Barrio Logan Case Study: Modern Environmental Injustice ^†

Abstract

Barrio Logan is a Mexican American community in San Diego in which industrial companies and residences share a space enclosed by a bay and an interstate. Ever since WWII, the Barrio Logan community has faced environmental injustice. There is a gap in Barrio Logan’s ability to self-monitor, so business models were developed to bring forth citizen science projects based on data collected from government environmental studies, the nurse’s office at Barrio Logan’s Perkins K-8 School, and interviews with Perkins K-8 School’s principal and the director and staff at the Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center. It was found that children in Barrio Logan are experiencing a health crisis. Homelessness, single-parent households, unemployment, gentrification, low-wage jobs, continuous diesel particulate matter exposure, and high levels of asthma can be found in Barrio Logan. There is a lack of easily accessible, community-wide health programs that address ACEs and a lack of air pollution monitoring.

1. Introduction

Barrio Logan is a unique community where industrial companies and residents (renters and homeowners) coexist in an area that is enclosed by a bay and an interstate. Around 1910, Mexican refugees from the Mexican Revolution relocated to the residences in the southern part of Logan Heights, which is now called Barrio Logan. The Barrio Logan community lost its waterfront as the Naval Base expanded during World War II. In 1944, the National Iron Works, now NASSCO, moved its shipbuilding facility to Barrio Logan’s waterfront [1]. In the 1950s, other ship building companies, small factories, and junk yards moved into the Barrio Logan community as part of the City of San Diego’s plan to move the residents out and convert what is now Barrio Logan into an industrial zone through new zoning laws [2]. The Barrio Logan community used to be part of the Logan Heights community before the construction of Interstate 5 in 1963, permanently split off Barrio Logan into its own community. The construction of the Coronado Bridge added tensions in 1969, when the community peacefully protested the city not going through with a community park. The next significant event for Barrio Logan was the agreement on the 1978 Barrio Logan Community Plan. The 1978 Barrio Logan Community Plan provided zoning guidelines, so that industrial zones could be developed without disrupting the already established residences and businesses. As technology and times changed, the 1978 Community Plan did not accommodate or change accordingly. By 1979, there were only about 5000 residents left in Barrio Logan from what used to be the second-largest Mexican American community in California of about 20,000 residents [2].

Organizations in Barrio Logan consisting of community members and local residents, such as the Barrio Logan Community Planning Group and the Environmental Health Coalition (EHC), have teamed up in order to raise awareness on the air pollution found in Barrio Logan. The Barrio Logan Community Action Team (CAT), the EHC, and the Barrio Logan Community Planning Group collaborated with the shipyard industry and other stakeholders in order to update the 1978 Community Plan with a 2013 Barrio Logan Community Plan Update. Even though the 2013 plan was voted against, the same organizations met again and agreed on what would become the 2020 Barrio Logan Community Plan. Although this new update will redefine zoning in Barrio Logan and will protect the residents already living in Barrio Logan, there is no mitigation for the air pollution in the area.

According to a 2014 report by California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), Barrio Logan has higher amounts of diesel particulate matter than 80 percent of Californian cities [3]. Furthermore, the same report stated that Barrio Logan’s rate of asthma-related hospital visits was higher than 92.9% of all of California. The purpose of this case study on Barrio Logan is to increase awareness of the health programs and alternative projects that are available to current Barrio Logan residents. The case study will discuss the severity of the diesel pollution, the costs of respiratory-related treatments, and the impact on children’s health due to air pollution.

2. Findings

2.1. Nurse’s Office at Perkins K-8 School

Perkins K-8 School is situated on Beardsley St. in Barrio Logan, approximately at the border between the industrial and protected sections. Paulette Deyo Stohlmann, the nurse at Perkins K-8, mentioned that Perkins currently has 32 students that are diagnosed with asthma out of around 400 total students, 14 of which have PRN inhalers prescribed at school. There were 19 uses of the inhalers in the 2022/2023 school year, and 107 health office visits for headaches in this school year as well. Paulette provided the contact info of Karen Tinker, an operations specialist in the San Diego Unified School District, in order to collect historical data on nurse office visits due to respiratory causes at Perkins. Figure 1 represents the data collected from July 2018 to April 2023 (a span of 5 years).

Figure 1 shows that the pattern was stagnant for respiratory cases before the pandemic and that the pattern is increasing for respiratory cases after the pandemic. It would be worth comparing air pollution levels during these peaks with the schedules of the industrial companies in Barrio Logan to look for any heavy activity during these months. It is critical to determine if these same students are being treated outside of school, and if the students’ health is affected on the days that they are not in school, such as when the students are on summer break and increase their outside air exposure.

2.2. Perkins K-8 School

Perkins K-8 School has adapted to the new educational environment that derived from the COVID-19 pandemic. Perkins places a large focus on their students’ academic success, and an even larger focus on their health. Student homelessness rose from 3% in 2014 to 40% in 2019. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic caused families to lose their wages because of the lack of jobs. Principal Hernandez worked with faculty and administration in order to develop a culture change to provide their students with the health support that they need. This involved developing a garden inside the school that the students maintain and adopting a culture that increased awareness on the subject of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). A high ACE score implies an increased risk of lung and heart disease and shortens life expectancy by an average of 20 years. Increasing a students’ academic focus is a secondary benefit from making sure that a student is healthy when it comes to both their physical and mental states.

2.3. Logan Heights Family Health Center

There were no pamphlets or information on what families can do for their children at the Logan Heights Family Health Center in Barrio Logan, which is also near Perkins. This location would become a great target spot to disseminate awareness on air pollution effects and to reach target segments.

2.4. Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center

The Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center (CPMCC) places an emphasis on both history and activism. Ashley Gonzalez, an intern at the EHC and a volunteer at the CPMCC, mentioned that there is much work to do when it comes to Assembly Bill (AB) 617, which is a bill that the Community Air Protection Program (CAPP) is focusing on to reduce the exposure and impact of air pollution in disadvantaged communities through strategies that aim to measure air quality and reduce local air pollution. Both Audrey Jakubowski, a CPMCC employee, and Alberto Pulido, the vice chairperson at the CCMCC, mentioned that there are no health services in Barrio Logan, especially when it comes to regular health checkups and outreach. Currently, there is a proposal to utilize a bus to provide educational and health check-ups as a mobile means of reaching the residents who do not have the means or the financial support to get checked. For the CPMCC, their biggest need due to their lack of manpower is a project that counts and tracks semi-trucks that pass every day through Barrio Logan without using the proposed routes specified by the EHC and the City of San Diego. Councilmember Vivian Moreno requested the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) to cite these drivers as of 2018.

3. Discussion

3.1. Poverty and Diversity

Based on census tract number 50, it can be noticed that it is primarily Hispanic or Latino families that are struggling financially (Figure 2 and Figure 3). The average annual asthma treatment in the United States costs about USD 3266, which would translate to about 10% of a family’s annual salary in Barrio Logan [4]. Latino families are being left behind.

3.2. Children in Barrio Logan and ACEs

ACEs are deeply correlated with higher chances of developing life-threatening diseases. When Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 6 and Figure 7 are taken into consideration, one will realize that the administration and faculty staff at Perkins K-8 School caught wind of the detrimental effects of ACEs in their students’ futures. In order to continue reducing the asthma levels in Hispanic and Latino children in Barrio Logan, programs will also need to consider providing care for those currently developing ACEs.

3.3. Asthma in Children in Barrio Logan

Barrio Logan is a predominantly Hispanic and Latino community that has low wages, has large amounts of homelessness and single-parent households, has been exposed to high levels of diesel particulate matter, and has a population of children that can accredit the above to their high ACE scores. Figure 8, Figure 9, Figure 10 and Figure 11 were created from the CalEnviroScreen data that were released by OEHHA in 2018 and 2021. The Barrio Logan area is higher for asthma rates than all the zip codes that surround it, and is in the top 10% in California.

3.4. Business Model Connections and Logical Frameworks for Sustainability in Barrio Logan

The dashboard and pamphlets that will derive from the work of this case study will contain data on ACE awareness and respiratory disease awareness. The idea of using a bus as a mobile health clinic would be a perfect channel to reach out to Barrio Logan residents. Both Perkins and the CPMCC are looking for support and collaboration as they look for methods to raise awareness and ameliorate the living conditions in Barrio Logan.

Two other projects that the CPMCC and Perkins could get involved in are the air quality portable monitor project and the semi-truck detection system. The air quality portable monitor project would incorporate the use of citizen science to gather data on diesel particulate matter levels across Barrio Logan. These monitors could be distributed to the families at Perkins and at the CPMCC, along with a sheet that explains how to set the equipment up. The semi-truck detection system would involve adding smart camera systems that detect when semi-trucks leave designated truck routes and store photos of their license plates in a database. This system would be powered by small PV panels, and the required cloud space and equipment would be paid for through grants that the CPMCC would be applying to, such as those available in the AB 617. The vertical biofilter wall program would be a recommended option that could be implemented in the Barrio Logan community as an extension to the EHC’s air monitor and purifier program. For example, the Portside Air Quality and Relief (PAIR) program could be adopted. These projects will help San Diego take steps toward meeting its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) #3, #9, #11, and #13. The case study’s logical frameworks for all three dimensions of sustainability can be seen in Figure 12, Figure 13 and Figure 14.

4. Conclusions

The effects of air pollution are everlasting; thus, air pollution should not be accepted as another aspect of the daily life of the Barrio Logan community. This is an environmental injustice that has caused organizations to collaborate with the Barrio Logan community in order to take action. Through this Barrio Logan case study, it was found that children in Barrio Logan are having a health crisis that needs to be addressed as soon as possible. Homelessness, single-parent households, unemployment, gentrification, low-wage jobs, continuous diesel particulate matter exposure, and high levels of asthma can be found in Barrio Logan. A limitation to this Barrio Logan case study was not being able to obtain data from Logan Heights Family Health Center. The case study was not able to observe if the asthma cases reported by Logan Heights Family Health Center include the families from Perkins K-8 School. It would be insightful to observe the number of students and children at Barrio Logan that are affected when school is not in session. Also, time was a limitation since the case study was a semester-long project. Information and policy are essential for citizens in disadvantaged communities.