caltrans storage and operations to the Old Town facility that serves as a staging and storage area for other Caltrans equipment, he said.

Inzunza also said he would meet with officials from the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) who oversee appropriation of toll funds collected from the Coronado Bridge to see about possibly using money collected from the tolls to fund the relocation of the Caltrans operations.

Caltrans has owned the land near the Mercado and used it for staging operations since 1967 when construction of the Coronado Bridge began. The bridge generates $8 million per year in tolls, and the funds are used for toll booth operations, bridge maintenance and improvements, and other projects.
The funds not used for operations and maintenance, roughly $3 million, are promised to the City of Coronado through June 2002. Currently, no money goes to Barrio Logan to mitigate the impacts of bridge traffic or Caltrans operations.

Time for Justice
Barrio Logan is severely lacking in safe recreation areas and many children resort to playing in neighborhood streets. Because of the area’s mixed industrial/residential zoning, the neighborhood’s streets and existing recreation areas, including Chicano and Crosby Street parks, are impacted by traffic to and from industrial operations passing through the neighborhood all hours of the day.

In March, San Diego High School students conducted air monitoring and counts of truck traffic in Barrio Logan Students tallied an average of 100 trucks per hour passing at the corner of Crosby and Main streets and observed the levels of ultrafine particles in the air increase dramatically with each passing truck. Diesel particulate is considered a toxic air contaminate by the State of California.
The relocation of Caltrans operations out of Barrio Logan should be a first step of a comprehensive plan to eliminate mixed use zoning which allows polluters to operate in residential areas. By doing so, the City of San Diego would be giving Barrio Logan residents more than a clean place to raise children. They will be giving them the justice they deserve.