Arvin,
located at the base of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, has
earned national recognition for having some of the worst air quality in
the country. Arvin is a small agricultural community of 19,000 located
15 miles southeast of Bakersfield. Residents talk about the high
incidences of asthma and valley fever in their city, which is 90 percent
Latino.
In 2007, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) listed Arvin as having the highest levels of smog
of any community in the United States. The city's level of ozone,
smog's primary component, exceeded the EPA's acceptable limits an
average of 73 days per year between 2004 and 2006.
Funders,
nonprofit environmental organizations, community and local organizing
groups have joined forces to uncover the truth about the levels of
pollution in the valley by designing a community air monitoring program.
