Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Map: 169 L.A. Preschools Too Close To Freeway Pollution
Image via biofriendly/Flickr
()
There are 169 early childhood education centers in Los Angeles that are dangerously close to busy freeways, potentially exposing thousands of small children to pollution, a KPCC investigation has found.
Using state traffic and child care center data sets, KPCC mapped early childhood education facilities within 500 feet of highly trafficked freeways. A 2003 state law prohibited new elementary and secondary schools from being built within that buffer zone.
Because many early childhood education centers in L.A. are located at Head Starts, nonprofits and individual homes instead of schools, they do not fall within the purview of the law and continue to operate within that 500-foot buffer zone, a distance deemed far enough to partially protect young children from vehicle exhaust.
Support for LAist comes from
Several studies have found that young children's exposure to particulate matter from vehicles can lead to brain tissue abnormalities, asthma and autism. Furthermore, a study cited in the 2003 law itself asserts children of color and those from low-income homes were three times more likely than white children to be exposed to dangerous vehicle emissions.
Ironically, some of those who have opposed requiring smaller agencies to abide by the 500-foot rule have been the early education advocates themselves. Moving would be the most obvious solution for the child care centers, but according to KPCC, the cost of doing so is hindrance for many of agencies who say they would instead have to close some centers or stop opening others in an already crowded preschool system. Were they able to move, the high cost of property in Los Angeles adds another barrier to relocation. Cost is also the issue with expensive air filtration systems, another possible solution.
Some groups advocating on behalf heavily trafficked communities, such as those along the 710 Fwy. corridor, have proposed diesel truck bans and the move to zero-emission vehicles to local and state government.
As State Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon told KPCC, however, "In terms of getting the votes, Sacramento is a very complicated place… but I think having the conversations starts that dialogue and then you start to figure out what is possible."
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist