National City will decide tonight on a measure that would allow the city to kick out polluting businesses from a residential neighborhood. KPBS Radio's Andrew Phelps has more
In National City's "Old Town," not far from the Mile of Cars, low-income families live next door to noisy auto shops. That would change under an ordinance that forces dirty businesses to clean up or get out. An Environmental Health Coalition study says the asthma rate among this neighborhood's children is twice the state's average. EHC spokesman Tony LoPresti says industry is taking advantage of its neighbors.
LoPresti: "These toxics are really located in the lowest-income neighborhood and the most politically disenfranchised neighborhood in the city. And that's by design. What we call that is environmental injustice."
The ordinance calls for business evictions to be decided case-by-case. Companies would get financial help relocating. For KPBS, I'm Andrew Phelps.
