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Poor Air Quality Makes Inland Empire Residents More Susceptible to Covid
Warehouses bring jobs and pollution
By: Manny Otiko, IVN
The Inland Empire has long attracted people because of its low cost of living. But Inland Empire residents may end up paying a long-term price for living in the area. According to several studies, the IE has some of the dirtiest air in the country. And according to research from the University of California, Riverside (UCR,) the air quality has a serious effect on residents’ lives.
The Guardian, a British-based newspaper, raised awareness about this earlier this year. According to The Guardian, the boom in warehouses dotted around the region adds to the poor air quality.
“The research compiled by the People’s Collective for Environmental Justice (PCEJ) and other local groups and shared with the Guardian, shows how warehouses have proliferated in the Inland Empire, an industrial region 60 miles east of Los Angeles. The warehouses, which bring severe truck pollution to neighborhoods, are correlated with bad air quality and related health problems that disproportionately affect people of color, the data shows,” said The Guardian.