Community-driven research reduces pollution in West Oakland
Diesel exhaust—the black smoke emitted by buses, trucks, trains
and ships—is the number one toxic air pollutant in California.
Chemicals in diesel pollution can cause cancer, harm the
reproductive system, and aggravate or cause asthma. New research
shows that West Oakland, California, a neighborhood surrounded
by freeways and bordered by the Port of Oakland, suffers from
far more than its fair share of this toxic pollution. But
residents, community organizations and the city have uncovered a
host of practical solutions that can help clean up West
Oakland’s pollution and improve the health of residents as well
as the local economy. West Oakland is a small neighborhood of
24,000 residents on the shores of the San Francisco Bay. More
than 60 percent of the residents are African American and 89
percent are people of color, according to the 2000 Census. West
Oakland is the poorest neighborhood in the Bay Area, where 55
percent of the households earn less