Environmental Health
Advocates Give Central Valley Communities
a Voice in Environmental Health Policies
 alifornia’s Central Valley is the state’s
agricultural epicenter, providing
produce to stores and homes throughout
the country. But this region is also
ground zero for some significant environmental
hazards, including pesticides, dust from plowed
fields, smoke from agricultural burning, urban air
pollution and hazardous waste dumps.
Although the area can boast of fertile soil and
favorable weather for growing crops, cultivating
environmental health advocates is a more tenuous
enterprise. Geographic isolation, coupled with a
lack of political clout and legal resources, creates
unique challenges for developing and sustaining
environmental health policies.
  With an office in the town of Delano, the Center
on Race, Poverty & the Environment (CRPE) is the
only environmental advocacy organization with an
office in the Central Valley. CRPE serves low-income
rural communities with technical and legal support.
Founded in 1989, the organization seeks to empower
individuals, organize communities and address
specific environmental health problems. In June
2003, TCWF awarded CRPE a three-year, $120,000
grant for core operating support to sustain
environmental health efforts in the Central Valley.
“Overall, these communities are stuck with the
status quo,” said Caroline Farrell, Delano office
directing attorney. “These communities need
assistance to know their rights and develop
strategies to ensure their concerns are addressed to
the powers that be."
Working in several neighborhoods throughout
Kern, Kings, Fresno and Tulare counties, CRPE’s
clients are predominantly Latinos living in rural
areas and below the poverty line. With the
organization’s support, these communities are
developing the skills and confidence to become
more engaged in civic participation, honing their
grassroots organizing skills to have a voice in local
public policies that affect the environmental health
of the places where they work, live and play.
So far, there have been numerous successes. For
example, when large dairy farms began relocating
to the region, residents were exposed to higher air
pollution as a result of methane, ammonia and
particulates that were produced by the farms. CRPE
helped gather community input and technical
information, submitting comments to various county
and state agencies. This work ultimately resulted in
counties and the state adopting new legislation that
takes into account the
residents’ environmental
concerns.
Other successes
include motivating
Tulare County
officials to examine
the environmental
impacts from a
proposed ethanol
plant in Goshen; ushering
in a new level of
transparency and
openness from the
board of directors for a
local water company
in Lebec; and
organizing a public
interest group in
Alpaugh that has worked with the local state
legislator to obtain clean water while a new well is
being constructed.
“Without the legal advice and support offered
by organizations like CRPE, many underserved
agricultural communities would be hard-pressed to
translate concern about environmental health
conditions into effective information for policymakers,”
said Fatima Angeles, TCWF program director.
“This advocacy work ensures that communities in
the rural Central Valley continue to receive the
support needed to improve environmental health
for families and children.”
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