WEBVTT 00:01.533 --> 00:05.500 align:left position:30% line:77% size:60% One thing I wish people understood about environmental racism 00:05.500 --> 00:09.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% is that people can't just move away from it. 00:11.033 --> 00:14.200 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% That's something I would hear a lot as a child, as a student at the university. 00:14.200 --> 00:16.666 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Why don't you people just move? 00:18.533 --> 00:21.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And the truth is, we have a housing crisis, so there aren't too many choices. 00:22.966 --> 00:24.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And because of that, because of the need for housing, 00:24.600 --> 00:26.300 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% somebody is always going to live there. 00:26.300 --> 00:29.100 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% So the problem's always gonna exist 00:29.100 --> 00:32.233 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% unless we clean up the contamination. 00:37.266 --> 00:39.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% My name is Lizette Ruiz 00:39.066 --> 00:42.666 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% and I'm an environmental scientist and resident here in South Gate. 00:44.466 --> 00:48.033 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% I've been living in South Gate since 2006, so approximately 18 years. 00:49.266 --> 00:51.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% We're a community that is working class, 00:51.033 --> 00:56.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% predominantly Latino immigrant, children of immigrant. 00:56.866 --> 00:59.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% South Gate is very central 00:59.033 --> 01:02.666 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% and very accessible to the Port of Long Beach, to the Port of L.A. 01:03.966 --> 01:06.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% You know, we have the 710 Freeway on one side. 01:07.466 --> 01:09.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% We have the Alameda Corridor on the other side. 01:09.066 --> 01:12.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And those kind of serve as veins to all the shipment of goods 01:12.666 --> 01:14.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that comes through there. 01:15.433 --> 01:17.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Industries choose communities like South Gate 01:17.800 --> 01:21.600 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% because of where they're located. 01:22.833 --> 01:25.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% A lot of these companies operated during times 01:25.033 --> 01:29.533 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% when there weren't environmental laws that were very strong and effective. 01:30.866 --> 01:32.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And so we grew up with playgrounds being affected 01:32.700 --> 01:36.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% by a lot of the pollution from some of these factories. 01:37.966 --> 01:40.666 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Like here, a few blocks away from my house was Tweedy Elementary. 01:40.666 --> 01:45.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% During the eighties, it was next to 16 industrial facilities. 01:53.766 --> 01:57.300 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And so the problem with that school was that, 01:57.300 --> 02:01.266 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% one day in 1986, a chlorine gas cloud 02:02.133 --> 02:04.766 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% came in and pretty much sent 02:04.766 --> 02:09.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% 71 students and teachers to the hospital. 02:09.000 --> 02:13.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And it turned out to be from a local Purex facility. 02:13.200 --> 02:17.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And so this, of course, got the parents to really demand 02:17.466 --> 02:21.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% more investigations, to demand more action. 02:29.833 --> 02:32.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And the next year, in 1987, 02:32.733 --> 02:35.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% the school actually saw that a chemical 02:35.600 --> 02:40.300 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% was leaking from the factory next door, which was Cooper Drum at the time. 02:40.300 --> 02:44.200 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% And the chemicals that they realized was contaminating their school 02:44.200 --> 02:48.033 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% was sodium hydroxide, which is very cancerous and very dangerous 02:48.033 --> 02:49.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% to the children's health. 02:49.966 --> 02:54.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And after that was when the school was shut down. 02:56.033 --> 02:59.000 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% And so just to show the gravity of the contamination at the site, 03:00.766 --> 03:04.166 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Cooper Drum was actually one of the sites that eventually got to be 03:05.066 --> 03:07.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% under the Superfund programs. 03:16.433 --> 03:19.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Now that a lot of these areas are being redeveloped, 03:19.766 --> 03:22.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% we're dealing with cleaning them up. 03:30.333 --> 03:33.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And so it means we have to keep an eye out. 03:33.200 --> 03:35.100 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% Oftentimes, you know, the government 03:35.100 --> 03:38.800 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% just wants to get these projects done without following the proper steps. 03:40.466 --> 03:42.666 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% I think that's why it's really important to be civically active, 03:42.666 --> 03:46.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to really know what is going to be built and kind of start asking those questions first, 03:46.100 --> 03:49.933 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% to really make sure that things are built to the safest capacity. 03:51.833 --> 03:54.600 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% A lot of our community members are immigrants who don't speak or understand, 03:54.600 --> 03:58.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% or have time to understand a lot of what's going on in our own communities. 03:58.833 --> 04:03.800 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% A lot of us stuck around for financial reasons, for our ties to our families. 04:08.266 --> 04:10.433 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% This work is important because 04:10.433 --> 04:11.866 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% our life depends on it. 04:13.133 --> 04:15.433 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% We breathe the air, we live here, we worship, 04:15.433 --> 04:19.300 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and we work here, and our kids are growing up in these areas. 04:19.300 --> 04:24.300 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% And so it's important for us to make sure that they have a better chance 04:25.133 --> 04:26.533 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% at having a healthy life.