Stringfellow Acid Pits is located in Jurupa Valley, California. The toxicity of this site specifically affected the area of Glen Avon - a census designated place located west of Riverside, California.
Lets Talk a Little More About Demographics.
Demographics are important to get a familiar idea of an area, but they are also important to understand who the people in a community are. The Glen Avon community is a low income, mostly hispanic, and blue-collard job holders. A little over half the population has a high school diploma or higher. These factors contribute the the vulnerability of a community. A community is vulnerable to injustices done to them when they are under resourced (Ex. low income, and low education levels). It is not to say that is weak; that is not the case. This community (like many others) is very hard working, and typically will not have the time to attend court meetings regarding the wrong doings in their neighborhood. Their pleas are often ignored when they do speak up on an issue, or they are obstructed by procedure injustice.
​
Procedure Equity
Procedure Equity is equitable governing rules, regulations, evaluation criteria, and enforcement are applied uniformly across the board and in a nondiscriminatory way. Unequal protection might result from nonscientific and undemocratic decisions, exclusionary practices, public hearings held in remote locations and at inconvenient times, and use of English-only material as the language to communicate and conduct hearings for non-English speaking publics.
The Community Effected
Community Action
In 1969 when heavy rains caused an overflow of the carcinogens the runoff of the toxic mix invaded communities, and public schools. Offcials failed in informing the community of the toxic chemicals in the water, so school children were exposed to these chemicals on their way to school. When mothers noticed the children's disintegrating clothing (as a result of the direct contact with the foaming water) they knew something was not right. This spurred community action.
​
Concerned mothers of the community of Glen Avon united efforts to form the a community organization Concerned Neighbors in Action(CNA) -- the precursor to Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice (CCAEJ).
CNA’s mission coincides with the goals of CCAEJ today -- to bring together community and the environment to improve our social environment. They operate at a local level: Westside San Bernardino, and Jurupa Valley. They use legal and political organizing methods. Penny Newman founded CCAEJ. Newman is also the Executive Director, and has been active in environmental justice issues for more than 39 years and lives in the small community of Glen Avon, in the fairly new City of Jurupa Valley. Newman, and CNA were heavily involved in the Stringfellow Acid Pits case, and the long pursue of justice.
.png)
Who was involved?
The stakeholders involved in the Stringfellow Acid Pits case include the surrounding community(Glen Avon, Jurupa Valley), James Stringfellow (the owner of the pits), the companies responsible for dumping, Riverside County and the State of California.