Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Inland Empire Disadvantaged Communities

Recently I've had the opportunity to research the number of disadvantaged communities in the Inland Empire. The exact location of all of these EJ communities is largely unknown. There has been some field work in the this area but the Inland Empire is so large; the county of San Bernardino alone is the largest county in the country in terms of square miles, that all of the EJ communities have not been identified. For example, how much EJ work is currently being done in the Chochella Valley? This would be a good place to look at since there were so many defense contractors out in the Inland Empire in the 50's and 60's. It takes a little digging but the information is there. What is evident that the remoteness of the place in the 50's and 60's led to sloppy practices with regards to Environmental Stewardship by companies. Now the people are feeling the effects of contaminated groundwater as well as the lack of infrastructure to clean up wastewater and other essential services.

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