Promoting health in transportation and global trade policy through community research and participation

Southern CA is home to the country's two largest ports. Because of the volume of imported containers from Asia and the intense flow of trade to the rest of the country, numerous environmental justice (EJ) communities in the Los Angeles region face serious impacts from diesel pollution, noise, and traffic congestion – which residents fear will worsen as “goods movement” facilities such as rail yards and highways begin to double or triple in capacity. In the diverse community of Long Beach, students at a school near a rail yard are exposed to the highest levels of diesel pollution in the region; nonetheless a proposal to double the capacity of that yard has gained traction. Studies are showing that EJ communities in CA and around the U.S. located near freight facilities suffer disproportionate impacts. For example, African-Americans in Gulfport, MI are fighting a major new 6-lane “port connector road” that would connect the Port of Gulfport to I-10. Gulfport residents argue that the highway will negatively impact health, wetlands and historic African-American neighborhoods. Meanwhile, national policymakers call for expanded funding of aging bridges, highways, and rail yards to stimulate the economy. As a result of these federal efforts – and expansion of the Panama Canal, expected to be completed in 2014 – many East Coast ports are racing to enlarge. Residents from port, rail and warehouse communities throughout the U.S. came together in October 2010 to share community research and strategies on how EJ communities can participate more effectively to inform policymakers about health equity issues in transportation decisions. This presentation will look at community organizing efforts and new policies that could reduce the local impacts from global trade. It will describe findings from a 2011 report by the authors to The Kresge Foundation on this topic.