Within the past few days, tens of thousands of residents in Garden Grove and neighboring cities have had to frantically evacuate their homes due to a chemical crisis at GKN Aerospace. This environmental disaster poses significant harm to the homes, health, and well-being of evacuees. Importantly, it also calls into question the historically unjust detriments against working-class communities of color who live and work in these unsafe, affected areas.
Garden Grove is home to predominantly Vietnamese and Latinx families, most of whom are working-class immigrants and refugees. From Little Saigon to Koreatown, these residents are the heart and soul of the city, and yet, they live in a “sacrifice zone” and chemically polluted “hot spot” plagued by environmental racism. These “fenceline communities” comprise people of color and low-income households with limited English proficiency (LEP) who live and work in areas with high environmental pollution. These zones are described as being economically and politically expendable, and are shaped by broader histories of housing discrimination, redlining, and predatory lending. Unfair housing practices may shape industrial zoning patterns near Garden Grove’s most underserved areas, while land-use and infrastructural decisions may contribute to sustained risk of toxin exposure. This is more than environmental injustice; it is a pressing public health and city planning concern.
Garden Grove has nine census tracts that consist of disadvantaged communities at risk for public health hazards (Figure 1).
These households predominantly make up individuals who “experience low income, high unemployment, low levels of homeownership, high-rent burden and/or low levels of educational attainment.” In comparison to more affluent cities in Orange County, Garden Grove residents may live in overcrowded, older, or lower-quality housing conditions that increase susceptibility to pollution burden (Figure 2).
Prevailing social inequality greatly exacerbates environmental inequality and adverse health effects for these vulnerable populations (Figure 3). Pollution burden in Garden Grove is most associated with contaminated sites, industrial uses, solid waste facilities, hazardous waste generation, and emissions from proximity to freeways and truck routes. Where you live matters; residing in or near these poor-quality, low-income census tracts makes an individual all the more vulnerable to environmental and industrial hazards, such as this chemical crisis.
As hotel prices in the area remain especially high during the holiday weekend, and community centers have limited capacity, many evacuees, particularly those who are disabled, elderly, or emancipated foster youth, are left without the resources to safely leave their homes. Exposure to methyl methacrylate (MMA) toxins can result in serious respiratory harm and irritation; a few residents have also noted experiencing adverse health symptoms attributable to recent exposure events. Alongside this, there is much anxiety and uncertainty around how long this state of emergency will last, how the MMA exposure will be handled, and the extent to which this affects long-term air quality and physical health, especially for those most vulnerable…