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U.S. EPA Honors Palos Verdes Shelf Fish Contamination Education Collaborative for Outstanding Achievements in Environmental Justice

Release Date: 02/10/2010
Contact Information: Francisco Arcaute, [email protected], (213) 244-1815

The awards recognize partnerships for their distinguished accomplishments in addressing environmental justice issues, emphasizing collaborative work in communities disproportionately exposed to environmental and human health risks. Winning applications were reviewed and selected based on the six criteria, including innovation, public involvement and demonstrated results, by an independent, non-EPA review panel.

“EPA commends the Palos Verdes Shelf Fish Contamination Education Collaborative for its commitment and dedication to communities at the greatest risk – especially non-English speaking communities - affected by the Palos Verdes Shelf Superfund site,” said Keith Takata, Superfund Division Director for EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region. “This award recognizes this multi-stakeholder partnership for its success in addressing environmental justice issues impacting our community.”

The Palos Verdes Shelf Fish Contamination Education Collaborative Community Outreach Team partners honored today included: Boat People SOS; Cabrillo Marine Aquarium; California Department of Fish and Game – Enforcement; City of Long Beach Environmental Health; Heal the Bay; Los Angeles County Department of Public Health; Orange County Health Care Agency; St. Anselm’s Cross-Cultural Community Center; Asian Youth Center; Cal-EPA Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment; Herald Community Center and S. Groner Associates.

“EPA has stepped up its efforts to address environmental justice issues in communities of color, tribes, and the poor,” said Charles Lee, Director of EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice. “Efforts like this show how an educated community protects the health of its people.”

At the Palos Verdes Shelf, large deposits of DDT and PCBs sit in the sediments deep underwater off the coast of the Palos Verdes peninsula near Los Angeles, Calif., stretching from Point Fermin in the southeast to Palos Verdes Point in the northwest, a distance of about nine miles.

The chemicals came from area industries, including a large DDT manufacturing facility which closed in 1982. The Palos Verdes Shelf Fish Contamination Education Collaborative identified “at risk” communities, including local fishermen, and the Vietnamese and Chinese communities and educated them on the dangers of consuming contaminated fish, as well as ways to protect their health. The outreach focuses on not only getting the word out but also evaluating how people are using the information to protect their health.

The Palos Verdes Shelf Fish Contamination Education Collaborative also developed the Community Resource Council to provide recommendations and created the www.pvsfish.org Web site to engage the community and host a wealth of outreach and educational materials. In May 2009, the group was awarded EPA’s 2009 Citizen Excellence in Community Involvement Award.

For more information, please visit: www.pvsfish.org and/or https://www.epa.gov/region09/features/pvshelf/index.html

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