Out of all the cities in California, the most polluted city is Fresno. The state of California has started to map out and keep track of areas with the most pollution, but no other city tops the amount of pollution in Fresno. Social worker Daisy Perez, who works at the Cecil C. Hinton Community Center, says "I'm looking at this map, and all I see is red. We're right here", she said as she pointed to the center of the red areas that showed the most-polluted areas in California. "It's so sad. Good people live here." Pollution in California's Central Valley has long been a problem, not just in Fresno, but also cities such as: the capital Sacramento, Bakersfield, and Modesto. Residents who live in the worst polluted areas are mostly minorities: African Americans, Latinos, and Hmong and Cambodian people. Jim Aldredge, the leader of the same community center, says "The voice of the community is still black. Because we're the ones who now have the wherewithal and time to speak. Look, when you're just trying to survive, you don't have time to go before City Council and all that. Pollution data is the farthest thing from your mind when you're looking for your next meal." The city is riddled with many freeways and meat packing plants, which does nothing but add to the city's congestion
Jim Aldredge grew up in West Fresno himself, and worked with the government for 20 years as a city manager. and can point out sights from Fresno's past. "There's the grassy hill — just a mound, really — that constitutes Hyde Park, which was once a dump. Not a landfill, but an old-time dump where people took trash and tires to be burned." "The city is careful to keep the grass green on top of the mound, and a study done before building started on the new junior high school found the land no longer contaminated by chemicals that had seeped into the ground." The area actually ranks in the 90th percentile for pesticide use, "But we don't talk about the pesticides," says Aldredge. "The agricultural folks are so strong."
As Fresno gets more and more crowded, industries and factories have flourished. The Darling International meat processing plant very controversial and causes lots of fuss from residents. A group of locals led by Mary Curry who live near the plant, have spoken out and have become outspoken warriors for their community. According to the Cal/EPA data, another nearby rendering plant is actually worse than the Darling Plant because it releases more pollutants into the air. But there is no organized group established to protest against the plant, which actually sits near the intersection of two freeways, and this area just so happens to have the most health risks in all of California.
On Tuesdays, the community center that Jim Aldredge runs gives out food, and part of social worker Daisy Perez's job is to ask locals what they like about their neighborhood and what they don't like. Perez says, "They always say that they like that it's quiet. People like the country feel and the community feel," she said. "But they always complain about headaches, especially when the wind blows. They think it's the smell from the meat plants or maybe the pesticides." Breezes carry the smell from a meat rendering plant, and it has an awful stench. Shakur Tyson, a 14 year old student who works at the center, said that he didn't smell anything at first, but soon he started to notice the smell. "I'm just used to it. I guess," he said. "It's the way things are," he says.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-fresno-pollution-20140424-story.html