Recorded presentation

Daniel P. Perales, DrPh MPH, Department of Health Science, San Jose State University, One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95192-0052, 408-924-4695, dperales@sjsu.edu and Marian Morris, MPH, Health and Environmental Justice Project, Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, 108 Hebard Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060.

Since 1992, the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC), in San Jose, California, has increased community and industry awareness of environmental health issues through numerous activities. The SVTC is particularly important, since Santa Clara County has more Superfund sites than any other county in the United States. Santa Clara County has a population of 1.6 million people of which 25% are Latinos. In 2000, through a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences grant and subsequent support from The California Endowment, SVTC created the Health and Environmental Justice (HEJ) Project to organize community members around the issue of environmental exposures and reduce toxics poisonings and other environmental hazards. It is well documented that environmental hazards most often affect neighborhoods populated by people of color. This presentation describes HEJ's role in helping to organize and educate Latino community members and neighborhood advocates in their efforts to overcome challenges posed by the energy and computer industries in Silicon Valley. The presentation will describe a case study of the community’s’ successful efforts to prevent construction of high polluting Peaker Power Plants during the 2002 California energy crisis. It will also describe how advocates dealt with the San Jose's City Council's decision to reduce time for public comments on the plants, industry efforts to intimidate advocates, and the loosening of state policies to allow for dirty power plants. The environmental justice community organizing and advocacy lessons learned during the last four-years, particularly as they relate to the critical role of Latinas, will be described.

Learning Objectives:

• List three environmental health issues associated with Silicon Valley as they affect Latinos.
• Recognize the industry policies and practices that endanger the environment and therefore the health of people in low-income communities.
• Describe three lessons learned about community organizing for environmental justice in Latino communities.

Keywords: Environmental Justice, Latino

Related Web page: www.svtc.org/

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: Evaluation consultant

Recorded presentation