Quemetco has proven time and time again that it cannot operate safely and is too dangerous to continue operating in our neighborhood. Quemetco regularly violates state laws, knowingly exposing our community to even more risks and dangers. We cannot afford to wait any longer. Every day Quemetco stays open, we’re allowing more and more poison into our community.
These risks are increasing each and every day, as toxins continue to accumulate in our water, in the soil in our backyards, and in our bodies. We must stop exposing our families to this unnecessary danger and shut Quemetco down right away. It’s the only way we can protect our children and stop this fundamentally unsafe facility from poisoning our community. California policymakers must shut down Quemetco immediately It’s time for our state leaders to step in and protect our families from these dangerous and harmful toxins. California’s government has both the authority and responsibility to shut Quemetco down and hold this irresponsible company accountable for the damage it’s done to our community. California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has the power to help us, and can shut down Quemetco any time it chooses. The DTSC must do what’s best for our community and deny Quemetco a permit to operate NOW. A legal defense group trying to protect a Pennsylvania township from oil and gas fracking that pollutes the air and water in the community was just fined $52 000.00 and is facing legal sanctions against their work. Do communities have the right to protect themselves from corporations? Read this article in Rolling Stone and decide for yourself!
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-rights-of-nature-movement-goes-on-trial-w515299 Three paint companies who knew for years that their lead-based paints were a health hazard and who were held liable by the courts for millions of dollars in clean-up costs are behind a proposed 2018 California bond measure that would get them off the hook for this clean-up and pass along the costs to California's taxpayers instead. Beware!!
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-lead-paint-ballot-initiative-20180117-story.html CAC made a California Public Records Request for a full accounting of the current balance in the Athens Community Benefit and Environmental, Education Trust Fund: $4.4 million as of August 31, 2017! These are funds designated to support projects that directly benefit the residents of Avocado Heights. Why? Because the Athens Services materials recovery facility on Valley Boulevard had been such a bad and noxious neighbor for so long that community members demanded Athens put $1 in a fund for every ton they take in to help mitigate the negative impacts of their facility on our quality of life. We had to make a public records request for this accounting because the office of Supervisor Solis refused to provide it to us, despite repeated requests in person and in writing to her and despite the fact that this is the community's money! Do you have a great idea for a project that will benefit Avocado Heights? We encourage you to fill out the attached grant application and send it to the Supervisor's office--and please send CAC a copy, too.
A NY Times article documents how the Environmental Protection Agency is not working to protect us anymore: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/21/us/trump-epa-chemicals-regulations.html?emc=edit_nn_20171023&nl=morning-briefing&nlid=48004855&te=1&_r=0 CAC really needs the community's support to keep doing our work to protect our community! We know more than ever that government agencies will not do this work unless we keep pushing them to protect us from harm.
Thanks to our partners at USC Environmental Health Centers North Whittier is now connected to the PurpleAir Air Quality Monitoring Network with its own sensor: "USCEHC Workman Mill Rd" located between the 60 fwy and Workman Mill Road. This map shows the sensors on network and the air quality they are constantly measuring:
www.purpleair.com/map?&zoom=10&lat=34.03844358389533&lng=-117.74221355438232&clustersize=30&orderby=L&latr=0.6566207774875394&lngr=1.72760009765625 CalEnviroScreen is a new tool for measuring the cumulative pollution impacts in neighborhoods throughout the state. Each neighborhood is given a score that tells us how bad or good the conditions are compared to other neighborhoods in California, expressed as a percentile. Our neighborhoods have an overall pollution score above 71% but most of us live where the score is actually over 81% and some over 91%. This means that we are living here with some of the highest pollution impacts in the state. You can find more neighborhoods here:
CalEnviroScreen 3.0 |