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Why does affluent Porter Ranch get more urgent environmental relief than working-class Boyle Heights
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-exide-20160131-story.html
Editorial: Why does affluent Porter Ranch get more urgent environmental relief than working-class Boyle Heights?
by The Times Editorial Board
January 29, 2016
Two Los Angeles communities. Two environmental nightmares. Two very different responses from Gov. Jerry Brown.
At Porter Ranch, where a massive natural gas leak has forced thousands of affluent residents to relocate, Brown has declared a state of emergency, ordered public health reviews and visited residents. But he's been absent from the Exide environmental debacle across town. In working-class Boyle Heights, Maywood, Huntington Park, Commerce and other communities, residents are still living in fear after state toxics officials warned last year that their yards and homes may be contaminated with high levels of lead that can cause learning disabilities and behavioral problems in children and miscarriages in pregnant women.
Despite the risks facing residents in Exide's shadow, Brown's administration continues to move at a sluggish bureaucratic pace to test and clean up the contamination. The state Department of Toxic Substances Control issued the earliest warnings nearly two years ago that dozens of homes near the now-closed battery recycling plant had unsafe levels of lead. Additional tests revealed that the contamination was widespread, and last August, the department said that as many as 10,000 additional homes could be tainted. Yet, to date, only 191 homes have been cleaned up. No families have been relocated. Meanwhile, thousands of residents in the area have been told to keep their children from playing in the dirt and to avoid eating fruits or vegetables that touch the soil.
One problem is money. The DTSC has rightfully chosen to spend public dollars to accelerate the investigation and clean up the lead contamination now, and try to recoup the money from Exide later. (Exide denies that it is responsible for all the lead contamination and a long legal fight is expected.) But the amount set aside so far is a tiny fraction of what's needed. In August, state lawmakers gave the DTSC $7.7 million, enough to test 1,500 properties and clean up about 50 homes by July. But 10,000 properties need to be tested. On this schedule, it could take more than six years to check all the potentially tainted homes and longer to clean up properties found to have high lead levels.
Brown's proposed 2016-17 budget adds a measly $800,000 to the Exide effort — enough to clean just 17 more homes. “It feels like the state is just throwing pennies at brown people to keep us quiet,” Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) said, summing up how many in the community feel.
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Editorial: Why does affluent Porter Ranch get more urgent environmental relief than working-class Boyle Heights?
by The Times Editorial Board
January 29, 2016
Two Los Angeles communities. Two environmental nightmares. Two very different responses from Gov. Jerry Brown.
At Porter Ranch, where a massive natural gas leak has forced thousands of affluent residents to relocate, Brown has declared a state of emergency, ordered public health reviews and visited residents. But he's been absent from the Exide environmental debacle across town. In working-class Boyle Heights, Maywood, Huntington Park, Commerce and other communities, residents are still living in fear after state toxics officials warned last year that their yards and homes may be contaminated with high levels of lead that can cause learning disabilities and behavioral problems in children and miscarriages in pregnant women.
Despite the risks facing residents in Exide's shadow, Brown's administration continues to move at a sluggish bureaucratic pace to test and clean up the contamination. The state Department of Toxic Substances Control issued the earliest warnings nearly two years ago that dozens of homes near the now-closed battery recycling plant had unsafe levels of lead. Additional tests revealed that the contamination was widespread, and last August, the department said that as many as 10,000 additional homes could be tainted. Yet, to date, only 191 homes have been cleaned up. No families have been relocated. Meanwhile, thousands of residents in the area have been told to keep their children from playing in the dirt and to avoid eating fruits or vegetables that touch the soil.
One problem is money. The DTSC has rightfully chosen to spend public dollars to accelerate the investigation and clean up the lead contamination now, and try to recoup the money from Exide later. (Exide denies that it is responsible for all the lead contamination and a long legal fight is expected.) But the amount set aside so far is a tiny fraction of what's needed. In August, state lawmakers gave the DTSC $7.7 million, enough to test 1,500 properties and clean up about 50 homes by July. But 10,000 properties need to be tested. On this schedule, it could take more than six years to check all the potentially tainted homes and longer to clean up properties found to have high lead levels.
Brown's proposed 2016-17 budget adds a measly $800,000 to the Exide effort — enough to clean just 17 more homes. “It feels like the state is just throwing pennies at brown people to keep us quiet,” Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) said, summing up how many in the community feel.
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