A Case of Environmental Justice in Los Angeles, California

Abstract: Environmental Racism has been around for a long time. Looking at its history of key movements like the Civil Rights Movement can help provide a framework for why it has become what it is today and could potentially look like in the future. The way in which people have presented it has changed as culture has changed. Not only does environmental racism involve issues of the environment, but it also includes issues of race. Hence, the name of this subcategory of environmental justice. In fact, studies have been conducted showing that those who live in underdeveloped or poor areas (where pollution, toxic waste, etc.) tend to be in the minority population or non-white (Latinos, etc.). Los Angeles has one of the highest populations of Hispanic and or Latino people in the USA. As such, many of the people in this population have faced issues related to environmental pollution, waste, etc. and have not gotten the help they needed to support these problems. The issue examined in this essay deals with the explosion at the Exide Battery Recycling Plant in Vernon, which is part of Los Angeles County in California. Those who are taking action against the environmental injustice seem to be the local people who are affected by the environmental hazards. The issues here, both environmental and social are very inherent and have been around for a long time and as such will not change unless action is taken against them.https://digitalcommons.salve.edu/env434_justice/1007/thumbnail.jp