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The "globalization" of the marketplace puts worker health and environmental protection on the auction block in all countries. In the San Diego/Tijuana region this has resulted in a burgeoning maquiladora industry -- foreign-owned companies operating with special tariff reductions in Mexico. Baja California has the largest number of maquiladoras in Mexico, and the industrial pollution from these maquiladoras damages the public's health on both sides of the border.
Our Border Environmental Justice Campaign works in solidarity with social justice groups in the border region to promote worker and community right-to-know about the chemicals used by maquiladoras, to increase their capacity to influence conditions that directly affect their health, and to demand cleanup of abandoned and contaminated sites.
To achieve environmental justice along the border, EHC is working for:
The Right to Know -- Everyone has the right to know what toxics are being used in their neighborhood and workplace so they can effectively protect their health and the environment.
The Amendment of NAFTA - The North American Free Trade Agreement has been a boon for business but a bane for workers and the environment because nearly all of its provisions for protecting workers and the environment and unenforceable and weak. NAFTA must be amended so that health and safety assurances are an integral part of the pact.
The Right to Participate - Every community has the right to participate in planning, implementing and evaluating projects that affect their quality of life, public health and overall environment. We demand that governments and corporations establish a process which requires public participation in decisions affecting everyone.
Toxic Cleanup - The economic boom along the border has left a hazardous mess in need of restoration. Progress cannot be claimed when heavy metals, acids, solvents and many other toxics pollute the ground, poison the water and contaminate the air in many communities. We demand these sites be cleaned up in health protective ways that restore environmental quality.
