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TSDF Sites
TSDF Sites
A brief history of TSDF Sites...
A brief history of TSDF Sites...
Los Angeles suffers from an alarming amount of pollution caused by industrial waste sites and factories. [1]
According to a study done on the TSDF's or Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities in Los Angeles County in 1997, large TSDFs (processing <50 tons of waste in 1993) were primarily located just south of downtown Los Angeles.
The rest of the sites were spread out throughout southern and West-Central Los Angeles County.
Figure 8: TSDF's and Mean Per Capita Income, Los Angeles County 1990
Figure 8 shows the breakdown of all 82 TSDF sites and that most are located in low-income areas and near major highways of the county. A large cluster of sites is overlaid on areas with <$11,000 of mean per capita income per tract [2].
Historically, during the construction of the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s, highways such as the 10 freeway split the affluent northern parts of the Los Angeles basin from some of the economically struggling Black areas of South Los Angeles. This affected thriving Black communities, including the Pico neighborhood in Santa Monica and the Sugar Hill area in West Adams [3].
Figure 9 (top left), 10 (bottom left), 11 (right). Locations of TSDF sites in LA County from a study conducted by a group of scientists from UCSD, Occidental College, and UNC Chapel Hill in 2001 [18].
Figures 19, 20, and 21 show the general location of TSDF sites in LA County in 1993, TSDF sites with median household incomes, and TSDF sites with the presence of minority residents. It is obvious in each figure that these TSDF sites are located in mostly areas of low income (>$29,280) and a high percentage of minority residents (<78.1%). “Minority neighborhoods host a disproportionate share of the environmental hazards and toxins produced by an industrialized society” [3]. Therefore, they must bear the brunt of resulting health problems such as asthma and lung cancer. It is known that pre-existing respiratory conditions increase the risk of contracting and dying from COVID-19.
COVID-19 has revealed the truth and depth of pre-existing environmental racism and racial inequalities in places such as Los Angeles County and has made these issues more visible.
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