Over a decade ago, EHC began collaborating with Hesperian Health Guides on a health handbook for factory workers. At the time, the general consensus was that job safety and health pertained only to physical problems caused by machines or chemicals at work, like getting shocked by frayed electric cords or breathing fumes.

But EHC and Hesperian Health incorporated a comprehensive understanding of health that included workplace violence, discrimination and gender issues, basic healthcare access, pollution from factories and the link between healthy workplaces and healthy neighborhoods. EHC even gathered direct and specific feedback on the materials from workers. Pictured below is a border event organized by EHC to review early drafts of Workers’ Guide to Health and Safety.

Workers’ Guide to Health and Safety was published on May 1st of this year, “a long process but with a great result,” as Martha Ojeda, EHC partner and director of the Fe y Justicia Center said, and “a powerful tool for all workers worldwide.” Martha was one of Hesperian’s earliest partners, helping lead an extensive community validation and field-testing process with women workers on the border.

The field-test led to the creation of a section called “Beyond the factory walls.” The chapter on pollution discusses how work hazards may be experienced in the surrounding community, not just during work. This was most clearly visible with chemical hazards. But of course, workers shared much more about their lives and struggles. Their stories of organizing are told throughout the book.

Workers’ Guide offers workers and their supporters the practical tools they need to take action for their health at work. It expands the notion of “workplace health” to include the social and political determinants of health, from problems like low wages and harassment, to mental health and safe water. Workers go home to their families after work, so Workers’ Guide includes the problems of pollution, substandard housing and services, and other “social hazards” that affect so many workers.

Pictured left is Magdalena Cerda, EHC’s Campaign Director – Border Environmental Justice, holding the Spanish draft of Workers’ Guide. Magdalena led field-testing with women maquiladora workers. EHC is proud to have helped build this book and we are excited to continue to collaborate with Hesperian to get this material in the languages of the people we serve and in the hands of those that will use it to improve their lives.

How to read and use this book:

• Download free chapters  
• Buy a book 
• Send a book to a workers center 
• Help us raise funds to develop the Spanish edition of Workers’ Guide
• Esta dirección de correo electrónico está siendo protegida contra los robots de spam. Necesita tener JavaScript habilitado para poder verlo. with comments or suggestions. 

In 2005, we worked with community members in Old Town National City to orchestrate the Westside Specific Plan; the community's vision for a vibrant and toxic-free neighborhood. The plan noted the importance of affordable housing units that didn't damage National City’s Paradise Creek, replaced polluted grounds with a healthy community park and was within walking distance of a trolley station.

After ten years, the community’s vision has become a reality. Today, if you walk by the 24th blue line trolley station on 22nd street, you will see people cleaning toxic soil in preparation for the construction of Paradise Creek Apartment Homes- 201 brand-new affordable housing units, developed by Community Housing Works and Related California, predicted to look like the image below. Construction begins in 2015 and plans to finish by 2017.

This project, spearheaded by the community voice, has received recognition across the country, receiving a national award from the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The innovative and visionary development has uplifted communities nationwide to use toxic pollution and a lack of transportation justice into opportunities to build better communities and #healthyhoods. We commend National City for prioritizing land use for and committing resources to the Paradise Creek Apartment Homes to help make this community vision a reality.The people of Old Town National City have made history and continue to inspire others to do the same.

Old Town National City is making history. For decades, residents have struggled with pollution from local auto body shops operating too close to homes and schools. Children’s emergency room visits for asthma have become disproportionately high in the neighborhood, nearly doubling the county average in 2012. In 2010, the people of National City united to guide the Westside Specific Plan; Old Town National City’s plan for a future of healthy communities.

Auto body shops, while often too close to homes, parks and schools, provide well paying jobs for the neighborhood and stimulate the local economy. With an innovative approach and commitment to healthy neighborhoods,  a win-win situation was born.

The idea is a designated area, away from residential areas, where autobody shops can continue local operations while minimizing pollution in the neighborhood. This “small business incubator” is known as a Green Industrial Auto Park and it turns empty, unused land into sustainable areas for auto body shops to flourish.

With a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EHC worked with Estolano LeSar Perez Advisors to conduct a yearlong study analyzing whether a Green Industrial Auto Body Park in National City was possible. The study considered perspectives from landowners, business owners and residents as well as investigated brownfield sites and researched private and public funding sources.

What did the study show? It showed that a Green Industrial Auto Park was wholly feasible for National City.

Beaming with excitement, we presented the findings to the City Council in National City on May 19, 2015, where Council directed City staff to return with recommendations for next steps.

Policy advocate Carolina Martinez said, “Auto body shops are important to the local economy, but right now they’re too close to our homes and schools. This study shows we can group auto shops together in an environmentally conscious park to reduce harmful health impacts on residents. It shows National City can lead with bold solutions for both community health and local economic growth. It’s a creative win-win for everyone.”

Old Town National City residents continue to inspire us with their commitment to making their community a healthier place to live. This solution brings us one step closer to making history and fulfilling National City’s vision for both a healthy neighborhood and a thriving economy.

To read the study and learn more about Old Town National City, please click here. 

If you want to know what is happening in your community and how you can get involved, you’re not alone. Dozens of residents show up at our community meetings each month to learn about making a positive difference in their neighborhoods. Read below and join us at the next meeting in your community.

What are community meetings?

A few times a month we goes into our core communities (Barrio Logan, National City, Sherman Heights and City Heights) to speak directly to residents about the issues affecting their neighborhood, the region that we live in and their families. Often we give a brief presentation and answer questions about hot community topics such as climate change, air pollution and transportation justice. We typically hold these meetings in the evening and provide dinner, childcare and translation for English, Spanish and Vietnamese.

Why do community meetings matter?

Community meetings bring together residents who want to improve their neighborhoods, build a better future for themselves and their children and join a movement. We hope to empower neighborhoods and unite communities to form a strong, persistent and informed voice that speaks up for environmental health issues and pushes for victories that make real change.

Who can go to community meetings?

Anyone who wants to improve the quality of life in his or her neighborhood or learn more about their neighborhood and the health of their family can go to community meetings.

When are community meetings?

The schedule changes every month. Check our Facebook or sign up to get our monthly newsletter for meeting notifications. You can also contact Franco for more information at (619) 474-0220 ext, 164 or Esta dirección de correo electrónico está siendo protegida contra los robots de spam. Necesita tener JavaScript habilitado para poder verlo..

Do I need to buy a ticket or RSVP?

No. Just show up. 

Can I bring my kids?

Absolutely. We even have childcare available at the meetings so they won’t be bored.

What else do I need to know?

We want you to be there. You don’t need to know, bring or do anything besides an open mind and an eagerness to learn and get involved in creating #healthyhoods.

Please join us at a community meeting! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out about the next meeting in your neighborhood.

Do you live near the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway (SR-94) or commute to downtown San Diego from the South Bay? Then you're probably tired of sitting in traffic, breathing polluted air and living trapped in so few safe and affordable transportation options. 

This doesn't have to be our reality. San Diego has the opportunity to improve public transit, walking paths and biking options to positively impact our air quality, health and commutes. 

The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) has proposed plans that make things worse along the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway, suggesting spending $500-600 million to widen the freeway with an elevated ramp (similair to the one pictured to the right) that would accommodate transit systems and high-occupancy vehicles.

Unforrtunately, SANDAG’s proposal for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway negatively impacts communities in several ways.

• The proposed transit system won't stop in the communities along the freeway
• Freeway expansion does not relieve traffic congestion in the long run; it increases air pollution and contributes to climate change
• Rates of asthma, cancer and cardiovascular disease may increase in surrounding communities

There are more efficient, effective and healthy options available. EHC works with residents to ensure funds spent on the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway corridor go toward:

• Improving transit, walking and biking safety and benefits for the region and for communities near the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway
• Reducing air pollution caused by surrounding freeway traffic

Will you join us? You can make a huge difference as a voice for your community. Contact Esta dirección de correo electrónico está siendo protegida contra los robots de spam. Necesita tener JavaScript habilitado para poder verlo. to get information and get involved.

The Port of San Diego and the UT both released stories recently about the Port’s dramatically reduced air pollution and greenhouse gases from its operations between 2006 and 2012. And it is good news for our climate, for the region as a whole, and for the workers at the Port terminals and the residents of neighborhoods immediately downwind, such as Barrio Logan and west National City. While we join the Port in welcoming the downward trend in emissions, we must offer some additional perspectives and a note of caution.

1. Port Operations are a small piece of the emissions pie along San Diego Bay.

The Port’s report covers only the emissions from Port operations themselves. The Port is not tracking emissions from their tenants, such as the shipyards or other waterfront industries, nor from the airport or the Navy.

Why is that important? While the Port manages operations within some of the operations along San Diego Bay, including the cargo terminals in San Diego and National City, the Port leases 66 percent of the land (not including the airport and the Navy) to a variety of tenants, including shipbuilding and repair companies, a gas turbine manufacturer, several large hotels, restaurants and retail shops. Port operations are a small portion of emissions compared to those of its tenants, not to mention the airport and Navy. For example, one Port tenant--General Dynamics-NASSCO-- was the single largest air pollution emitter in the U.S. EPA’s most recent Toxic Release Inventory, the federal right-to-know law.

A full and transparent accounting of the air quality impact of the Port must include the emissions of all businesses along the bay. The lungs of people downwind do not distinguish between the pollutants from Port operations and those of Port tenants.

2. “It’s the economy, stupid.”

Some portion of the drop in Port air emissions was due to the severe economic recession of 2008, which reduced both cruise and cargo ship traffic for several years. The Port’s report acknowledges this impact, but not the concerning corollary-- as the economy picks up again, emissions will rise. New growth at the Port’s cargo and cruise terminals must be accompanied by new investment in clean technologies, such as electrification of diesel emission sources. Workers and downwind residents should not subsidize economic growth with their health.

3. Requirements are more effective than asking nicely.

State and federal regulations drove a large part of the emission reductions as well. California Air Resources Board laws that were adopted or went into effect since 2006 forced reductions in emissions of ships and trucks visiting California terminals by requiring trucks to use cleaner emissions technologies and ships to use electricity, rather than diesel engines, while docked at shore. The Port, to its credit, made California’s port truck rule (Drayage Truck Rule) more effective by banning noncompliant trucks from cargo terminals starting in 2011.

Regulations work far more effectively than voluntary programs. The Port, the State, and local governments should learn from this and keep implementing more requirements to reduce emissions and use cleaner technologies, for the sake of our health and our future.

Low-income communities of color have long struggled with racist land use policies and practices that diminish their health, safety and quality of life, resulting in incompatible community development due to the permitting of industrial facilities next to homes, schools and open spaces. At the root of this all-too-common pattern are discriminatory land use regulations, such as zoning, that do not protect the community's health.

The community of Barrio Logan, one of San Diego's oldest neighborhoods, currently contains an unhealthy mix of homes, schools, and industries, turning it into a microcosm of environmental racism, including:

• A community of color created by racially discriminatory real estate covenants
• Encroachment of industry into residential areas
• Destructive effects of highways and bridges
• Failure of government to provide services, provide protective zoning, and keep their promises, and ultimately
• The conversion of a once vibrant community into a land of junkyards, poverty, and substandard housing

Much of this transformation took place from the 1920s to 1950s, but the community was physically torn apart in the 60s. In 1963, Interstate 5 was built through the middle of Logan Heights – the area to the northeast of the freeway retained the name of Logan Heights, while the area to the southwest became known as Barrio Logan. In 1967, the Coronado Bridge was built over the new community, dissecting the new area of Barrio Logan. Thousands of homes were destroyed and families displaced by these events.

This period also sparked the birth of San Diego Chicano Park. The land that was promised as a park under the bridge was instead to be turned into a highway patrol station but people revolted. Eventually Chicano Park was created, an iconic area now home to world-famous murals. A free health clinic was also established, many of the junkyards were eliminated and in 1978 the Barrio Logan/Harbor 101 Community Plan was adopted.

Since 1978, this neighborhood has not seen a community plan update, making it the most outdated community plan in San Diego. Imagine for a moment the changes in your community since the late 70s; the technology, innovations and new businesses that have come to be. Then think about your neighborhood. Do you have metal-plating industries on your street? How about petroleum distributers or major metal recyclers?

Barrio Logan suffers from the outdated land-use zoning in its current 1978 community plan which allows polluting industries to operate across the street and next to homes, schools, and parks. Without areas designated for commercial, homes and industries, the residents of Barrio Logan continue breathing the toxic fumes of the factories next door and children visit the emergency room three times more than the counties average due to asthma incidents.

Environmental Health Coalition (EHC) along with community residents have fought for decades for a new community plan and zoning in the community, spending the last five years coming together to develop a new, healthier plan that works for residents and businesses. In October of 2013 the San Diego City Council approved the plan but after billion-dollar, out-of-state corporations launched a referendum to mislead San Diego voters, which resulted in placing the new adopted plan to a citywide vote. In June of 2014 the Barrio Logan community plan was overturned by citywide voters, but more than 75 percent of voters surrounding the Barrio Logan community supported the plan, making a strong and clear statement that Barrio Logan wants a healthy and safe neighborhood.

With our ever-growing community voice, we know Barrio Logan will earn a new community plan to make the neighborhood a healthy, safe place for families to thrive and grow just like the rest of San Diego. Until then, we continue to stand up for what we know every community deserves: environmental justice and a toxic-free future.

If you are interested in learning more about getting involved in your region's community planning, check out our inspirational video that empowers real people to become leaders for health and justice in their communities just the way EHC community members have. The video shows impacts of toxic pollution and discriminatory land-use policies in ways that anyone can understand, empowering everyone to become involved in planning and policymaking. You can sign in and watch the video here.

Did you know its National Lead-Poisoning Prevention Week? EHC works to ensure our communities understand the hazards of lead poisoning and what you can do to prevent children from becoming sick.

Lead is a dangerous metal, harmful to developing brains and responsible for irreversible developmental problems. Lead can be most commonly found in the lead-based paint and paint chips from homes built before 1979. Children may get sick by breathing or ingesting dust from this paint as it deteriorates over time.

Not too long ago, lead was present in many of our favorite candies. Environmental Health Coalition, the California Attorney General's Office and partners spearheaded the early 2000s movement to regulate lead levels in candy. After a thorough investigation, lawsuit and a statewide law, California now requires candy manufacturers operate within strict legal standards and undergo regular audits to ensure compliance. As a result, candy sold in stores today has been tested for lead levels and certified as lead free.

Most children with lead poisoning do not look or act sick, which is why it's important to get a blood-lead test every year until age six. It is also important for pregnant mother’s to get their blood-lead levels tested. The test only requires a finger prick and offers results in less than three minutes. You can find information on the next free blood-lead testing here.

Please explore our website to learn more about lead poisoning in children and read our frequently asked questions about lead-free candy to learn how to keep your family healthy and safe.

If you think your home may have lead-based paint, you may be eligible to have it tested and remediated for free. Call our community organizer at (619) 474-0220 ext. 141 for more information.

WHAT:

After more than ten years of community struggle, Barrio Logan residents and Environmental Health Coalition celebrated a monumental victory for public health as the owner of Master Plating agreed to stop operating by October 15, 2002 through a settlement agreement that requires a complete clean-up.

WHY:

Master Plating was a decorative chrome plater operating in extremely close proximity to families and homes. Responding to community demands state and county officials conducted air monitoring that showed levels of chromium 6 detected near the plating company 28 times higher than typical urban areas. Chromium 6 is a toxic air pollutant that can increase the risk of cancer even at very low levels. The highest levels were found in the front and back of the Martinez family residence, located next door to Master Plating.

Master Plating had over 150 violations of environmental health rules in a five year period and pleaded no contest to illegal disposal of hazardous waste in the storm drain and trash in 1994.

NEXT:

In 2002, the City of San Diego acknowledged the need for a new community plan in Barrio Logan. There are dozens of facilities like Master Plating in Barrio Logan, and the health of local residents can't wait for problems to be addressed one by one. The problem must be addressed from a broader perspective and the closure of Master Plating should be a kickoff to this process.

WHO:

• Environmental Health Coalition – a nonprofit organization fighting toxic pollution in underserved communities in San Diego and Tijuana
• Barrio Logan community members
• Master Plating

WHERE:

Newton Ave, Barrio Logan – within several feet of homes

WHEN:

September, 2002 after more than ten years of community advocacy.

This morning I had the pleasure of joining doctors, nurses and healthcare advocates at the UCSD Medical Center to publicly announce their endorsement of the Yes on B & C campaign to protect children's health in San Diego and uphold the Barrio Logan community plan update. 

In the first public media appearance by the campaign, the healthcare professionals reflected on Earth Day and the environmental health effects of polluting businesses next to schools, playgrounds and residences that threaten environmental health and justice in San Diego.

I had the chance to speak, announcing that kids in Barrio Logan have the same right to clean air and healthy neighborhoods as every other community in San Diego and the entire city should support Propositions B & C - to protect all of our childrens' health. 

For those of you who may not know, children and families have felt the effects of poor land-use policies since the Barrio Logan communtiy plan was last updated in 1978 and this update gives the community a new chance at having healthy communities by desgnating specific zones for homes, business and industry. This morning's attendees all agreed that the current, incompatible and polluting land-use policies in Barrio Logan must be changed to reverse the trend of unhealthy air causing high asthma rates among our kids.

"The asthma trends affecting Barrio Logan's children are clearly documented," said Dr. Martin Stein, MD Pediatrician. "If Yes on B & C and Barrio Logan's plan isn't upheld, the families there will continue to suffer from a lack of healthy air that sends kids to emergency rooms three times as often as the rest of our county."

Barrio Logan is one of many communities in San Diego working on updating outdated community plans to improve neighborhood health, economic development and overall quality of life. There is concern that if Propositions B & C are defeated and the Barrio Logan Plan is repealed, a dangerous precedent could be set, threatening community planning and healthy neighborhoods across the city.

"This isn't a just a threat to Barrio Logan," said Michael Jackson, RN, UCSD Medical Center ER nurse. "If B & C don't pass, we could see children's health in peril all over San Diego."

Voting "Yes" on B & C will uphold the community's plan to keep toxics, pollutants, carcinogens, and flammable chemicals, a safe distance away from schools, playgrounds and homes and increases jobs in our city. Protect our children's health and vote "Yes" on B & C! To learn more, visit www.yesonbandc.com.

Thank you for your continued support for children's healh and Barrio Logan's right to toxic-free air.  

- Georgette Gomez

In its April 16 UT Editorial, "The real polluters of Barrio Logan," UT San Diego has conveniently drawn data selectively from the Barrio Logan Community Plan environmental analysis, creating a falsified scapegoat for toxic businesses to hide behind. Instead of sticking up for San Diego's children and the opportunity to provide a better life, the UT is promoting bogus claims.

One of San Diego's busiest freeways, I-5, runs through the neighborhood and industrial shipyards surround the community. Within the boundaries of Barrio Logan, auto body and plating shops operate next door to homes and schools. We know the pollution is a combination of all of these, but we cannot move I-5 or the shipyards.

So, instead of giving up and feeling helpless, the residents of Barrio Logan, the City of San Diego and key stakeholders—including industry— took five years to consider all points of view and generate an all-around solution that can change conditions in the community - better land-use zoning, currently an outdated mess created in 1978.

The new community plan re-zones Barrio Logan so residents and polluting businesses can both operate safely. The buffer zone separates the neighborhood from the heavy industries and shipyards while the rezoning establishes industrial, commercial and residential areas within the community.

The Barrio Logan community plan is not a perfect solution to decades of neglect and discriminatory land-use practices. For right now, this is the first step toward moving families and children away from the polluting industry next door. A YES vote on propositions B and C allows the neighborhood to take that first step.

The major industrial sources of pollution, the shipyards, should act now to reduce pollution they allege to be concerned about, instead of fighting every proposed change for decades – not just in Barrio Logan, but also cleaning up San Diego Bay, rerouting diesel trucks and using less-toxic chemicals. There is no argument that there is much more work needed to clean up Barrio Logan. For now, YES on B and C is the immediate answer.

Georgette Gomez
Environmental Health Coalition

Wow. Our 2014 Awards Celebration: Victory for Healthy Communities, presented by Pacifica Companies, simply knocked the ball out of the park.

With friends, neighbors, allies, fellow advocates, business owners, sponsors and elected officials, we came together on Thursday, April 10, 2014, and had an incredible night of laughter, good food, award presentations and of course, selfies.

Click here to view our full gallery of event photos.

Nearly 300 folks spent their Thursday evening supporting EHC and helping us recognize the incredible work done by our #healthyhoods heroes. These heroes include:

Spirit of Justice Award: Ruth Heifetz, EHC founding board member and senior lecturer at UCSD School of Medicine; For a lifetime of dedication to raising awareness among students, professionals, workers and residents to the hazards of toxic pollution.

Champion Award:

• Alejandra Sotelo-Solis, City of National City councilwoman; For leadership on the Westside Specific Plan, the implementation of phasing out polluting businesses, adding 201 affordable housing units and more.
• Lara Gates, plan update manager at the City of San Diego; For stewardship of the Barrio Logan community plan update, enabling all stakeholders to find a just outcome to neighborhood land-use issues.

Community Award:

• Adriana Alfaro, EHC leader; For years of dedication to improving Old Town National City and tireless work towards achieving environmental justice in the San Diego region.
• Maria Martinez, EHC leader and promotora; For leading and inspiring community members in Barrio Logan to fight for a healthier neighborhood.
• The National City and Barrio Logan Community Action Teams; For standing strong as community leaders in National City and Barrio Logan and organizing and empowering other residents to have a voice in the issues effecting their neighborhood.

Using the hashtag #healthyhoods to capture moments for Twitter and Instagram, our guests helped document the evening one selfie at a time. Cumulatively, EHCSanDiego and friends posted close to 150 tweets during the event and got #healthyhoods trending in San Diego; meaning it was the most talked about Twitter subject in San Diego on the evening of April 10. One lucky social media maven even won an EHC t-shirt for tweeting at EHCSanDiego and hashtagging #healthyhoods throughout the event with photos and clever 140-character-or-less phrases.

Click here to view what all our guests said about #healthyhoods.

Thank you to all our sponsors, including: San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, MAAC, Port of San Diego, the California Endowment, Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, the United Food & Commercial Workers Union and Ryan Brothers Coffee.

We can't say thank you enough to everyone who joined us to honor the people making healthy and safe communities a possibility for National City, Barrio Logan and all of San Diego. We are humbled and honored to know and work with all of you. See you next year!

It's the nightmare we all wished wouldn't happen, but it does.

On march 23 at about 5 p.m., the E & S Autobody Shop located on Hoover Street and 11th Avenue exploded. Many of the Old Town National City residents communicated the incident to us here at EHC. They reported hearing explosions next to their homes, followed by a fire and toxic fumes. The black cloud of smoke could be seen from J street in Chula Vista, and the fumes are lingering even twelve hours past the incident.

Although unfortunate, it is not a surprise.

Jose Medina, an Old Town National City resident who lives roughly a block and half from the exploded business, shares how E & S Autobody Shop "is a big violator of clean air regulations in the 'hood'; continuously painting outside in the public way, in a neighborhood with homes and schools."

In fact, since 2011, residents together with EHC have reported over 20 code complaints for E & S Autobody Shop because of the business' unlawful painting of cars on the street and its after hours operation.

E & S Autobody is one of dozens of industrial uses located in the Old Town National City community threating the health, safety and quality of life of these families every day. We see the everyday life impacts these businesses have on humans reflected in children's asthma hospitalization rates in National City that rank above the county's average. In addition, the city currently ranks in the top 5 percent of California Environmental Protection Agency's CalEnviroScreen tool, which identifies communities that are disproportionally burdened by multiple sources of pollution.

In order to resolve this incompatible land use issue, EHC has worked with the community to phase out these industrial uses. The amortization ordinance that was passed in 2006, grants the City Council of National City the ability to order industrial uses (non-conforming uses as a result of the 2010 Westside Specific Plan) to be terminated within a reasonable amount of time, upon recommendation of the planning commission. National City is currently implementing the phase out of the first two businesses.

Today, the phase out of these toxic uses is ever more pressing. We cannot wait for one more explosion or a fire next to Kimball Elementary. Old Town National City residents deserve to live in a safe and toxic free community.

Recently, Executive Director Diane Takvorian spoke at the Port of San Diego's launch of Shorepower- a new Port process reducing operational air pollution. 

Shorepower provides a significant reduction in diesel particulate matter (air pollution). This advancement is critically important for Barrio Logan given the staggering asthma rates in children and the overall air pollution.

• The 92113 zip-code (Barrio Logan) remains at the top of the list for asthma emergency room visit rates
• The State of California's assessment of communities most impacted by pollution (CalEnviro Screen) places Barrio Logan in the top five percent of burdened zip-codes in the state

We know what happens on the working waterfront greatly affects our surrounding communities, and we applaud the Port's actions to reduce pollution. We also recognize City of San Diego's effort through its adoption of the Barrio Logan community plan update. 

The shipyards should follow the actions of the Port and the City and abandon their efforts to undo the Barrio Logan Plan plan. Instead, they should focus attention on reducing their own air emissions – estimates are that the shipyards alone emit over one ton of diesel particulate pollution and another 175 tons of toxic pollution into the community.

Congratulations to the Port of San Diego, and we look forward to taking more toxic-free steps together.

As a kid growing up in the LA air basin during the smoggy 50s and 60s, I thought of irritated eyes and a sore chest as normal parts of life. The sky on hot summer afternoons was a brownish yellow shade, and the air sometimes made your eyes water. In my later childhood years, I came to view air pollution as a symbol of how radically alienated from nature Southern California life was; as I thought of it in apocalyptic, if poetic, terms, we had poisoned heaven. Later, in college, I learned to think in more analytical, and hopeful, ways -- smog could be analyzed, understood and to a large extent, controlled. The ochre-brown color came from nitrogen oxides; the lung-damaging substance was ozone. Particulates added a hazy quality. It wasn't an amorphous cloud of human failure hanging over our cities, it was a specific set of pollutants with knowable causes and controls. If you increased the fuel efficiency of cars and added on catalytic converters, the air quality got better. And the photochemical smog picture of SoCal actually has improved since the 60s.

While ozone levels have improved, California has seen a massive increase in diesel pollution from trucks, trains and ships. As the economy globalized and manufacturing jobs went to lower wage countries (another catastrophe that is not inevitable), goods are shipped here from all over the world, unloaded at California's ports and trucked or shipped by rail all over the US.

Unlike smog, diesel pollution is more concentrated near emission sources, such as ports, freeways and rail yards. These diesel hot spots, as we all know, tend to be located in poorer, people of color communities. The result? More frequent and severe asthma, earlier deaths from heart and lung diseases, more premature and low-birth-weight babies, and maybe more of a wide range of other disorders, including diabetes and autism. Not to mention the safety hazards of heavy duty trucks on narrow surface streets, and the lights, noise and vibrations of massive shipping and warehousing operations.

A new report released this month by the California Cleaner Freight Coalition (of which EHC is a member) concludes that there are cleaner freight alternatives that go well beyond today's cleanest diesel and natural gas powered trucks to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. For local and short haul trips, using electric transportation powered by a clean electricity grid provides the greatest overall reduction in pollutants, and can eliminate tailpipe emissions in communities where freight movement occurs. For regional trips, moving goods by train and ship can reduce emissions compared to today's cleanest diesel trucks, if the cleanest engine technologies are used. Read the executive summary here, or the full report here. 

So, it's time to move past the idea that diesel is inevitable and the best we can do is to put filters on the trucks. We can start moving now toward zero- or near-zero emission technologies. This is life saving technology, and there's no excuse for delay.

What else isn't inevitable? Readers who are waiting breathlessly for further information about my intellectual development will be relieved to learn that I don't think technology is the whole solution. Belatedly I stumbled onto the idea that things happen because people in power make decisions about them. Bad land use, outsourced jobs, freeways cut through historic communities, distribution centers sited next to schools, all of them in disadvantaged areas – none of these are unplanned, smog-like emanations from our culture. Specific people made specific decisions that led directly to these results. Sure, there is institutional inertia, timid regulators, lack of imagination, laziness and stupidity. But beyond all that, there are decision-makers. In truth, the most important pollution control device is a functioning democracy.

Joy Williams has been the research director for Environmental Health Coalition for nearly thirty years. Find out more about Joy and her work here.

• Corporate industry said the Barrio Logan Community Plan Update would threaten 46,000 jobs - According to a City report, it brings close to 5,000 new jobs to the community, a 47 percent increase.
• Corporate industry the Navy would leave San Diego - The Navy publicly announced they are neutral to the issue entirely.
• Corporate industry said apartment complexes would be built over the shipyards - zero residential construction is allowed with this plan
  
• Corporate industry says it would run out all maritime businesses - All existing businesses are allowed to stay and can even expand up to twenty percent.
• Corporate industry doesn't like the community plan update - They were involved in every step of the planning process.

Why are corporate industries telling San Diego lies? 

We do know the people fighting the Barrio Logan Community Plan Update are NOT the people who live in, or even near, Barrio Logan. These peoples' homes are far removed from any industries. They live in neighborhoods with proper zoning and health standards, as every neighborhood should have, but doesn't.

These people live toxic-free lives (see first image). The people of Barrio Logan do not (see second image).

This is why we need to support the Barrio Logan Community Plan Update and put it on the June ballot.

Please join us at City Council on Tuesday, December 17 at 2 p.m. (202 C St, 12th floor) to demand a democratic process and every persons right to live in a healthy community. We'll see you there.

You may have seen them-- the petitioners outside of every grocery store in San Diego collecting signatures to oppose the Barrio Logan Community Plan, which City Council already approved in both September and October.

Well San Diego, you have been lied to. Lied to about a neighborhood not far from where you live that has suffered from toxic pollution, chronic asthma and environmental injustices for nearly thirty years. It finally has a chance to become healthy and toxic-free by separating local homes from industries, but the polluters are multi-billion-dollar industries that don't care about our communities.

I recorded this video at the Ralph's in Mission Valley and this video to expose how far from the truth these signature gatherers really are.

Here is the truth about the Barrio Logan community plan: It was drafted through a five-year, City-led planning process. It designates a heavy industrial zone away from homes and schools to create a clear separation of industrial and residential zones, along with a buffer zone that incorporates office buildings and parking structures to make Barrio Logan a safe place to live and play.

Do you think community members would draft a plan that eliminates jobs that they need, or that City Council would approve it, twice? These are blatant lies to scare you.

While industry supporter Chris Wahl regards this as an "isolated incident," our social media followers have had their own encounters.

"Same "isolated" incident at the Albertsons on University in North Park. The signature gatherer did not appreciate it when I loudly protested his claim of a 46,000 maritime job loss."

"Same "isolated" incident at Home Depot on Balboa and Genesee. My wife got into an arguement with the women there, who was incredibily rude! She went inside and complained to the store manager. These people are getting paid for these signatures and the folks who are simply out shopping don't have a clue. WHAT A SHAME!"

"Chris Wahl of the Protect our Jobs Coalition, which I interpret as a front for Port of SD Ship Repair and others in the industry has way more signatures than he needed--because the hired signature gatherers were simply asking people "sign here to save jobs." The real issue, toxins and their effects on Barrio Logan kids, never surfaced."

"Last Saturday I spoke with one of the petition folks. He said that the plan will result in building 500 homes in land currently used for industrial purposes. I asked to see a map of the area and he told me if the issue goes for a vote then I will see the map. When I pressed him to see the map he told me to leave."

"I got the same story from a signature gatherer outside Trader Joe's in Mission Valley a week ago Wednesday. It took a while for me to figure out that the petition was to rescind the City Council's decision and was backed by business, not the community. I told him I would not sign."

"I heard the same lies from signature gatherers at three different grocery stores. All three talked about the community plan causing the loss of thousands of jobs. This was two weeks ago at Sprouts on Third Street in Chula Vista, last week at Sprouts on Rosecrans, and yesterday at Whole Foods in Hillcrest."

EHC continues to support our communities and stand up to the massive polluting industries trying to silence them.

You can help by commenting on our Facebook with your petitioner experiences and spreading the truth about the Barrio Logan community plan to everyone you know. Don't sign any more petitions!

Thank you.

Diane Takvorian
Executive Director

Today the UT San Diego reports that the Barrio Logan community plan referendum will turn in 52,000 signatures to the city by November 1.  

But these signatures were recruited with proposterous lies.

Signature petitioners outside of popular grocery stores in San Diego have been using outrageous and fabricated lies to collect signatures to repeal the Barrio Logan community plan-- which City Council democratically voted to pass TWICE -- once on September 17 and again on October 15. 

I recently came across one of these petitioners myself in Mission Valley, to which industry spokesperson Chris Wahl quickly wrote off as an "isolated incident". 

So I am sharing this video that I captured of two scattered individuals bringing up some of the most blatant lies I've heard to this day.

The TRUTH is, it's not isolated. Not one bit.

I've had coworkers, friends, neighbors and social media followers tell me these "isolated incidents" have happened to them as well. Today we received a private message on our Facebook:

"Diane Takvorian, I saw the UT article this a.m. Yours was NOT an isolated incident, and Wahl is a bold-faced liar. Last week I was at that Ralph's, was pitched to "help save 60,000 jobs"; asked the young man who he represented; he did not know. When I told him there was another side to the issue, the health of kids breathing that toxic air, a man who was signing up stopped, said he had to think about it....Had a negative experience leaving by the other door. Just wanted you to know--and you are right; when voters know the truth."

Other comments recieved via Facebook read,

"Just walked past a person collecting signatures for the referendum on the Barrio Logan community plan...I wonder how residents of North Park, Liberty Station or OB (as examples) would feel about voters anywhere else in the city making decisions about development projects or zoning laws in their neighborhood..."

"Where's my Don't Tread On Me flag? At $1.75 per signature, once again Democracy is for sale."

"I ran into two of them today, one in MV and the other in North Park. They are shameless about the lies claiming that the Navy base is going to be closed and condos put up instead."

We've even heard it in-person.

Mia Bolton, resident of Ocean Beach, recently told us she heard the same lies coming from a signature gatherer outside of Trader Joe's in Mission Valley. The man "blatantly had no idea what he was talking about," says Bolton. "He kept saying the Barrio Logan community plan was going to kick out small businesses and replace them with hotels and condos, resulting in the loss of good jobs. Now I know for a fact this is a bold-faced lie, but does everyone else leaving Trader Joe's?"

Do you think City Council would pass a plan, TWICE, that is said to eliminate 46,000 jobs?

Or that the hard-working residents of Barrio Logan would come together for over five years to develop a plan that threw away nearly half a million jobs-- many of their own?

The answer is no.

The TRUTH has been, and remains to be that zero jobs will be lost because of this plan. 

Voice of San Diego said it best -- "That nine-block area isn't home to 46,000 jobs. It's not even home to the 14,000 jobs that take place at the Port. It is, however, home to a handful of small businesses that work hand-in-hand with the shipyard (and those existing companies will be able to stay open, but their expansion options will be limited). So what's all this talk of 46,000 jobs if we're really talking about whether new businesses can open in a few block area?"

The fact that the comprimised health of an underserved community is being decided by lying petition gatherers paid per signature is not democracy. It is an enormous sham, and they're busted. And it definitely, absolutely, one hundred percent is NOT an isolated incident. 

-- Diane Takvorian, executive director

Tuesday, September 17, 2013: A day to be remembered in San Diego history as the day Barrio Logan secured a safe and healthier future with the adoption of a new community plan. With City Council's approval late Tuesday night, environmental justice was restored to Barrio Logan while faith was restored among residents and community members after years of inequality.

For the past thirty years, toxic industries have encroached on Barrio Logan, polluting the air and putting the neighborhood at a less than desirable spot in the top five percent of vulnerability in the state.

"This is a community that has been asked to make room for everything," Georgette Gómez, associate director of EHC, told City Councilmembers. "We strongly believe that Alternative 1 encompasses everything that is needed. Now you have the opportunity to do what is right for both communities. Now is the time to validate the people that live here. We urge you to please adopt Alternative 1."

Yesterday, hundreds of people packed into City Council Chambers to show support for an update to the Barrio Logan Community Plan – which hasn't seen any modifications in over three decades.

EHC and community leaders addressed City Council in person to put a face to Alternative 1. They shared the treasures of Barrio Logan and the struggles industrial pollution has continued to impose on their neighborhoods and families.

At the end of the evening, City Council finally voted in favor of Alternative 1 with a 5-4 split.

EHC would like to personally thank Councilmember David Alvarez for his leadership and commitment to a vibrant economy and a healthy community and thanks to Councilmembers Marti Emerald, Sherri Lightner, Myrtle Cole and Interim Mayor Todd Gloria for their support.

"This is an amazing milestone for the community of Barrio Logan, which has faced decades of neglect, a patchwork of incompatible uses and has long suffered from a disproportionate burden of pollution," states Councilmember David Alvarez. "The community has been denied environmental justice; facing enchroachment, traffic impacts, lack of public amenitites and services. With today's approval we take a step forward addressing those impacts and building a vibrant based on the multifaceted character of the community."

Barrio Logan's newly approved community plan designates a separate heavy industrial zone away from homes and schools. With this clear distinction between industrial and residential zones, along with a buffer zone that incorporates office buildings and parking structures, Barrio Logan can finally regain a safe place to live, work and play.

EHC proudly stands by Alternative 1 and fighting to take this first big step towards restoring an important piece of San Diego's history and culture. After thirty years, Barrio Logan residents and future residents can look forward to the toxic-free neighborhood they deserve.