[Music Plays]

Jason Blumenfeld, US EPA:
This is a community that deserves a lot of attention but hasn't received it to date.   Environmental Justice is underserved communities.  Underserved in that planning decisions really should be made so that people aren't living next door to facilities that cause problems for human health and the environment.

[Music Plays]

Alejandra Sotelo-Solis, Vice Mayor, National City:
I remember being an elementary school student at Kimbell elementary school, and we had a business that caught fire.  And there was a plume of toxic smoke coming towards the school.  And I remember the school saying "Ok, let's pack up and let's go."

[Music Plays]

Narrator:
For decades, National City's Westside neighborhood suffered from a pattern of development that has diminished the quality of life for residents.  The Westside changed over time from a primarily residential neighborhood into an unhealthy mix of industries and homes. 

Georgette Gomez, Environmental Health Coalition:
Right now what we have is light industrial mixed with community, in front of a school and it's not really a healthy way of developing a community. So that really is—addressing the compatible land uses is the number one thing that people want.  

Narrator:
In recent years, community members, community-based organizations, and City Council members have made the renewal and revitalization of the Westside neighborhood a top priority.

Diane Takvorian, Environmental Health Coalition:
The specific plan [was to rezone], so that industrial and residential uses are not side-by-side any longer. Those industrial uses really need to be relocated, and the Environmental Health Coalition is committed to finding help for those businesses to do that relocation.

Narrator:
The guiding principles of the Westside-specific plan call for planning that preserves and enhances the residential characteristics of the area.

Jose Medina, Westside Resident:
Even with all of the pollution that has been affecting us, we kept our culture here.  And we have people living here who are 3rd, 4th generation old town residents living with people who just left roots here.  I've lived here all my life, and I've gotten to know all the different stories of all the families who have lived here. Gone to the same schools. Gone to parties. Inviting each other for hot chocolate, knowing what the news is.  And this is something that we feel is worth preserving and that could come back again.

[Music Plays]

Narrator:
As a catalyst for change in the Westside neighborhood, a 14-acre public works yard is being transformed into a significant neighborhood asset.  To assist the community in developing the property, National City received a multi-agency grant to develop and implement a sustainability plan and financial strategy for addressing brownfields—with a focus on affordable housing, green building, energy efficiency, and transit-oriented development.

Ron Morrison, Mayor, National City, CA
Well, you know, the great thing is, is that this is a partnership.  And so we get to have great partners such as the EPA; the Environmental Protection Agency has come in and has one program after another; they've seen this as a good pilot project in a number of areas, and so, helping us to put the input—and also the expertise and everything else to make these things happen. 

Mathy Stanislaus, Assistant Administrator, US EPA
Sustainability can only happen when you integrate environmental justice.  I mean, in a community that has been overburdened for so many years, in how you transform their neighborhood; and then make them sustainable, and to enable those residents to stay and live in a healthy environment.

Georgette Gomez, Environmental Health Coalition:
Just making this a health community that people can live, play and work in. That's what they want.

[End of video]