In short, all the stakeholders besides the community of Glen Avon.
The state of California failed to enforce environmental regulations, and even when environmental regulations were in place the people in power cared more about reputations than they did about the cleanup of an extremely toxic place.
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The polluters failed to withhold their social responsibility, and the county of Riverside failed to enforce environmental safety at a local scale.
How Did This Even Happen?
The Process:
The Environmental Injustice took place because of the irresponsible and unethical management of the Stringfellow Acid Pits. Even when giving the polluters the benefit of the doubt that they did not know that the toxic chemicals would ever flow out of the canyon and into neighborhoods, the management of this location was not the smartest.
The canyon was never labelled as dangerous, and the officials responsible for management of the canyon did not inform communities to stay away from the chemicals leaking from the canyon. The Stringfellow Acid Pits are not expected to be clean of toxins until another 420 years. There was obvious social, procedural and geographical inequities that took place; causing the exposure of a vulnerable community to hazardous waste for years, and years to come.
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Furthermore, the legal process was a long, and draining one for the community. They received monetary compensation, after a process that felt like pulling teeth. (Can we be honest? $43,000 was the highest compensation. That is 1 car for years of health complications to come.)