SAN DIEGO, August 9, 2019 – Early this morning a heavy duty diesel truck crashed in Barrio Logan on a block with homes and businesses. It crashed into a power pole causing a power outage for over 4000 users. The truck then skidded across lanes and crashed into parked vehicles. After coming to rest, the truck burst into flames directly in front of a home.
The truck burst into flames a few feet from a home where a truck parked in the driveway was scorched. A family living less than 100 feet away awoke to find an inferno on their block. Firefighters responded rapidly saving the home and nearby business. The Navy’s family support center is directly across the street.
While we applaud the first responders and are grateful for their courage – this incident is not uncommon in Barrio Logan where discriminatory land use allows homes and industries to exist side by side. Diesel trucks from the Port of San Diego and waterfront businesses have historically used residential streets in Barrio Logan exposing residents to diesel pollution.
In December 2018, the City of San Diego adopted a truck ordinance prohibiting heavy duty trucks from traveling on Barrio Logan streets other than the established truck route on Harbor Drive. While a victory for the community, residents report heavy duty trucks continuing to use streets prohibited by the ordinance.
Philomena Marino, a resident on Boston Ave, said: “This is not an isolated incident. My neighbors and I have been monitoring truck traffic on our street and the surrounding area and we have footage of heavy duty trucks driving past our homes regularly, in violation of the ordinance. While we are all relieved that residents weren’t injured, we are demanding that officials take immediate and increased action to enforce the ordinance and protect the community.”
Environmental Health Coalition joins community residents to demand that immediate action be taken including:
- Increase enforcement by San Diego PD. This should include posting officers in the neighborhood on a regular basis to issue citations to truckers driving on prohibited streets.
- Resident reports should be acted on. Neighbors continuously report violations of the ordinance but do not receive responses. Neighbor reports and photos of trucks in violation of the ordinance should be used to issue warnings to the truckers.
- Improved and additional signage on the truck route and prohibited streets should include lights and posting of the penalty fine
- Residents should report any illegal truck traffic to the SD PD non-emergency line 619-531-2000.
For more information, please contact Diane Takvorian at 619-992-0805 or dianet@environmentalhealth.org.
###
ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH COALITION
Founded in 1980, Environmental Health Coalition (EHC) builds grassroots campaigns to confront the unjust consequences of toxic pollution, discriminatory land use and unsustainable energy policies. Visit online at http://www.environmentalhealth.org.
