How Harbor Gateway South residents were left to fend for themselves — until Del Amo Action Committee pushed back
By Rick Thomas
I’ve driven down Torrance Boulevard into Carson more times than I care to admit. So many times, in fact, that I could probably do it blindfolded, which might explain why I missed something important for nearly a decade.
The drive was always the same.
Denker to Torrance Boulevard, left turn there, to Figueroa.
Turn right.
Destination: Planet Fitness in the Carson Town Center.
A place where my dreams of fitness go to nap. I spend hours…OK minutes, lifting weights for short stints, then settling in for the long haul on a stationary bike that goes nowhere.
Miles logged.
Going nowhere.
Pages read from print editions of Random Lengths News or the Sunday LA Times. One guest service associate at Planet Fitness saw me with those newspapers and said, “I haven’t seen one of them in a long time.”
I responded, “What, an old, black dude going to a gym?”
“No,” she said.
“A newspaper.”
I wanted to strangle her but that would have confirmed to LAPD’s Harbor Division that I am unstable and not right in the head, so I chose freedom rather than 20 years to life up at Castaic.
But I digress.
I’ve driven that stretch of Torrance Boulevard so often, I never saw it.
I did not look left.
I did not look right.
What I completely failed to notice, year after year, was one of the most important stops along that route. It was an office quietly doing work that would eventually change how I see my neighborhood, my health, and environmental justice altogether.
That stop…that office…was Del Amo Action Committee.
DAAC, for short.
You might miss it, just like I did, if you roll down the same route.
Almost 10 years.
Most people have never heard of DAAC or Del Amo Action Committee.
I certainly had not.
Yet, DAAC is one of the main reasons I look at environmental issues very differently today. More than I did when I first moved into Harbor Gateway South. Back then, I honestly believed environmental problems were something that happened somewhere else, to someone else.
Turns out, I was wrong.
Very wrong.
I live in what Del Amo Action Committee calls “The Kill Zone.”
That phrase alone will get your attention faster than a Planet Fitness lunk alarm.
I wrote about “The Kill Zone” in an earlier piece featuring Jones Chemicals, Inc., our neighborly environmental polluter, on their uncooperative behavior at their plant located in Harbor Gateway South.
How did I end up connected to Del Amo Action Committee?
Enter Cynthia Babich, Founder and Director of DAAC..
I remember exactly how we met.
I posted something on Nextdoor.
Cynthia responded.
And by “responded,” I mean she hollered at me with passion…with precision…OK, she took a switchblade to my post like a few gangbangers in the hood would like to do, well, to me.
But that’s Cynthia Babich.
Next thing I knew, I was invited…or summoned by her to a weekly Saturday morning meeting at Del Amo Action Committee’s office on Torrance Boulevard.
That was the beginning of everything.
“This is serious as shit,” she said. “We are a pretty pushy group and we’re gonna keep being pushy.”
She was talking about Jones Chemicals, Inc., the environmental polluter that keeps on keeping on when it comes to their horrific integration into the Harbor Gateway South.
“That’s why we wrote that shutdown letter and our goal is to make Jones Chemicals, Inc. leave,” she said.
Del Amo Action Committee was already addressing issues with Jones Chemicals, Inc. well before I started my integration into this problem. Their ongoing efforts focus on protecting Harbor Gateway South residents from any dangerous incidents at the plant.
Del Amo Action Committee has become a powerful force and voice in the full Harbor Gateway and beyond.
That’s because of their relentless push to ensure that elected leaders representing the community where Jones Chemicals, Inc. does business, are fully engaged in the goal of bringing this company into full compliance with federal, state, county and local standards.
City Councilmember Tim McOsker, Congressperson Nanette Barragan, and County Supervisor Holly Mitchell all responded to Del Amo Action Committee’s efforts.
Bigly.
Everybody else, as in State Senator Laura Richardson and Assemblyman Mike Gipson?
Crickets.
More on that shortly but y’all know me…if elected leaders refuse to comment on a company harming the communities they represent, those political leaders are not fulfilling their duty to the stakeholders who pay their salaries.
State Senator Laura Richardson and Assemblyman Mike Gipson should be ashamed.
“They can make shit happen, and they need to make shit happen,” Cynthia Babich said when referring to those elected leaders.
Well…I think shit is happening.
Del Amo Action Committee is working to end city-run operations, constantly working with the likes of environmental polluters as is Jones Chemicals, Inc. It remains unclear why Los Angeles city officials continue to partner with companies that harm local communities.
Their job is to protect residents living in Harbor Gateway South.
Quite frankly, except for the Congressperson who has been engaged on day 1 of this issue, others have failed.
Until now.
Until…Del Amo Action Committee.
“The more we uncovered from Jones Chemicals, Inc., it started hyping our concerns,” Jeffrey Herschler, Chief Science Officer for Del Amo Action Committee, said when it comes to the ongoing areas of concern from inspections at Jones Chemicals, Inc.’s plant.
“There are new violations they’re (the Environmental Protection Agency) finding each time.”
Yeah, this is the company, Jones Chemicals, Inc., that Los Angeles city officials want to partner with to sponsor events and invite to Harbor Gateway South Neighborhood Council meetings, twice, well…to be our neighbors.
Yeah, them.
I just don’t get it.
Really…I just don’t get it.
“They have no intention of doing any more with the risk management plan we presented to them,” said Herschler.
Yeah, they don’t.
“The Trump administration has been attacking the EPA, so most of the enforcement people have been told not to speak to DAAC or other community members,” Cynthia Babich added.
That was then.
We have reached…now.
“Residents of the Harbor Gateway community have raised concerns regarding safety, emergency preparedness, and environmental risks associated with operations at JCI Jones Chemicals, Inc.,” wrote Los Angeles City Councilmember Tim McOsker, in a motion to the LA City Council.
Oh, yeah, this is now.
Well past then.
And one of those “preparedness measures” is the image of a ‘Shelter in Place’ kit you see here, designed for about $50, and the recommendation for all residents residing in “The Kill Zone” to have at home during an emergency created by a chemical release at Jones Chemicals, Inc.
I have one of those ‘Shelter in Place’ kits and I, along with other families residing in Harbor Gateway South, took one home to test the kit in preparation for a chemical release.
It was not a good exercise.
It was a sobering effort that no stakeholder should have to take. We deserve better than this.
We really do.
That whole chemical release thing is no joke.
“Constituents have contacted the Council Office seeking clarity on the City’s enforcement authority, civil capacities, and ability to ensure that appropriate safety measures are implemented,” with respect to Jones Chemicals, Inc., the McOsker motion continued.
I told you this was pretty powerful.
But wait…there’s more
Councilmember McOsker’s motion asks “…that the City Council direct the Office of the City Attorney, in consultation with the Emergency Management Department, the Los Angeles Fire Department, the Department of Building & Safety, and the Department of City Planning to report back…on the City’s criminal and/or civil enforcement capacities, as well as steps to abate any present nuisance, with respect to the JCI Jones Chemicals, Inc. facility and their operations.”
I told ya, pretty powerful stuff.
Peep this, in the same motion: “Del Amo Action Committee, a local environmental justice non-profit organization, has proposed an emergency response framework recommending several preparedness measures for JCI to adopt.”
Back to that “Shelter in Place’ kit.
Back in the day there were crickets on the issues from elected officials regarding Jones Chemicals, Inc. in the Harbor Gateway South. Councilmember McOsker demanded continued “engagement with JCI to pursue community-requested safety initiatives.”
Congresswoman Nanette Barragan, who grew up in the hood, sent a letter to LA City Council stating , “This chemical facility has violated the federal Clean Air Act, California Accidental Release Prevention Program, and Hazardous Materials Business Plan Program, and repeatedly failed to properly maintain their equipment as required by law.”
Throw in County Supervisor Holly Mitchell.
“Del Amo Action Committee has been at the forefront of addressing environmental justice issues in this community through advocacy, community education, and resident capacity-building. Their tenacity and follow-through have helped compel action, like the one by Councilmember McOsker, which I support.”
I think shit is happening.
More from the very tall, wish I had her playing center when I was coaching CYO hoops back in the day, County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, “…we will continue working with Del Amo Action Committee, LA City partners, County agencies, local businesses, and residents to ensure accountability, and fight for stronger enforcement and protections for our communities.”
“It’s David versus Goliath,” Jeffrey Herschler from DAAC told me. “They (the EPA) ding them, they get a notice of violation, they fix them and Jones Chemicals, Inc. is back in business.”
Maybe Del Amo Action Committee has slayed Goliath.
The Tim McOsker motion, Agenda Item 4 – Council File #25-1469, was “approved on consent, moving forward!,” by the Los Angeles City Council, Del Amo Action Committee boss Cynthia Babich wrote to me in an email.
“It’s all just about protecting the area around Jones Chemicals, Inc. as best as we can,” from Jeffrey Herschler, DAAC’s Chief Science Officer.
“Early in the mornin′, late at night, it don’t even matter what time it is,” in the words of the Philosopher Future, Del Amo Action Committee is always there, protecting Harbor Gateway South “as…best…as we can.”