Breathing Easier in Mira Loma Village – CCAEJ and IQ Air Install Air Filters!

I received this by email from the very effective community-based environmental group and MFN participant Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice.  To learn more about CCAEJ and their work, please visit their web site.

On Saturday, July 12th, dozens of volunteers joined CCAEJ and IQ Air, the company providing air system to Mira Loma Village, to deliver and install two units per house in the 103 home tract as part of the settlement agreement to which the City of Jurupa is a part. These high performance air filters will protect the residents from harmful outside diesel pollution and to begin to mitigate the impacts of the surrounding warehouses and diesel trucks. The mayor of Jurupa Valley, Frank Johnston, as well as the Mayor Pro Tem, Michael Goodland, attended the event and met with residents while their  units were being delivered.

(Jurupa Valley Mayor Pro Tem Micheal Goodland, CCAEJ’s Penny Newman, J.V. Mayor Frank Johnston, and IQ Air CEO Glory Dolphin-Hammes head over to the very first air filter installation in one of the Mira Loma Village homes.)

Background on the settlement- On July 19, 2011, CCAEJ filed a lawsuit against the county, the city of Jurupa Valley, and the developers of a warehousing project based on their violation of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).CEQA is an act that analyzes future projects and their possible health impacts on overburdened communities. The county had approved this warehousing project that consisted of one million square feet of warehouses and industrial buildings that were being built directly next to residences in Mira Loma village; the small community on Etiwanda Avenue and Iberia Street in the city of Jurupa Valley.
            (Residents receive their air filters and meet the CEO of IQ Air, Glory Dolphin-Hammes.)

        After seeing for herself the situation in Mira Loma Village, State Attorney General Kamala Harris agreed to join the legal battle against the project proposal. “It is a false choice to suggest that in order for California business to thrive, public health must suffer”, said Attorney General Harris.  After the settlement was signed in February of 2013, the city of Jurupa Valley and project developers committed to reducing the project’s health impacts on Mira Loma Village. Although it did not prevent the project from being built, the settlement provided funding for essential measures to be taken to prevent negative health impacts of the warehouses.

           The installation of air filters in each of the homes in Mira Loma Village was a crucial element of the settlement, and will protect the residents from the harmful diesel pollution that they are currently ingesting on a day-to-day basis. The filters have demonstrated a 90%+ reduction in particulate pollution and have been installed in 7 schools in the Inland Area.  CCAEJ partnered with IQAir to ensure that these residents get the best equipment possible, and to begin mitigating the health impacts of the diesel pollution as soon as possible. 
 

(Residents of Mira Loma Village were given a demonstration of how to set up the air filters upon receiving them.) 

For more information, call us at (951) 360-8451 and ask for Chela.