Since 1980, Environmental Health Coalition has defended the right to live in healthy and sustainable communities. We empower people, organize communities and achieve justice.
Through leadership development, organizing and advocacy, EHC improves the health of children, families, neighborhoods and the natural environment in the San Diego/Tijuana region.
The cumulative impacts of environmental, social, political and economic vulnerabilities that affect the quality of life in our communities inspires our work. We focus on climate justice, healthy kids, border environmental justice, leadership development, voter empowerment and toxic-free neighborhoods because we believe in the right of everyone to live, work and play in a healthy community.
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Subcategories
Climate Justice
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Low-income communities of color must lead when it comes to climate solutions. The climate crisis is real, is here, and affects us all, but it hits low-income communities of color first and worst. Environmental Justice (EJ) communities are at the center of the issue and we are the solution.
The Climate Justice Working Group defines climate justice as: “ensuring that the people and communities who are least culpable in the warming of the planet, and most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, do not suffer disproportionately as a result of historical injustice and disinvestment”. Unfortunately, the impacts of climate change are disproportionately felt by low-income communities of color, and it is these same communities who “have been kept out of the global processes to address climate change” (Indigenous Environmental Network, North America).1 As a result, Climate Justice affirms the rights of indigenous people and communities most affected by climate change to lead with the solutions. EJ communities represent and speak for themselves.
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Climate scientists predict significant changes in the San Diego region, like extreme heat, water shortages, drought, increased wild fire intensity and frequency, increased air pollution, sea-level rise and coastal flooding. The effects of climate change hit first and worst in EJ communities such as Barrio Logan, City Heights and National City The effects are magnified because these neighborhoods house the largest sources of pollution and are already burdened by inadequate infrastructure, limited transportation options, and poor economic opportunities.
EHC’s Climate Justice Campaign works to ensure that the residents of Barrio Logan, City Heights and National City are able to speak for themselves and advance climate policies at the local, regional, state levels.
Campaign Core Elements:
1. Start Here, Star Now: An Environmental Justice Assessment of the San Diego Climate Action Plan.
The prioritization of Environmental Justice Communities for climate related investments is key to real climate solutions. When cities advance environmental justice, everyone benefits.
2. Transportation Justice. Transformation of the San Diego region into a mass transit paradise where EJ community residents will not have to own a car to access jobs, go to the doctor, go to school and take care of their basic needs. Mass transit is the way.
3. Energy Democracy. Organizing to ensure investments in renewable energy are achieved for residents of low-income communities of color. Renters want solar too.
1 Indigenous Environmental Network, North America, et al. Bali Principles of Climate Justice (2002) https://www.ejnet.org/ej/bali.pdf
Green Energy
Renters need clean energy too. In San Diego, non EJ communities have more than double the residential solar (40 per 1000 residents) compared to EJ communities (18 per 1000 residents).55 We attribute this discrepancy to a variety of barriers making solar installation difficult to access and afford for all people.
San Diego is a “solar star,” but not for environmental justice communities. According to a 2018 report by Environment California, San Diego has the second most solar power capacity among the 69 cities surveyed. Unfortunately, installed solar power does not extend to EJ communities.
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The map titled Installed Residential KiloWatts of Solar Power, per 1000 Residents, by Zipcode, City of San Diego, 2017 shows the geography of the number of kilowatts installed per 1,000 residents. The table titled Average Number of Solar Installations per 1000 people includes this metric and the average number of installations broken out by EJ communities, City, and non-EJ communities. Both statistics highlight that residential solar power installation in EJ communities is minimal.
A study done by the California Energy Commission identified barriers and recommendations to bridge the clean energy gap for low-income customers and small business contracting opportunities in disadvantaged communities. The structural barriers identified include low home ownership rates, insufficient access to capital, and aged buildings. The report by the California Energy Commission is an excellent guide to inform the implementation of the San Diego CAP.
Solar on Multifamily Affordable Housing (SOMAH)
In 2015, the California Environmental Justice Alliance together with the Center for Sustainable Energy, GRID Alternatives, and the Association for Energy Affordability, with the support of EJ allies like Environmental Health Coalition (EHC) secured passage of California Assembly Bill 693. This legislation provides $1 billion to install solar on multifamily affordable homes in disadvantaged communities across the state.
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EHC will build awareness of AB 693 and the need for solar energy in EJ Communities and provide funding application technical support to increase solar deployment on low-income multifamily housing complexes in National City, Barrio Logan, and City Heights, so that they too can benefit from the utility savings from renewable energy and energy efficiency.
What to learn more, support, and get involved:
• Contact Caro This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 619-474-0220 ext 131
• DONATE to EHC
Healthy Kids
Children in our communities deserve healthy homes and communities where they can grow up without exposure to toxic chemicals.
- Asthma attacks resulting in hospitalizations and emergency room visits are up to three times higher for children living in communities with high levels of air pollution
- Many homes in low-income communities were built before 1979 and still have lead-based paint
- More than 15 years ago, parents reported their children getting sick after ingesting candy later found to have high levels of lead
EHC’s Healthy Kids Campaign works to reduce or eliminate environmental childhood health hazards and promote homes and communities that are safe, healthy, accessible and affordable.
Learn more about Children and Toxics, Childhood Lead-Poisoning Prevention and Lead-Free Candy.
Toxic-Free Neighborhoods
Low-income communities of color have long struggled with discriminatory land-use practices that diminish our health, safety, and quality of life.
Toxic mixes of industrial development, freeways, and truck routes are concentrated in low-income neighborhoods alongside homes and schools. At the root of this all-too-common pattern are discriminatory land-use regulations that do not protect the community's health.
The way our neighborhoods are planned– or are allowed to degrade because of lack of planning – determines the levels of air pollution and concentration of toxic industries residents experience. Simultaneously, low-income communities of color experience a lack of affordable housing and limited access to public transit, open space and healthy food. Environmental justice will exist when all neighborhoods are treated equally.
The diligence of our dedicated community leaders has resulted in monumental environmental justice victories. Some of these include:
- Transit-oriented, sustainable affordable housing in National City
- A new plan for the Chula Vista Bayfront that prioritizes protecting fish and wildlife
- Sustainable expansion of the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal in Barrio Logan
- Relocation of polluting businesses near Kimball Elementary School
- The 2.5-acre expansion of Pepper Park on National City’s waterfront
No one is more entitled to determine the future of a community than the residents themselves. EHC's Social Change for Justice Model embodies this belief. By empowering community members through leadership development, organizing and collective advocacy efforts, residents become community leaders whom we advocate with for healthy communities, healthy homes, and environments that are both safe and clean, working to ultimately achieve social and environmental justice.
Community Land-Use Planning
Under California law, all municipalities are required to complete General Plans that provide a blueprint for a long-range vision for cities. EHC successfully advocated for an Environmental Health and Justice element in the National City General Plan and a buffer zone between polluters and homes/schools in the Chula Vista General Plan – both firsts in the state. State law does not require the completion of community, area and specific plans, but when executed they apply General Plan standards to a specific geographic area to enable communities to determine the density, building height, zoning and amenities for their neighborhoods.
EHC’s community-driven planning efforts have focused on these plans because they offer the opportunity for self-determination for residents and enable residents to be proactive rather than reactive to inappropriate development proposals. The process also represents a holistic strategy for a community to engage in planning. It may allow residents, perhaps for the first time, to envision their community using their values and aspirations, not the developer’s or the city councilmember’s.
EHC currently works on community-driven land-use planning in Barrio Logan, City Heights and Sherman/Logan Heights in the City of San Diego, and in National City.
In each community, the underlying process is the same.
Building Community Power
Authentic community involvement in every aspect of community planning and visioning leads to better outcomes that respect neighborhoods and their residents. EHC’s core strategies for all our efforts include community organizing and policy advocacy, which we combine with grassroots leadership development, research and communications to implement each strategic plan. To ensure that the community’s voice is heard, EHC employs the following tactics:
- Community Action Teams
In each community, EHC establishes a Community Action Team comprising residents trained as EHC leaders. These leaders develop the community vision and priorities that direct our efforts. They serve as spokespersons for the campaign at meetings with elected officials and government agency representatives and on various planning committees established to oversee plan development.
José Medina, National City resident since 1969 and EHC leader, expressed his hopes for the Old Town National City Specific Plan when he said: “The plan will allow me to see the neighborhood change into something I remember when I was a boy, when a lot of residents were connecting with each other. In the mid-80s it changed for the worse – I saw houses flattened and autobody shops moved in.”
- Leadership Training— SALTA (Salud Ambiental Líderes Tomando Acción -- Environmental Health, Leaders Taking Action)
All EHC leaders complete an eight-session Core SALTA training program providing them with skills and knowledge to become effective advocates and community organizers. A five-session mini-SALTA focusing on land use also provides training on redevelopment, zoning, and affordable housing, plus air quality, contaminated site cleanup, reducing industrial pollution, and sustainable building, including green building materials and renewable energy options. - Conducting Community Surveys
EHC Leaders commit to understanding the priorities of their neighbors and representing those needs when developing EHC platforms and positions. They utilize community surveying as a method for collecting and documenting these needs. In National City, for example, leaders surveyed residents and found that the highest priorities included development of affordable housing, relocation of auto body shops and changing zoning to prohibit incompatible mixed-use. These community priorities were incorporated into the community plan. - Community Visioning
Once aware of the impact and importance of community planning EHC leaders in both Barrio Logan and Old Town National City elected to develop their own neighborhood vision. EHC raised funds to employ a land-use planning firm to work with residents to develop detailed plans with zoning changes, volume and affordability levels of new housing units, identification of industries for relocation, park acreage, school requirements and more. Barrio Logan’s community plan—one of the City of San Diego’s oldest—had not been updated since 1978. After years of promises and delays, residents took planning into their own hands. This resulted in the Barrio Logan Vision, now endorsed by over 1,000 area residents, community organizations and local businesses. EHC then secured $1.5 million from a neighboring downtown development agency for the City to update and revise the official Barrio Logan Community Plan, a process starting in early 2008. EHC pushes for the community plan update to be consistent with the Barrio Logan Vision.
Hilda Valenzuela, EHC leader and Barrio Logan resident, expressed her excitement about the start of the planning process: “I hope with the Community Plan Update process we can resolve the problems sooner – improve affordable housing, have a healthier environment for children and a better place to live.”
Ensure Healthy Neighborhoods
For many years, EHC has promoted pollution prevention and the precautionary principle as the best way to prevent toxic exposure for community residents and workers. Communities subjected to toxic exposure due to discriminatory zoning need to take action to protect themselves and create separation between residential and industrial land uses. They must also ensure that industrial businesses adopt and implement the most up-to-date technology.
- Buffer Zones
EHC proposed the Toxic-Free Neighborhoods Ordinance in the City of San Diego in 1990, which would have required a buffer between industries using or emitting hazardous materials and residences, schools, and day care centers. Local polluters spent thousands of dollars lobbying against the ordinance and ultimately defeated it. Without an ordinance, EHC targeted polluters that chronically violated the law. Master Plating fit the bill with over 150 violations on the books. Community organizing efforts compelled the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and local government to take action resulting in Master Plating’s shutdown in 2002. CARB’s monitoring revealed a cancer risk four times higher than a "typical urban area" due to hexavalent chromium emissions. As a result of this local action, CARB developed the Air Quality and Land Use Handbook in 2005 that recommended buffers for many polluters for the first time in state or local regulatory history. The recommended buffer for chrome platers is 1,000 feet. The distance between Master Plating and the house next door was 4 feet. The guidance document also recommends separation of housing and major roadways, which presents difficulties with "transit-oriented development" that may encourage development very near freeways.
Elvia Martinez, Master Plating’s next door neighbor and EHC leader, said: “This is the way it’s supposed to work…when a community works together to make its neighborhood a better place to live.” - Zoning
Community plans can include zoning ordinances that determine where industrial, commercial and residential areas can be located. "Mixed-use" zoning that allows free uses in the same area plagues Barrio Logan and National City. EHC seeks specific zoning designations in the new community plans that separate industrial areas from residential areas and remove incompatible mixed-use zoning. - Polluter Relocation and Removal
Rules that prohibit new sensitive uses near pollution sources help, but to restore residential neighborhoods and make them healthy places to live, polluters adjacent to homes and schools must be relocated. EHC has pursued several tactics to accomplish this. In National City, the City Council adopted an amortization ordinance that will phase out industries currently allowed to operate near sensitive uses such as schools. The ordinance sets up a process for relocation of prioritized industries when the amortization period is triggered.
Leadership Development
No one knows the struggle of living with toxic pollution like the people who face this challenge every day. “We Speak for Ourselves” is the principle that EHC works to achieve through our leadership development program that ensures that those affected should have the opportunity to raise their own voices and demand change.
Leadership development is critical to achieving success and is a one of EHC’s three primary strategies in our Social Change for Justice Model that enables the power of the base to be directed towards our goals.
EHC’s signature leadership training, SALTA (Salud Ambiental, Líderes Tomando Acción – Environmental Health, Leaders Taking Action), is provided to all EHC leaders who serve on our Community Action Teams. In 2017, SALTA celebrated its 20th anniversary with more than 2,500 local graduates who have participated. . EHC has now packaged the successful training into a web-based, interactive leadership development curriculum that enables leaders around the globe have the skills and experience necessary to achieve environmental justice in their own communities.
For leaders passionate about transforming their neighborhoods, our Creating Healthy Neighborhoods:Community Planning to Overcome Injustice video and curriculum uses real-life examples and case studies to show how anyone can become advocates and activists for social and environmental justice through community planning.
Border Environmental Justice
Communities on an international border have the great privilege and responsibility of transcending boundaries and merging two cultures into one unique way of life. EHC’s Border Environmental Justice Campaign reduces toxic pollution caused by maquiladora industries in Tijuana and promotes fair trade and globalization for justice.
Our involvement in the border region began in 1983 with the co-sponsorship of an International Environmental Conference in Tijuana. Cross-border relationships continued to grow around a variety of social and environmental justice issues. We formed our Border Environmental Justice Campaign in 1993 with efforts to halt the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement, in recognition of the devastation caused by unjust trade along the border.
Our Tijuana Community Action Team, the Colectivo Chilpancingo Pro Justicia Ambiental, inaugurated EHC's office in Colonia Chilpancingo in 2002 to support local residents committed to the struggle for environmental justice in Mexico and along the border.
Watch the videos and read more about EHC's historic successful efforts, including:
Metales y Derivados Toxic Site
With corporate globalization, trade increased along the U.S.-Mexico border and so did pollution. However, trade agreements like NAFTA fail to hold polluting corporations responsible or to provide resources for environmental protection.
Of the 66 documented toxic waste sites in Mexican border states, the most infamous is Tijuana's Metales y Derivados, a U.S.-owned maquiladora factory that recycled batteries imported from the U.S. The owner, José Kahn, fled across the border when the maquiladora was shut down in 1994 after community reports of health problems and repeated violations of environmental law documented by the Mexican government. Mr. Kahn left behind 23,000 tons of mixed contaminated waste, including 7,000 tons of lead slag, exposed to the elements and threatening workers and families living in the adjacent Tijuana neighborhood of Colonia Chilpancingo.
EHC and the community conducted a campaign for over a decade to compel a cleanup. In 1998, EHC and the community filed a petition with NAFTA's environmental agency, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation.
The commission's report, released in 2002, concluded that the site represented a "grave risk to human health." Yet the commission has no authority or resources to clean up toxic sites. After over a decade of organizing and advocacy, EHC and the community finally celebrated the signing of a landmark cleanup agreement in 2004 with the Mexican government and the formation of a bi-national, community/government working group. The cleanup was completed in 2008, ahead of schedule, and included independent community monitoring. (Download the full cleanup chronology.)
Metales y Derivados is the poster child for the failure of NAFTA to live up to its negotiators' promise to protect public health and the environment. However, Metales y Derivados symbolizes environmental justice achieved. The case established for the first time a structure for cross-border and community/government collaboration on toxic site cleanups.
Email Updates
EHC News and Updates
- Video
This video commemorates Environmental Health Coalition's 40th anniversary. Founded in 1980, EHC builds grassroots campaigns to confront the unjust consequences of toxic pollution, discriminatory land use, and climate change.
Learn about our 40th anniversary celebration on August 20, 2020, including a full recording of the live event in English and Spanish, 40 years of EJ in pictures, and much more!
#40yearsofEJ