MEDIA ADVISORY: Contact: Angela Johnson Meszaros

October 27, 2004 (323) 341-5868 or angelajm@EnviroRights.org


Shabaka Heru


(310) 527-7832 or Raheru@worldnet.att.net



Hearing Set on Proposed Air Pollution Permit

· Community Demands Protection for School Children ·

WHO: South Coast Air Quality Management District

WHAT: Hearing on proposed air pollution permit.

WHERE: Banneker Special Education Center Auditorium

14024 S. San Pedro St., Los Angeles, CA 90061

WHEN: Saturday, November 6, 2004, 10 am – 1 pm

After issuing more than 575 “Title V” permits to the most polluting facilities in the region, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) will hold its first formal hearing on a proposed Title V air pollution permit. A coalition of community members, environmental justice advocates, and parents and teachers from nearby schools will testify in opposition to a proposal to grant an air pollution permit to Falcon Foam, a major source of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions with a history of regulatory violations. Falcon Foam is located in an unincorporated area of South Central Los Angeles directly adjacent to residences and a school for special education students. People of color represent 98.7% of the residents within 1 mile of the facility, according to the U.S. Census.

AQMD lists Falcon Foam as the 58th largest source of VOC emissions in the South Coast Air Basin for 1997, the most recent ranking of facilities made publicly available. AQMD is responsible for more than 25,000 air pollution permits.

“Title V” refers to the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments requiring the consolidation of many permits into a single permit for major sources of air pollution. Community members can use the Title V process to force regulators to correct mistakes in permits and create monitoring requirements that ensure compliance with permit conditions. (For more information about the AQMD Title V program, see www.aqmd.gov/titlev/WhatIsTV.html.)

Community Coalition for Change, a grassroots environmental justice organization based in

South Central Los Angeles, and the California Environmental Rights Alliance are working together to secure relief for community members, students, teachers, and school administrators adversely impacted by Falcon Foam. The California Environmental Rights Alliance is a public interest organization dedicated to achieving environmental justice and improving community health in California.

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