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The case originates in Pacoima California where a small subsection of the community was both concerned and aware that many of the houses in the low income, largely latino neighborhoods, contained lead paints, given many of the houses were constructed before the 1950’s. The Environmental Justice group, Pacomia Beautiful is a Nonprofit environmental organization, focused on community health. PB runs three programs in LA; community inspectors program (identification of hazards sources and simple solution generators), a Youth Environmentalist Program (assists youth to participate in projects to improve environment), and a Safer Home for a Healthy Community Program (Helps residents create healthy homes). In 1999 the group approached the public health lead hazard in multiple ways. They first assessed community knowledge through a pilot project working in tandem with CSUN (Cal State University, Northridge). They educated the community through trained volunteers called promotoras, who went door to door providing resources for lead remediation, working with public policy officials to as well devise a strategy to update current tenet and housing laws in order to prevent future exposure. The group collaborated with UCI, UCLA, LA Department of Health Services, and others to reach 2,500 residents, test children blood levels, test homes, as well as establish a database for homes that had been abated. This study is a great representation of how public health, environmental leaders, neighbors and academia all came together to support a project. As a result, the group along with the local community provided information to 2,500 residents, tested blood lead levels in 675 children, tested 300 homes and renovated (by 2015) 27%, and developed a registry of home that had been abated.

I am an environmental engineer with a profound interest on providing urban sustainability through the use of biotechnology. I currently research about air pollution in public health and its environmental factors related. My interest is focused on how to adopt greenery as air pollution mitigation strategy in developing cities of south America.
While making this briefly research about NOLA, I observed how air pollution has been historically related to a environmental injustice issue. An example of this is a 1960s study documenting asthma incidence among black communities due its near location to dumps, where subterranean burning happened commonly. This depicts the “southern pattern” in New Orleans, where African American were forced to reside in undesired areas subjected to frequent flooding, unhealthy air and noise levels, as well as unsanitary water and sewerage conditions. Morse (2008) describes Katrina as a turn point, where America’s attention on the enduring legacy of racial segregation and poverty were refocused. Local government remarked the necessity of green restoration in flooding areas, where most of segregated population lived in. Communities and foundations are also working together to sustain the urban landscape mainly for flood control. Therefore, I got interest on know how urban reforestation in NOLA was adopted as a tool for climate change adaptation but also in knowing how it acts as a pathway to reach environmental justice.