Right of Way

Case 2: Noise & Air Quality

Sound and air pollution are important and pervasive issues in stereotypically noisy and smog-filled Los Angeles. Myriad studies have demonstrated that low-income communities of color are disproportionately exposed to airborne pollutants in the city's valleys and inland areas to the east and south from a combination of siting decisions for power plants, factories, highways, and oil refineries; the city's mountainous geography; wind patterns; and more. These pollutants bring an increased risk of cancer, asthma, and other health problems to residents.

The main causes of excessive noise in Los Angeles are industrial machinery, construction, ground transportation, and aircraft. Studies have shown that exposure to high noise levels may result in cardiovascular disease and hypertension, reproductive complications, sleep problems, mental health issues, and hearing loss, especially in children. Poor city planning that allows industrial buildings to be built in close proximity to residential areas, schools, and parks may have a greater impact on marginalized communities in part because low rent and property costs attract manufacturers and commercial investors.

On display in this case are environmental impact summaries, reports outlining testing and analysis of air and noise pollutants, and proposed goals and policies to prevent or counteract negative effects. Also displayed are correspondence and photographs documenting opposition to the expansion of Van Nuys Airport and resulting increase in noise, documentation of city and state governments implementing environmental quality guidelines and alert standards for measuring air pollution, and records showing the success of local activists in preventing construction of chemical and waste plants in their neighborhoods.

Case 3, Parks, is the tall case that's closest to the Gohstand Reading Room.

• 1

  Environmental Impact Statement Summary: Simi Valley - San Fernando Valley Freeway, Route 118, 1974HE 336 E94 C35 1974

• 2

  "Noise Element: Proposed Element Draft Environmental Impact Report," 1974Los Angeles City Planning Commission Collection

• 3

  Photo, Hathaway Building, Van Nuys Airport, 1966Albert Zoraster Collection

• 4

  Flyer, "The BIG JETS Are Coming to VAN NUYS Unless YOU ACT NOW!!!" circa 1968Albert Zoraster Collection

• 5

  Ricardo Gutiérrez, "Environmental Justice Within Latino Communities...Case Study Questionnaire"Juana Beatriz Gutiérrez Mothers of East Los Angeles (MELA) Collection

• 6

  Memo re. "Contamination in LAUSD Portable Classrooms," June 30, 1999Tom Hayden Belmont Learning Complex Investigation Collection

• 7

  Letter to Mr. Harper, Executive Secretary, California Pollution Control, March 22, 1989Mary Santolini Pardo Collection

• 8

  Form letter, Californians Against Smog, Inc., November 3, 1971Dorothy Boberg Collection

• 9

  "Air Pollution—Environmental Quality Study," January 1971League of Women Voters of Los Angeles Collection

• 10

  Map and newsletter regarding Chem Clear, 1988Mary Santolini Pardo Collection

• 11

  "Air Pollution Control District-County of Los Angeles: The Alert System"League of Women Voters of Los Angeles Collection

• 12

  National Wildlife Federation, 1971 EQ IndexDorothy Boberg Collection

• 13

  City of Los Angeles, Noise Element, 1975Santa Susana Mountain Park Association Collection