Commentary: Industrial accidents in poor neighborhoods are so L.A. And it's nothing new
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Set us as preferred It’s been feeling practically biblical around here lately — and it’s not the feeling of holiness.Those odors coming from the warehouse fire in Boyle Heights aren’t the odors of sanctity.They’re the stench of smoke and soot and chlorine, and of burning, rotting, rat-besieged food.
They’re from melting insulation foam and whatever it is that gets airborne when fire assails solar panels.How many malodorously toxic episodes does that make toward the seven plagues in the Old Testament?That depends.Are we counting since forever or just this year?Every now and then — as in now — some business operation somewhere in Southern California blows up or burns down, and we are surprised to learn that something like this, something odiferous, pestiferous, even maybe dangerous, was here the first place.Los Angeles is a complex place.
Luckily, there's someone who can provide context, history and culture.By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver.
You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads.Most often these are industrial accidents, some process going awry, whether by fizzled technology or human error.
And most often these fires, explosions and leaks happen in working-class neighborhoods.Why?In the great plain of Los Angeles itself, it is a chicken-and-egg process.
Neighborhoods were built near existing, potentially dangerous industries because the land was cheaper.And conversely, industrial businesses moved into working-class neighborhoods because the land was cheaper and the zoning sometimes iffy.
And, as usual, that meant many people of color wound up l...