No Vernon Power Plant

The organization I am currently interning with, East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, had a major campaign victory this past month.  EYCEJ and our coalition partners such as Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) had been working since 2006 to combat the City of Vernon's proposal for a new 943-megawatt power plant.  According Vernon's own studies that power plant would have been directly responsible for at least 11 deaths every year and thousands of tons of fine soot particles linked to cancer, heart disease and other illnesses would be emitted into the air.  Independent studies projected the yearly death-rate as high as 25 people.  In addition to the environmental and health impacts of the proposed power plant project, the emissions would exacerbate cumulative impacts that are already extremely dangerous.  No studies of the proposed plant accounted for cumulative impacts but emissions levels in the region are already severe and additional toxic emissions can not be tolerated.  Although Vernon is almost entirely industrial, it is adjacent to residential neighborhoods in Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles, Huntington Park, Maywood and Commerce.  Furthermore, the power plant would have been located within a mile from many sensitive receptors.  It was a difficult campaign because Vernon is exclusively Industrial so the biggest obstacle for organizing was figuring out how to apply pressure to a city that had no residents and has no legal obligation to its neighboring communities.  The community organizations ultimately won the battle in large part because they successfully mobilized residents from all five of the surrounding communities and lobbied the South Coast Air Quality Management District, an offshoot of CARB who has jurisdiction throughout Southern California, to shutdown the proposal based on the proposed plant's own emissions levels and the exacerbation of cumulative impacts.  Environmental activists, community members, religious groups, community organizations such as EYCEJ and CBE marched in victory through the streets of Vernon to the Vernon City Hall.  A rally was held outside the City Hall as many of its employees were leaving work and had to walk through the rally.  We shouted "Shame on you!" and other rallying cries as we let Vernon know that we weren't going to take any more pollution from them.  The rally was not only a victory rally; however, because Vernon has plans to submit a new proposal for a smaller 330 megawatt plant that will still kill five people a year from toxic emissions.  Therefore, the rally had the dual effect of celebrating our victory and showing Vernon that we aren't going away and will fight their next proposal.