Forming Strategic Partnerships for Change in an Environmental Justice Community: ENRRICH Study

San Bernardino, California is home to the BNSF Railyard (SBR), a major commerce trading hub which has been identified as a significant environmental justice issue by the local community and air quality agencies.  Alarmingly, one elementary school is located within only a few hundred yards from the SBR, and anecdotal reports suggested that the children attending this school were negatively affected.  To begin addressing such health disparities, the elementary school, university researchers, and a local CBO established a strategic partnership to assess the potential adverse health impacts and to develop targeted health interventions and mitigation risk reduction plans.  Study results comparing the target school with a demographically matched school verified the community concerns: we found significantly poorer respiratory health in children attending the school next to the railyard as measured by more airway inflammation and diminished lung capacity.  To address these environmental justice concerns, partners are now working with local and state collaboratives, the school board, and funding agencies to begin addressing the needs of the children, targeting education, mitigation, and prevention in an environment where necessary systems changes involving the railyard are elusive.  We will share the experiences and lessons learned from four years of work with an environmental justice community in assessing specific health challenges and the successful changes implemented to improve the health of children living and attending school near a major freight railyard.