South Fresno residents sacrifice health for warehouse jobs they aren’t getting | Opinion

The Amazon and Ulta distribution centers, over the past six years, have resulted in thousands of jobs and generated tens of millions in annual tax revenues for the city of Fresno.

That’s the positive side of the story.

The negative side is these economic benefits haven’t trickled down to residents living near those south Fresno warehouses, those most severely impacted by increased noise pollution and truck traffic on a daily basis.

A new study by Fresno State’s Central Valley Health Policy Institute and the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability bears that out. Analyzing census data from 2015 (before Amazon and Ulta opened) and 2021 (since), the authors found the distribution centers did not result in more jobs for residents of surrounding neighborhoods.

In fact, the number of people who live and work in the same census tract actually decreased after both warehouses opened. For neighborhoods near Amazon, the dip was 5.5%. For neighborhoods near Ulta, it was 16.5%.

The data shows an increase in the total number of jobs inside both census tracts — 43% for Amazon neighborhoods and 17% for Ulta. But it also shows nearly all of those jobs were held by individuals — 99.2% for Amazon, 97.4% for Ulta — from outside the immediate vicinity.

“If these distribution centers were hiring people who lived in the area, you’d expect to see those numbers go up,” said Dr. Emanuel Alcala, the CVHPI’s assistant director and lead investigator of the policy brief.

“But that’s not what we’re seeing. We’re seeing individuals living and working in the same area slightly decrease or stay the same, while jobs are increasing for people who live outside the area.”

While the benefits of south Fresno’s industrial boom were spread citywide, neighbors got stuck with all the drawbacks. (In late 2022, outside the study timeline, Amazon closed its fulfillment center at 2325 S. Cedar Ave. and transferred 500 employees to a new facility near the airport.)

In addition to jobs, researchers also compared the average life expectancy and air pollution exposure of residents near these distribution centers to those living near Woodward Park.

The findings produced zero surprises: People with giant warehouses and freeways as neighbors don’t live as long and breathe in fouler air.

A separate study released in April — this one partially funded by the city of Fresno — examined the adverse effects of inhaling diesel fumes in even more harrowing detail.

Researchers at UC Merced found south Fresno residents live an average of 843 feet from a heavily traveled truck route (compared to 1,267 feet elsewhere in town) and are exposed to twice the level of PM 2.5 emissions.

That unfortunate proximity has been directly linked to spikes in asthma rates and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Between 2009-19 and 2011-2020, south Fresno residents living within 1,000 feet of a freeway or truck route experienced a 44% increase in infant mortality risk, an 11% increase in premature births and a 23% increase in death before a baby’s first birthday.

Frightening stuff.

Truck reroute plan lacking

The UC Merced “health assessment report” is related to a third study (also co-commissioned by the city and Valley Air District) meant to explore whether semi trucks traveling on city streets can be rerouted to reduce emissions exposure to residential areas.

There are several ways to go about this, as recommended by researchers at both universities. The most obvious (and effective) would be to reduce the number of trucks traveling neighborhoods. Another mitigation strategy would be to plant a “buffer zone” of pollution-filtering trees between industries and homes.

The city’s plan, scheduled to be presented to the Fresno City Council next month, doesn’t call for any of that. Rather, it’s heavy on superficial improvements such as sidewalks, crosswalks and new signs.

In other words, the same policies and patterns that created this sorry situation will continue. Residents living near truck routes and distribution centers, hospitalized for asthma at twice the rate of the rest of the city, sacrifice their lungs so others can have $17 per hour jobs.

“For decades, south Fresno communities have been treated as a dumping ground for discriminatory patterns and practices of industrial pollution disguised as economic growth,” said Ivanka Saunders, a Leadership Counsel policy manager.

Disadvantaged neighborhoods must suffer in order for the rest of town to prosper. It’s the Fresno way.