STOP: KETTLEMAN CITY
LISTEN/DOWNLOAD [MP3]
SB CUE Kettleman City 1mi.
NB CUE Kettleman City/Fresno/41
SITE
Chemical Waste Management Kettleman Hills Facility
View LANDSAT Map
LOCATION
2.5 miles west of the intersection of I-5 and Route 41
THREATS AND CONTAMINANTS
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), benzene, asbestos
VOICE
Mary Lou Mares, People for Clean Air and Water (El Pueblo Para el Aire y El Agua Limpio)
In 1979, much to the surprise of residents of Kettleman City (a community ninety-five percent Latino), a toxic dump owned by Chemical Waste Management-the world's largest waste disposal company-was established at a site where each day, up to 200 twenty-ton trucks filled with chemical wastes like PCBs, benzene, and asbestos would pass within four miles of the town center on their way to their final destination where the toxins were treated, stored or buried.
In 1985 Chemical Waste Management was fined $3.5 million by the EPA and state for faulty record keeping and other violations such as toxic leakage into water supplies. In 1990, Chemical Waste proposed to build a hazardous waste incinerator near the same location to take advantage of the pre-existing toxic dump. Its incinerator would annually consume between 50,000 and 100,000 tons of hazardous waste including byproducts from auto and electronics manufacturing, unused or banned pesticides, dry-cleaning chemicals, oil wastes, solvents, paint sludge, contaminated soil, and water from Superfund sites.
Inspired by the community-led closure of incinerators in Vernon and Casmalia, CA, resident-activists (such as Mary Lou Mares), farm workers, agribusiness growers, and politicians organized to oppose the planned incinerator. In February 1991, a lawsuit filed by California Rural Legal Assistance on behalf of the community coalition El Pueblo Para el Aire y Agua Limpio formally stated that the permit process violated the civil rights of residents, as meetings, hearings, and technical information were given only in English. Significantly, this allegation of environmental racism was the first case in the nation to allege civil rights violations in an attempt to block a toxic incinerator. By 1994, the efforts of protesters, more stringent requirements under the Clinton administration, and the two successful lawsuits filed by California Rural Legal Assistance instigated Chemical Waste Management to abandon its plans.
LISTEN/DOWNLOAD [MP3]
SB CUE Kettleman City 1mi.
NB CUE Kettleman City/Fresno/41
SITE
Chemical Waste Management Kettleman Hills Facility
View LANDSAT Map
LOCATION
2.5 miles west of the intersection of I-5 and Route 41
THREATS AND CONTAMINANTS
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), benzene, asbestos
VOICE
Mary Lou Mares, People for Clean Air and Water (El Pueblo Para el Aire y El Agua Limpio)
In 1979, much to the surprise of residents of Kettleman City (a community ninety-five percent Latino), a toxic dump owned by Chemical Waste Management-the world's largest waste disposal company-was established at a site where each day, up to 200 twenty-ton trucks filled with chemical wastes like PCBs, benzene, and asbestos would pass within four miles of the town center on their way to their final destination where the toxins were treated, stored or buried.
In 1985 Chemical Waste Management was fined $3.5 million by the EPA and state for faulty record keeping and other violations such as toxic leakage into water supplies. In 1990, Chemical Waste proposed to build a hazardous waste incinerator near the same location to take advantage of the pre-existing toxic dump. Its incinerator would annually consume between 50,000 and 100,000 tons of hazardous waste including byproducts from auto and electronics manufacturing, unused or banned pesticides, dry-cleaning chemicals, oil wastes, solvents, paint sludge, contaminated soil, and water from Superfund sites.
Inspired by the community-led closure of incinerators in Vernon and Casmalia, CA, resident-activists (such as Mary Lou Mares), farm workers, agribusiness growers, and politicians organized to oppose the planned incinerator. In February 1991, a lawsuit filed by California Rural Legal Assistance on behalf of the community coalition El Pueblo Para el Aire y Agua Limpio formally stated that the permit process violated the civil rights of residents, as meetings, hearings, and technical information were given only in English. Significantly, this allegation of environmental racism was the first case in the nation to allege civil rights violations in an attempt to block a toxic incinerator. By 1994, the efforts of protesters, more stringent requirements under the Clinton administration, and the two successful lawsuits filed by California Rural Legal Assistance instigated Chemical Waste Management to abandon its plans.
