The California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) wants to dramatically expand the 18 mile stretch of the I-710 freeway that runs from the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles to East Los Angeles, through mostly urban, low-income, minority neighborhoods. Due to very questionable projections from the Ports that, despite being in the worst economic climate since the 1930s they expect their cargo growth to more than double by 2030 from current levels, the PTB (powers that be) are considering expanding the I-710 by as many as 14 lanes.

Last week, NRDC staff members Adriano Martinez, Morgan Wyenn, Sherry Goldberg, Linda Escalante and I joined forces with members from Communities for a Better Environment, East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, Long Beach Alliance for Children, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and concerned community members along the I-710 corridor to convince the I-710 EIR/EIS Project Committee to develop tougher environmental protocols to measure the health impacts of the freeway expansion.  The Project Committee is made up of mainly elected officials in the I-710 corridor, and it is charged with providing direction on policy to the agencies that want to build the additional lanes of highway.

Concerned activists and experts spoke to the Project Committee of the health risks associated with the current I-710. There are numerous schools and day care facilities less than ¼ of a mile from the I-710.  The 1.6 million residents along the I-710 Corridor are disproportionately impacted by local sources of pollution and as a result have higher coronary heart disease, emphysema and diabetes mortality rates compared to LA County.  Mothers who live close to freeway traffic during pregnancy have more premature and low birth weight babies than the general population. The speakers implored the Project Committee to use scientifically- based standards in the environmental impact reports and studies in order to gauge the magnitude of the negative health impacts associated with the freeway expansion. Only by doing this can real mitigation measures be examined and health risks minimized. The Project Committee tabled three of the four proposed recommendations but did agree to use the significant thresholds used by the district's air quality board (SCAQMD, South Coast Air Quality Management District) to assess the health impacts of their projects. Even this victory is a very modest one because the usual SCAQMD significance thresholds may inadequately protect residents near highways and do not account for the cumulative impact of pollution, furthering harming communities that are already subjected to the highest cancer risk in the Southern California area.

Last week's meeting highlighted the need for constant community involvement in decision making. I left with the impression that some Project Committee members still need to be convinced that there are negative health impacts for people who live near freeways despite substantial scientific evidence. I suppose people still question whether cigarettes cause cancer and whether climate change is real.  It is just really frustrating when their neighbors, constituents, and friends are impacted by this highway pollution.  How many more asthma attacks and premature deaths from this pollution do we need to suffer before these people pull their heads out of the sand?