These Black Los Angeles Residents May Soon Receive Environmental Reparations
This story was originally published by Capital B and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. As a child in the 1950s and ’60s, Regina Martin became so used to the oil pumpjacks near her home that she assumed every child lived beside them. Everyone was made “sick to [their] tummy” by the sulfurous, rotten-egg smell that […]
Residents of Black neighborhoods in Los Angeles could soon receive environmental reparations in the form of direct cash aid, according to a new California state law. The legislation, AB 1661, would allocate $5 million collected from penalized oil wells in Inglewood to provide up to $5,000 for 1,000 nearby households with respiratory or reproductive health impacts.
The money would come from the state’s community repair and reinvestment fund for people living nearest to the oil field. This marks a significant step in acknowledging the disproportionate impact of pollution on Black communities, which have historically lived in proximity to oil wells and drilling sites. The oil field in Inglewood, one of the largest in the nation, has been a source of pollution linked to numerous health issues, including birth complications, child development problems, respiratory illnesses, and cancer.
Assemblymember Isaac G. Bryan, who introduced the bill, argues that the company has been profiting from the community without investing in it, and that the residents are due this much-needed repair. The cash-assistance program is seen as a pilot that could determine whether direct payments are the form of repair residents prefer.
If successful, it could serve as a model for addressing environmental harms in other communities across the country.
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