Media Release: February 19, 2004
Contact: Paula Forbis, (619) 235-0281

Looking towards the future:
EHC, Barrio Logan residents kickoff community visioning process with City of San Diego officials

WHO: Barrio Logan residents, Environmental Health Coalition, City of San Diego officials

WHAT: Barrio Logan/ City of San Diego Community Visioning Meeting

WHERE: Perkins Elementary School, 1770 Main Street, San Diego

WHEN: Thursday, February 19, 2004, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

WHY: Barrio Logan is plagued by problems that are all too prevalent in low-income communities of color: substandard housing, overcrowded schools, a lack of social services, and poor jobs. Tonight, Barrio Logan residents and City of San Diego officials will begin discussing much-needed changes that will allow a sustainable revitalization of the community while at the same time preserving the community’s rich cultural heritage.

Like many inner-city neighborhoods, Barrio Logan has an unplanned mix of land uses. In the 1970s a community plan was developed that allowed this unhealthy mix of land uses to continue. Later plans for community revitalization were never implemented. The community plan is now almost thirty years old and has never been updated.

In Barrio Logan, houses, apartments and a youth center stand side by side with metal plating shops and other industrial facilities. Shipyards and naval installations a few blocks south on San Diego Bay are large sources of toxics. The community’s proximity to San Diego Bay yields tons of diesel exhaust from ships and truck commerce from the Port of San Diego. Some 210 industries with regulated hazardous materials or wastes coexist with the Logan area’s 29,000 residents in about 3 square miles. Of these industries, 129 are located in Barrio Logan, an area less than 1.2 square miles and home to 5,440 residents. Barrio Logan accounts for only .07 percent of the total land area of San Diego County, but is host to 7 percent of the County’s air toxic “hot spots”. Industrial operations in Barrio Logan account for 90 percent of the total emissions of highly toxic chromium 6 in the County.

EHC has worked on environmental justice issues in the Barrio Logan community since the mid-1980s. EHC works with residents to promote land use and planning reforms, the relocation of hazardous industries to industrial zones, and the reduction of toxic air contaminates released by industry.

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