AsianWeek

Last year, vociferous residents in a tiny southeast San Francisco neighborhood beat back Norcal Waste Systems Inc.'s attempts to expand.

But Ralph Oroquita, who led that fight on behalf of the 400 households in Little Hollywood, isn't sure how long that victory will last. He is sure that without Asian American support, his side has little chance of prevailing.

Oroquita says keeping residents mobilized has been difficult since Norcal retreated. But he warns that Little Hollywood's residents--especially Asian Americans--must stay involved to save the neighborhood.

"If we don't keep up a strong community effort, to have [Norcal] not expand here, they'll build right up to our fence line," said Oroquita, a retired fire sprinkler installer who drafted proposals and organized meetings for two years to fend off the giant garbage-processing company.

"I don't want the Asian community to sit back and say this is fine, because these companies know the Asian community doesn't get riled up because it's hard to get together to file on an issue," said the 55-year-old Mexican American.

But Tran points out that sincere overtures aren't enough, especially for those not fluent in English.

"Environmental justice is very important, but the residents don't know that because there is no outreach," she said. "How can you understand [the risks] when there isn't any material that they can read?"

Still, Peggy Saika, executive director of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, says Asian Americans must strive for greater participation.

"When you think of the invisibility of API communities across the country, then it is really important if you live in Bayview or Hunters Point to get involved," Saika said. "If they're about to put a waste dump in your area, that is going to happen unless communities get involved."

Asian Americans can play a particularly important and crucial role, because of our invisibility nationwide, and come to the table in a good way ... we have a leadership role we can play."

Last month in Oakland, Saika's group helped set up a four-day forum for Asian Americans and others to tell Environmental Protection Agency officials about their environmental concerns. Among the issues discussed: a toxic site in the Richmond area, dioxins in San Francisco Bay, and high lead levels from paint chips common in pre-1978 housing.

Southeast San Francisco, including Bayview, Hunters Point and Visitacion Valley, is riddled with toxic and waste-storage sites. Though no one has quantified the dumps' precise effect on human health, the cancer rates of nearby residents are far higher than in other areas of the city.

Asian Americans make up about a third of the residents in Bayview-Hunters Point, bounded roughly by Third Street and the bay. They are far more likely to die of lung cancer than their counterparts in other neighborhoods.

From 1987 to 1995, lung cancer killed about 60 Asian American men in Bayview-Hunters Point, according to data from the city's Department of Public Health. The disease claimed 40 Asian American men among all other city neighborhoods. The disparity lessened among women--lung cancer killed just over 20 Asian American women in Bayview-Hunters Point and about 19 in other city neighborhoods, according to a graph from the city's Department of Public Health.

And the dangers may grow the longer people live near toxic sites. African Americans in Bayview-Hunters Point, many of whom have lived there for decades, have far higher lung cancer mortality rates. The disease killed 1,300 black men and 650 black women between 1987 and 1995.

"Asians generally have not come up to the top of the list as having severe health problems ... but that doesn't mean that they haven't been exposed," said Alex Lantsberg, project coordinator for Southeast Alliance for Environmental Justice.

Asian Americans' lower mortality rates may reflect the fact that many of them are relative newcomers to the neighborhood. He warns: "Asian Americans could reach those levels of parity later on."

In Hunters Point alone, researchers have identified several hundred sources of pollution--not the least of which are a power plant and a Naval shipyard.

"This neighborhood bears the burden for providing 50 percent of the city's energy, and they don't get the benefits of that," Lantsberg said. "The only thing that is trickling down here is sewage, because we handle 80 percent of the city's sewage."

San Francisco is hoping to buy the Hunters Point PG&E power plant, along with a second power plant located in Potrero Hill in hopes of shutting them both down.

Photo by Stephanie Green

A field connected to the Midway Village housing project behind the PG&E Martin substation has been covered in a foot of concrete, soil and grass, due to toxins in the soil.

Lantsberg, whose group has been involved in the city's efforts to purchase the two plants, says that for long-standing changes to come to Bayview-Hunters Point, Asian Americans must get involved.

"One of the things we're trying to do and haven't been completely successful at is bringing more Asian Americans into our organization and getting them involved with issues down here.

"Because we don't see Asian Americans at the table, we're not able to respond to them."

Even more than Bayview-Hunters Point, adjoining Visitacion Valley is becoming heavily Asian American. After a decade of rapid growth, Asian Americans are now the majority, comprising 52 percent of residents.

Like their counterparts in Bayview-Hunters Point, many residents focus first on immediate safety and less on longer-term environmental consequences.

"The most serious concern is personal safety," said veteran activist Tran, elected this month to the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee. "Many immigrants are apathetic ... the only time residents come en masse is when there is a beating or a burglary, or when a crime is committed."

Pointing out that about 65 percent of Visitacion Valley's Asian Americans are not proficient in English, Tran says outreach and education in residents' native languages is essential to building environmental coalitions.

Other activists agree. "I think there is an educational need across the board," said Anne Eng, a staff attorney at the Environmental Law and Justice Clinic at Golden Gate University's School of Law.

"If someone in Little Hollywood or Visitacion Valley gets a whiff of garbage, they probably think, 'Oh, I'll just close my window. I can't do anything about it; instead of knowing you can call an agency to complain," said Eng, who spends weekends holding workshops in Hunters Point to educate residents about their rights.

That seeming docility would vanish if residents became more informed about their surroundings and the possible consequences, said Gordon Mar of the Chinese Progressive Association.

"I think the main issue would be just that somebody needs to make more of an effort at it, and that really hasn't happened so far," said Mar, executive director at Chinese Progressive Association. "If the effort is made to outreach to the Asian and non-English-speaking residents out there, they'd be more concerned with the issues because it's really about health and the welfare of their community.

"From our experience doing more focused organizing, when people find out about issues that directly impact them in a negative way, they are very willing to get involved and do something."

Photo by Stephanie Green

Houses in S.F.'s Little Hollywood neighborhood border the edge of the Norcal waste disposal and recycling facility, which has tried to expand its operations.


Photos by Stephanie Green
The view from Ralph Oroquita's living room of the Norcal Waste System facility.		A short distance away, children play at Little Hollywood Park, which backs up onto the Norcal facility on the other side of the hill.

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