The ten-year struggle to clean up the abandoned Tijuana lead smelter, Metales y Derivados, culminated in late 2008 and represents a binational environmental justice and public health victory. EHC and the Colectivo Chilpancingo Pro Justicia Ambiental thank the following people and organizations, whose support and efforts made the cleanup of Metales y Derivados possible, as well as the thousands more who signed petitions and postcards, joined us for actions, and shared their talents and resources supporting our efforts:

Irene Silvia Aguilar  • Guadalupe Aguirre De Luján • María Luisa Altamirano • Martha Ángel Arias • José Bravo  • Trinidad Calleros Isabel  • Lupita Castaneda • Inés Castillo M • Magdalena Cerda • Martha Cervantes Soberanez • María De La Luz Chávez Pérez • Paula Contreras Delgadillo • Soledad Contreras Salazar • María Coronado Jiménez • Carolina Cruz García • Verónica Cruz García • Marisol Díaz Bautista • Beatriz Domínguez Macías • Dora Esther Domínguez Ramos • Luz Elena Félix • María de Jesús Flores • Myrna Patricia Flores Díaz • Yanira Fonseca Mendoza • Julieta Fuentes Ramos • Vicky Funari • Blanca Ofelia Gallardo • Connie García • Elva García Calleros • Eva García Calleros • José Antonio García • Parvin Elvira García Calleros • Sandra V García Chincoya • Jorge Glackman-Guerra • Carmen Hernández Preciado • Pilar Jaime Castro • Margarita Jaimes • Cruz Adriana Jiménez Rodríguez • Martina Juárez Rodarte • Ana Langarica Vallecillos • Evangelina Langarica V • Geomara Lara Ruíz • Joanna Itzel Lerma Luján • Blanca E López • Casimira López Solórzano • Luz López Hernández • María Guadalupe Luján Aguirre • María De Lourdes Luján Aguirre • César Luna • Adela Martínez Castro • Sandra Martínez • Enrique Medina • María Meléndez De Fong • Rosalba Mendoza Ibarra • María Guadalupe Mercado • Kenia Elizabeth Meza Cervantes • María Consuelo Muñoz López • Esteban Naranjo • Martha Ojeda • Micaela Ontiveros B • José Efraín Ortega Contreras • María Leonor Ortega Ledesma • Sara Noemí Osuna • Jermán Páez Rodríguez • Yesenia Palomares Rodríguez • Andrea Pedro Aguilar • María Luisa Pérez Mendoza • Margarita Pérez De Chávez • Sonia Pérez Gómez • María Alicia Ramos O • Silvia Rangel López • Olga Marta Rendón • María Elena Rojo Ramírez • Guadalupe Ruíz • Juan M. Ruíz Ofiga • María Guadalupe Ruíz Mendoza • Aurora Salazar Flores • María De La Luz Salcedo • David Saldaña Seguro • Vicenta Saucedo Escobedo • Magdalena Silva Ramírez • Amelia Simpson • Kazuo Tanaka • Sergio De La Torre • Dulce María Torres Velarde • Gonzalo Valdez Delgado • Martha Valdes • Yolanda Valez D • Graciela Villalvaso • Emeteria Areli Villatoro Córdova • Karina Elizabeth Zavala Romero • Border 2012 Program • Border Environmental Cooperation Commission • CITTAC • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency • Secretaría del Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales • Secretaría de Protección al Ambiente del Estado de Baja California • Charles Stewart Mott Foundation • Colin Rodríguez Griswold Memorial Fund • French American Charitable Trust • Ford Foundation Global Greengrants Fund • Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation • John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation • Marguerite Casey Foundation • Marisla Foundation • Mitchell Kapor Foundation • Nathan Cummings Foundation • New World Foundation • New York Community Trust • North American Fund for Environmental Cooperation • Orca Fund at the San Diego Foundation • Panta Rhea Foundation • Solidago Foundation • Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock

One of the poorest and most densely populated neighborhoods, City Heights takes the title for the most ethnically diverse community in San Diego, too.

Like other EHC target communities, much of the housing in City Heights remains old and poorly maintained. Our work in City Heights began through our Healthy Kids Campaign, helping families get their children tested for lead poisoning, helping them eliminate lead hazards, and making their homes more energy efficient. This work opened opportunities to participate more fully in broad-based community planning.

In 2010, The California Endowment embarked on a new, 10-year strategic direction: Building Healthy Communities. It aims to support the development of communities where kids and youth are healthy, safe and ready to learn. It selected City Heights as one of 14 communities in California to participate in this initiative. We lead the Built Environment Team that also includes City Heights Community Development Corporation, Proyecto Casas Saludables, and the International Rescue Committee.

Through house meetings, surveys, and community meetings, the team identified heavy traffic on University and Fairmont Avenues as a major concern. Heavy-duty trucks and cars emit air pollution and frustrate walkability for families.

Sherman-Heights-Comm-Ctr

The communities of Sherman Heights, Grant Hill and Stockton are connected to Logan Heights and Memorial by the Commercial Street/Imperial Avenue Corridor. These communities are referred to as Historic Barrio District. All of these communities are included in the large Southeastern San Diego Community Plan, adopted in 1987.

Individual neighborhoods have created various official revitalization plans and community visions:

Sherman Heights Revitalization Action Plan - 1995

Grant Hill Revitalization Action Program - 1998

Greater Logan Heights Neighborhoods First Quality of Life Plan – 2008/09

The Planning Department of the City of San Diego is currently coordinating development of a Commercial/Imperial Corridor Master Plan. EHC is working primarily with the Historic Barrio District Community Development Corporation (that includes the neighborhoods of Sherman Heights, Grant Hill, Stockton, Logan Heights and Memorial) to influence this vision of the Corridor as a vibrant community link.

Merchants located on Imperial Avenue have long complained that the area is "red lined" making it difficult to get loans and insurance. Insurance rates are 5-10 times higher than other parts of the city.

EHC's Associate Director Georgette Gomez is Vice President of the Historic Barrio District Community Development Corporation, chairing the community and economic development committee.

According to the Industrial Element of the Community Plan:

Rezonings in the 1970s, aimed at upgrading uses and providing industrial sites have not resulted in a change of uses. "Strip" industrial zoning in the western portion of the community has resulted in access problems and conflicts with adjoining uses. These strips are located along Imperial Avenue between Interstate 5 and 22nd Street, and along Commercial Street between Interstate 5 and Bancroft Street. In these strips, there is a mixture of residential and industrial uses which is permitted under the current industrial zoning. These areas were chosen for industrial development in part on the basis of the existence of railroad tracks within Commercial Street; however little use has been made of this advantage. The expected development has not materialized since the adoption of the community plan in 1969, as residences have not given way to industrial development. The industrial activities present in these areas are typified by warehousing, distribution and automobile dismantling. These uses hire few people, are environmentally incompatible with adjacent development and are aesthetically unpleasant. (emphasis added)

Atlas Chemical, Inc. on Commercial Street is one of these incompatible business. It stores and distributes a wide variety of toxic and hazardous materials within feet of homes.

Unfortunately, the draft Master Plan calls for the continuation of Commercial Street for light industrial, only gradually transitioning to commercial, residential, community serving and cultural uses.

Under California law, all municipalities are required to complete General Plans which provide a blueprint and long range vision for cities. These can be very useful documents providing clear objectives (rollover comment: 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), or can have lofty but vague goals. Community, area and specific plans are not required to be completed under state law but when executed are intended to apply General Plan standards to a specific geographic area and can enable communities to determine the density, building height, zoning and amenities for their neighborhood.

These plans have been the focus of EHC’s Community-Driven Planning efforts because they offer the opportunity for self-determination for residents and enable residents to be proactive rather than only reacting to inappropriate development proposals. The planning process is also the most holistic strategy for a community to engage in. 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 is currently working on community-driven land-use planning in Barrio Logan, the Greater Logan area and City Heights in the City of San Diego, and in Old Town National City and West Chula Vista. Click on these links for the most current updates.

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, are community organizing and policy advocacy, which we combine with grassroots leadership development, research and media 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, an EHC Community Action Team comprised of residents who are EHC leaders has been established. These leaders develop the community vision and priorities that direct EHC’s efforts. They serve as the spokespersons for the campaign 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—Salud Ambiental Líderes Tomando Acción -- SALTA (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 clean-up, reducing industrial pollution, and sustainable building, including green building materials and renewable energy options.

Community Surveying: EHC Leaders are committed to understanding the priorities of their neighbors, and representing those needs when developing EHC platforms and positions. Community surveying is often utilized as a method for collecting and documenting these needs. In Old Town National City, for example, leaders surveyed residents and found that development of affordable housing, relocation of autobody shops and changing zoning to prohibit incompatible mixed-use were the highest priorities by far, which 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 which, working with residents, developed detailed plans including 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—has not been updated since 1978. After years of promises and delays, residents took planning into their own hands. The result was the Barrio Logan Vision, now endorsed by over 1000 area residents, 28 community organizations and 16 local businesses. EHC then secured $1.5 million from a neighboring downtown development agency to update and revise the official Barrio Logan Community Plan, a process starting in early 2008. EHC is advocating 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 solution to preventing toxic exposure for community residents and workers. Significant changes to these industrial practices are critical for safety but can take many years to accomplish. Communities subjected to toxic exposure due to discriminatory zoning need to take action to protect themselves and create separation between residential and industrial uses.

Buffer Zones

To accomplish this, 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 were ultimately successful in defeating 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 which recommended buffers for many polluters for the first time in state or local regulatory history. The recommended buffer for chrome platers is 1000 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 is often difficult given that ‘transit-oriented development’ 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 will be located. Barrio Logan and Old Town National City are plagued with ‘mixed-use’ zoning that allows all three uses to be in the same area. EHC is seeking specific zoning designations that separate industrial areas from residential areas in the new community plans, and removal of mixed-use zoning.

Polluter Relocation and Removal

Rules that prohibit new sensitive uses near pollution sources are important, but in order for residential neighborhoods to truly be restored and healthy, polluters adjacent to homes and schools must be removed or relocated. EHC has pursued a few 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, which sets up a process for relocation of prioritized industries when the amortization period is triggered.

Aaaaa home should be a place where children can grow up in a healthy and nurturing environment. Sadly, families in low-income communities spend the bulk of their income on housing, and deteriorating housing stock intensifies the challenge for many families to find healthy homes.

Saving Energy At Home

EHC has helped families save on energy costs and make their homes healthier and more comfortable by:

  • Improving ventilation in older homes to reduce respiratory illnesses resulting from mold and carbon monoxide poisoning
  • Ensuring that families are reducing the use of pesticides
  • Helping families switch to non-toxic household cleaning products 
  • Working with families to make simple changes to their daily lifestyles that will reduce their energy consumption
  • Assisting families to apply for programs that can provide home improvements

Home Energy Assessments

A home energy assessment is the first step to make a home more energy efficient. EHC’s Promotoras work with residents and owners to make changes that help residents use less energy and save money.

Once families make the connection that energy from polluting power sources is used every time they leave a light switch on or take a long, hot shower, they understand that their actions are saving money on their energy bill and saving our environment, protecting workers and improving our health.

Contact EHC for your home energy assessment, or click here to conduct your own.

Building A Healthy Home

There are many programs available to make a home as healthy as possible for our families. If you live in National City or in the communities of Barrio Logan, Logan Heights, Sherman Heights or City Heightscontact EHCabout our current programs.

Outside of EHC, the San Diego Housing Commission has several programs available. Visit its Rehab Loanprogram (most are zero or low-interest deferred loans), the HELP Loan program (forgivable loans for exterior and interior enhancement and water and energy conservation improvements) and the Lead Safety Collaborative Program to explore which options are best for you.

A home should be a place where children can grow up in a healthy and nurturing environment.  Despite spending the bulk of their income on housing, the deteriorating housing stock in low-income communities makes this goal a challenge for many families.  

EHC’s Green and Healthy Homes project helps families save on energy costs and make their homes healthier and more comfortable by:

  • Improving ventilation in older homes to reduce respiratory illnesses resulting from mold and carbon monoxide poisoning;
  • Ensuring that families are reducing the use of pesticides;
  • Helping families switch to non-toxic household cleaning products; and
  • Working with families to make simple changes to their daily lifestyles that will reduce their energy consumption.
  • Assisting families apply for programs that can provide home improvements.

Home Energy Assessments

A home energy assessment is the first step to make a home more energy efficient. As part of the energy assessment, EHC’s Promotoras evaluate a home’s energy efficiency and work with residents and owners to make changes that help residents use less energy and save money.

Energy audits help families understand that every time they leave on light switch or take a long warm shower, energy from polluting power sources is used. Once families make the connection, they know that their actions are not just saving money on their energy bill but saving our planet, protecting workers and improving our health.

Click here to conduct your own energy assessment.

Help is available

There are many programs available to make San Diego’s housing green and healthy. If you live in National City or in the communities of Barrio Logan, Logan Heights, Sherman Heights, or City Heights, contact EHC (link to email) about our current programs.

The San Diego Housing Commission has several programs available to help make homes repairs.  Visit the Rehab Loan (most are zero or low interest deferred loans), the HELP Loan program (forgivable loans for exterior and interior enhancement and water and energy conservation improvements) and “Home Safe Home” sections of their website.

Subcategorías

Las comunidades de color y escasos recursos deben ser líderes en lo que respecta a soluciones ante el cambio climático, ya que, si bien es cierto que éste nos afecta a todos, las comunidades de escasos recursos son las que sufren los primeros y peores impactos.

Científicos climáticos locales pronostican cambios importantes en la región de San Diego, entre ellos calores extremos, sequía, escasez de agua, incendios naturales, contaminación atmosférica y elevación del nivel del mar. Los efectos del cambio climático se magnifican en barrios de escasos recursos como Barrio Logan, City Heights y National City debido a que es en estas comunidades en las que se encuentran ubicadas las principales fuentes de contaminación. Sus habitantes asimismo enfrentan industrias contaminantes, infraestructura inadecuada, limitadas alternativas de transporte y pocas oportunidades económicas.

En 2015, el Ayuntamiento de San Diego adoptó un Plan de Acción Climática cuyo fin es reducir la contaminación en dicha ciudad durante los próximos 50 años. EHC trabajó arduamente en vigilar que este plan priorizara la equidad social.

EHC vigila que nuestras comunidades participen plenamente en desarrollo de políticas y en abogacía para reducir la contaminación atmosférica, mejorar las alternativas de transporte y lograr que se beneficien de la transición hacia prácticas energéticas limpias y eficientes. Nuestra labor para fomentar dichos cambios se realiza en apego a nuestros principios rectores.

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.

IMAGE - ED3

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 Esta dirección de correo electrónico está siendo protegida contra los robots de spam. Necesita tener JavaScript habilitado para poder verlo. or call 619-474-0220 ext 131
DONATE to EHC

Los niños de nuestras comunidades merecen hogares saludables donde crecer sin estar expuestos a plomo y otras sustancias químicas tóxicas.

  • Los ataques de asma que requieren hospitalización y las visitas a salas de urgencia son hasta tres veces mayores en niños que viven en comunidades con niveles elevados de contaminación atmosférica
  • Muchas de las viviendas en comunidades de escasos recursos se construyeron antes de 1979 y aún tienen pintura a base de plomo
  • Hace más de 15 años, padres de familia comenzaron a reportar que sus hijos se estaban enfermando tras consumir dulces que posteriormente se descubrió contenían elevados niveles de plomo

La labor de la Campaña Niños Saludables de EHC es reducir o eliminar los riesgos ambientales a la salud infantil y fomentar viviendas y comunidades seguras, saludables, accesibles y asequibles.

Le invitamos a seguir estos vínculos para conocer más acerca de Niñez y Tóxicos, Prevención de Intoxicación Infantil por Plomo y Dulces Libres de Plomo.

Las comunidades de color y escasos recursos han sufrido por mucho tiempo por prácticas racistas de uso de suelo que merman su salud, seguridad y calidad de vida.

Tóxicas combinaciones de desarrollos industriales, autopistas y rutas de camiones de carga se concentran en barrios de escasos recursos, entremezclados con hogares y escuelas. El trasfondo de este patrón que vemos con demasiada frecuencia son normas discriminatorias de uso de suelo que no protegen la salud de la comunidad.

La manera en que se planifican nuestros barrios—o en que se les abandona al descuido por falta de planificación—determina los niveles de contaminación atmosférica y la concentración de industrias tóxicas con los que tienen que vivir los habitantes. Por otra parte, las comunidades de color y escasos recursos viven una carencia de vivienda asequible y un limitado acceso a transporte público, espacio abiertos y alimentos sanos. La justicia ambiental existirá solo cuando se trate a todas las comunidades por igual.

La diligencia de nuestros y nuestras dedicadas(os) líderes han dado como resultado triunfos monumentales en materia de justicia ambiental, entre ellos:

Nadie tiene mayor derecho de determinar el futuro de una comunidad que sus propios habitantes. El Modelo de Cambio Social para la Justicia materializa esta creencia. Al empoderar a los integrantes de la comunidad mediante desarrollo de liderazgo, organización comunitaria y esfuerzos de abogacía colectivos, ellos(as) se convierten en líderes comunitarios a quienes nos sumamos en abogar por comunidades saludables, hogares saludables y entornos naturales tanto limpios como seguros, laborando hacia la meta final de lograr justicia social y ambiental.

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

BarrioLoganCommunityPlanningAuthentic 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.

Nadie conoce la lucha de vivir con contaminación tóxica como la gente que enfrenta este reto todos los días de su vida. “Hablamos por nosotros mismos” es el principio para cuyo logro labora EHC a través de nuestro programa de desarrollo de liderazgo, el cual vela porque los afectados tengan la oportunidad que merecen de elevar sus propias voces y exigir cambio.

El desarrollo de liderazgo es esencial para alcanzar el éxito y es una de tres estrategias rectoras del Modelo de Cambio Social para la Justicia de EHC, y que permite que el poder de la base se guie hacia nuestras metas.

El curso de liderazgo estandarte de EHC, SALTA (Salud Ambiental, Líderes Tomando Acción), se imparte a todos y todas las(los) líderes de EHC que forman parte de nuestros Equipos de Acción Comunitaria. En 2017, SALTA celebro su vigésimo aniversario junto con más de 2,500 líderes locales que participaron en el mismo. EHC recientemente organizó su exitoso curso de capacitación para ofrecerlo en línea como un programa interactivo de desarrollo de liderazgo a fin de permitir a líderes de todos los rincones del mundo adquirir las habilidades y experiencia necesarios para lograr la justicia ambiental en sus propias comunidades.

Para líderes apasionados por transformar sus barrios, nuestro Video y programa de capacitación Barrios Saludables: Planeación Comunitaria para Superar la Injustica utiliza ejemplos verídicos y casos de estudio para ilustrar que cualquier persona puede convertirse en activista y defensor de la justicia social y ambiental a través de la planeación comunitaria.

Toda comunidad ubicada en una frontera internacional tiene el gran privilegio y la gran responsabilidad de superar los límites políticos y fusionar a dos culturas en una singular forma de vivir. La Campaña Fronteriza Pro Justicia Ambiental labora en reducir la contaminación tóxica que genera la industria maquiladora en Tijuana y fomentar un comercio internacional y una globalización justos.

Nuestra participación en la región fronteriza inició en 1983 con nuestro copatrocinio de una Conferencia Ambiental Internacional en Tijuana. Nuestras relaciones transfronterizas continuaron fortaleciéndose en torno a una diversidad de temas de justicia social y ambiental. En 1993, creamos nuestra Campaña Fronteriza Pro Justicia Ambiental en aras de impedir la suscripción del Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, en reconocimiento de la devastación que ocasiona el comercio injusto a lo largo de la frontera.

Nuestro Equipo de Acción Comunitaria en Tijuana, el Colectivo Chilpancingo Pro Justicia Ambiental, inauguró las oficinas de EHC en la Colonia Chilpancingo en 2002 con la finalidad de apoyar a habitantes de la localidad comprometidas con la lucha por la justicia ambiental a lo largo de la franja fronteriza mexicana.

Le invitamos a ver los videos y leer más acerca de los históricos esfuerzos de éxito de EHC, entre ellos:

leadbundlesCon la globalización corporativa, el comercio y la contaminación han aumentado a lo largo de la frontera de Estados Unidos y México. Tratados como el TLCAN fallan en responsabilizar a las corporaciones contaminadoras o en proporcionar recursos para la protección ambiental.

De los 66 casos registrados como sitios de deshechos tóxicos en los estados mexicanos fronterizos, el más infame es el de Metales y Derivados en Tijuana, una fábrica maquiladora estadounidense que reciclaba baterías importadas de los Estados Unidos. El propietario, José Kahn, huyó al otro lado de la frontera en 1994 cuando debido a reportes de la comunidad de problemas de salud, y repetidas violaciones a la ley medio ambiental registradas por el gobierno mexicano, se clausuró la maquiladora. El Sr. Khan dejó 23,000 toneladas de deshechos tóxicos mezclados, incluyendo 7,000 toneladas de escoria de plomo, exponiendo a la intemperie y a los trabajadores y familias de la colonia Chilpancingo de Tijuana.

La EHC y la comunidad llevaron acabo una campaña por más de una década para obligar una limpieza. En 1998, la EHC y la comunidad presentaron una petición ciudadana con la agencia ambiental del TLCAN, la Comisión para la Cooperación Ambiental.
El reporte de la comisión, publicado en 2002, concluyó que el sitio representaba un "grave riesgo a la salud humana." Sin embargo, la comisión no tiene la autoridad ni los recursos para limpiar sitios tóxicos. Después de más de una década de organización y abogacía, en 2004 la EHC y la comunidad celebraron junto con el gobierno mexicano la firma del acuerdo histórico para la limpieza, y formaron un grupo binacional de trabajo compuesto de comunidad y gobierno. La limpieza concluyó en 2008, antes de la fecha programada, e incluyó monitoreo independiente por parte de la comunidad. (Descargue la cronología completa de la limpieza.)

Metales y Derivados es el caso emblemático del fracaso del TLCAN de cumplir con la promesa de sus negociadores de proteger la salud pública y el medio ambiente. Sin embargo, Metales y Derivados simboliza la justicia ambiental que se logró. El caso estableció por primera vez la estructura transfronteriza y colaboración entre gobierno y comunidad en las limpiezas de sitios tóxicos, y no hubiese sido posible sin estos individuos y organizaciones quienes contribuyeron al esfuerzo.