Environmental Health Sciences Center

Background & Policy Context

Kettleman City is one of the  birthplaces of the environmental justice movement in California; residents have been organizing since the 80s to protect their community from multiple environmental hazards, most notably the Chemical Waste Management’s Kettleman Hills landfill, which is the largest hazardous waste landfill in the west and is located just over two miles from Kettleman City.

Residents of Kettleman City and other communities impacted by hazardous waste facilities are currently working to ensure that California’s new permitting framework for hazardous waste disposal protects public health. They are focused on issues of setbacks, violations, and community engagement within the permitting process.

In 2015, SB 673 required the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to address environmental justice concerns regarding the location and operation of hazardous waste facilities by updating its permitting criteria to include  “the vulnerability of, and existing health risks to, nearby populations” and to consider setting minimum setback distances from sensitive locations (schools, homes, hospitals, elder care facilities, etc.). In response, the DTSC released a draft regulatory approach in 2018, which was updated based on public comment in May 2021. The DTSC took additional comments on this revised draft through October 2021,  which will be incorporated into the draft formal regulatory text that will be submitted to the Office of Administrative Law. The status of SB 673 can be found on DTSC’s SB 673 Permit Criteria – Community Protection page.

CAC members working on this issue

• Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice and El Pueblo para el Aire y Agua Limpia, Kettleman City:
  • Comments in Support of Denial of Variance Request from Clean Harbors Buttonwillow Hazardous Waste Landfill (2022) (co-signed by Central California Environmental Justice Network).
  • Environmental Justice, Racism, Health, and Civil Rights in Kettleman City
  • Equity Groups Urge CalEPA to Extend Civil Rights Pact to Meet Deadlines (2019)
  • Letter to CalEPA and DTSC Regarding Ongoing Violations of Kettleman City Title VI Settlement (2019)
  • Title VI Settlement Agreement: DTSC, CalEPA, Greenaction, El Pueblo (2016)
  • Kettleman City CalEnviroScreen Fact Sheet

2021 Documentary on EHSC Community-Engaged Research in Kettleman City

References and Additional Reading

1. Greenaction for Health & Environmental Justice: Kettleman City
2. Timeline: This poor, Hispanic town in California has been fighting a local toxic waste dump for 35 years (2017)
3. California Department of Toxic Substances Control's Site Project Documents for Kettleman Hills Facility
4. California Department of Toxic Substances Control's Update to California State Senate Bill SB-673: DTSC Proposes Rules to Strengthen Safeguards for Hazardous Waste Permits (Cumulative Impacts and Community Vulnerability)
5. California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) Homepage
6. California Department of Toxic Substances Control and California Environmental Protection Agency's Revision Draft Deliberative Document: SB 673 Cumulative Impacts and Community Vulnerability Draft Regulatory Framework (2021)
7. California Department of Toxic Substances Control's Listening Session on Violations Scoring Procedure Regulation Changes
8. UC Davis Environmental Health Sciences Center's Documentary: Air, Water, Blood: The Power of Community-Engaged Research (2022)
9. California Department of Toxic Substances Control: SB 673 Permit Criteria - Community Protections