When citizens are affected by pollution, the longstanding city and state systems where they may lodge complaints are often ineffective. And the processes by which those complaints are then investigated can also be inefficient and fruitless. That futility is made sharper still for people on the margins of society -- recent immigrants or those in poverty.

Traditionally, various city agencies wait for specific pollution complaints from residents. If enough complaints come in, one of many agencies -- from sanitation departments to water works -- will show up for an inspection. Different groups often pursue their own inspection and enforcement schedules, sometimes overlapping and sometimes rendering their work redundant. And follow-up, from continued inspections to criminal prosecution, can be inconsistent. For a city and many of its businesses, the excess bureaucracy and uncertainty becomes costly. Meanwhile, many more polluters continue their dangerous practices unchecked.

In Los Angeles, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo has taken creative steps to change that debilitating equation. Last year, his office created Los Angeles' Environmental Justice Enforcement and Compliance Team (EJECT), a new effort that aims to combat serious environmental crimes that plague some of Los Angeles' most disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Los Angeles' EJECT borrows its structure from the Neighborhood Prosecutor Program, Delgadillo's ongoing effort to bring the city's prosecutors and police department together with neighborhood groups to improve public safety and quality of life. Community prosecution works proactively, not only responding to crimes, but also preventing them from occuring. The initiative has proven successful in cities across the nation, and recently Los Angeles has recently honed it to specifically target the growing gang epidemic.

Delgadillo's new EJECT project targets the growing crisis of rampant urban industrial pollution by combining inspections, criminal prosecution, civil litigation, and most importantly, constant community input. Establishing a new model, EJECT is the first of its kind for any municipal law-enforcement agency.

And Los Angeles, the nation's second most populous city, has been an appropriate place to lay that foundation. Large portions of the city are highly industrial, and many are seeing new, quickly growing residential populations arise in their midst. Wilmington, a neighborhood near the city's port, has acre after acre of oil refineries; Sun Valley features many auto dismantlers and landfills; South L.A. has chrome plating facilities; and MacArthur Park is known for its large-scale dry cleaners. Among many safe businesses are a handful of egregious polluters.

Under the umbrella of Delgadillo's EJECT program, a team of experts from almost 30 different federal, state, county, and municipal agencies works closely with community members to identify and address specific concerns. The team then carries out a single, complete inspection of the suspected polluter, using a "multi-media" approach by considering water, air, earth, and all other possible sites of pollution at once. After gathering the appropriate information, the team decides what, if any, its next action ought to be -- such as further inspections, civil litigation, or criminal prosecution. Often, the coordinated inspection inspires immediate, straightforward compliance. The pollution stops, further action is unnecessary, and Delgadillo's office counts another victory.

For Delgadillo, the program is grounded in a desire to both serve the needs of Los Angeles' residents and make it possible for clean businesses to coexist with those residents. The streamlined approach makes enforcement more effective and benefits businesses through its less interruptive, all-in-one inspection approach.

In just one year, EJECT has collected $1.2 million in direct fines and penalties, civil awards, and recouped investigative costs. And officials recently halted the dangerous activities of a carelessly polluting chrome plating facility whose property abutted a Los Angeles childcare facility; numerous counts of criminal misdemeanors are pending. Moreover, efforts are underway to launch a citywide initiative that will work to inform childcare facilities about environmental hazards from radon to lead poisoning. Its collaborative and comprehensive approach will seek to both highlight possible risks and protect kids while away from home.

"The environmental justice project takes full advantage of limited resources to benefit the underserved neighborhoods of Los Angeles," Delgadillo said. "The synergy produced by multiple agencies working together will allow us to provide more service at less cost."

Resources For Action

Office of the City Attorney, Safe Neighborhoods Programs
www.lacity.org/atty/atycb1b.htm

City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo Launches Environmental Justice Project, Office of the City Attorney, April 1, 2004
www.lacity.org/atty/attypress/attyattypress6918623_04012004.pdf

Additional Reading

"New Dem of the Week: Rocky Delgadillo," Democratic Leadership Council, June 7, 2004
www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=252689&kaid=104&subid=117

"A Conversation with Rocky Delgadillo on Community Prosecution," Blueprint, March 25, 2002
www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=250298&kaid=106&subid=122