Once again, Moving Forward Network member East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice (EYCEJ) has shown what a community group can accomplish.
EYCEJ, in partnership with the City of Commerce, California, and state agencies has worked to solve a dangerous problem – heavy duty trucks idling in and near freight corridors throughout the city.
This idling adds to the already large pollution load imposed on residents of Commerce by the tens of thousands of diesel trucks that travel through the heart of the city every day on the I-710 freeway, exposing them to high levels of diesel exhaust.
Diesel exhaust is a known carcinogen, and medical researchers have linked it to many medical problems, including anxiety, asthma, autism, birth defects, brain damage, congestive heart failure, decreased intelligence and poor lung development in children, dementia, heart attacks, hyperactivity, preterm birth and low birth weight, premature death, respiratory disease, strokes, and suicide.
Through the Truck Truthing project, EYCEJ members conducted grassroots community research to identify and map truck idling “hot spots.” Fifteen youth members conducted two data collection field surveys. EYCEJ members and staff presented the findings to the City of Commerce.
The City of Commerce reacted positively, and with the support of the California Air Resources Board, unveiled No Idling Signs to be put up at the hot spots.
To learn more about this innovative project and valuable outcome, read Unveiling of No Idling Signs in City of Commerce on the EYCEJ blog.