Join in to tell state officials Fresno must not be a dumping ground for waste | Opinion

Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley are already home to some of the worst air pollution in the nation — yet state officials are quietly advancing a plan that could make it even worse.

On March 20, the state Board of Environmental Safety will meet in Fresno to evaluate a proposal from the state Department of Toxic Substances Control that would allow more hazardous waste to be dumped in landfills across California, including here in the Valley.

This means more exposure to toxic chemicals, more truck traffic bringing hazardous materials through our communities, and more risks to our health, water and air.

The most disturbing part is that DTSC has not conducted any meaningful environmental review or public health studies to assess the consequences of this plan. The agency also failed to properly inform or engage the communities that will be most impacted.

This is unacceptable.

On Tuesday, dozens of residents, farm workers, environmental advocates and community leaders will rally at Fresno City Hall before joining the Environmental Safety hearing. We are coming together to demand one simple thing: stop this reckless plan before it’s too late.

For decades, the Central Valley has been treated like California’s pollution dumping ground — a sacrificial zone where low-income, rural, and farm worker communities are forced to live with the environmental consequences of industrial pollution, oil and gas operations, and unchecked pesticide use.

Many of these communities, including those in Fresno County, already suffer from sky-high asthma rates, extreme exposure to diesel pollution, and widespread groundwater contamination. We know what happens when regulatory agencies fail to protect us — our health, our children and our future are put at risk.

Now, DTSC wants to expand hazardous waste dumping in landfills that weren’t originally designed for it without fully evaluating how this will impact local air and water quality.

This is not a pollution control strategy; it’s pollution expansion.

Under California law, DTSC is required to conduct thorough environmental impact assessments, consult with impacted communities, and ensure full transparency before making major hazardous waste policy changes.

But instead of following these basic legal protections, DTSC is rushing forward with this plan without providing a full environmental impact report that evaluates site-specific risks, a public health assessment on how this could increase respiratory illnesses and groundwater contamination, or a real community engagement process that includes accessible materials in Spanish and Indigenous languages and meetings in all impacted regions.

This is a textbook case of environmental injustice.

Sadly, Fresno is no stranger to this treatment, and we have fought back before. Through the Central California Environmental Justice Network, we join with farm workers, community leaders and public health experts to reduce pollution, protect drinking water and demand stronger safeguards for vulnerable communities.

We are at a defining moment for Fresno’s leaders, policymakers and residents. If we don’t stop this plan now, more hazardous waste could be dumped in our communities for years to come — without proper oversight or accountability.

That’s why we are calling on the Board of Environmental Safety to reject this hazardous waste expansion plan until proper studies are completed. DTSC must conduct a full environmental review and hold meaningful public hearings in all affected communities. Local and state leaders must stand with Central Valley residents and demand transparency, environmental protections, and real public engagement.

Fresno residents are coming together to fight back. On March 20 at 10:15 a.m. we will rally at Fresno City Hall before heading inside to the BES hearing at 11 a.m. We call on other Valley residents sick of the status quo to join us.

The Valley deserves clean air, safe water, and a government that listens to the people — not just polluters. It’s time for DTSC to listen.