Industrial parks and hazardous waste facilities on every corner, polluted murky waters and an old abandoned meatpacking warehouse. This description of the Bayview-Hunters Point community could easily pass for the setting of a story in R.L. Stein’s eerie “Goosebumps” books.

The health of Bayview residents is degrading at an unbelievably high rate because of environmental factors. With asthma rates in the community at record levels and breast cancer cases and other preventable diseases skyrocketing, this crisis needs immediate attention. Yet, have any of us ever even heard of this San Francisco neighborhood in the first place? You probably should, because most of the city’s sewer waste makes its way here to get refined into water that is then reused to come out of your sink or shower. I myself just recently heard of them while visiting the community in a recent environmental justice service trip. But being that Bayview is comprised of a majority of low-income African Americans, there is little heard or spoken of the community in the rest of the Bay Area. Small community organizations such as Green Action, a grassroots organization focused on assembling the public to take action against environmental racism, have recently started providing monthly educational meetings on these toxic issues. Residents are taught how to report illegal toxic dumping in order to get the Environmental Protection Agency’s attention to regulate these incidents.

Most residents are aware of the disproportionate environmental health they are exposed to and are ready to demand and receive the healthy and safe environment they deserve. Although these groups are currently taking action, there must be a quicker approach to achieve complete regulation of these companies’ toxic tendencies. I am here to call for the following companies to enforce correct regulation of their productions. Circosta Iron and Metal Company and Pacific Gas and Electric Company are two of the biggest past and current polluters of the city. These companies are and have made profitable business in this community, but only by risking the health of the Bayview residents. Of course, none of this would be possible without the help of the Environmental Protection Agency, which has done a great job at protecting the complete opposite party of who it was established to protect. Interestingly enough, among the Environmental Protection Agency’s list of faults are falsification of data, indirect support of toxic dumping and inconsideration of minority communities. The Environmental Protection Agency is guilty of keeping these prevalent problems under wraps and urgently needs to address them in a humane manner. Sadly, many people tend to not take part in business that does not directly deal with the betterment or worsening of their lives or the lives of others. Nevertheless, there is no need to worry about lack of participation in raising awareness, because this toxic waste trouble will soon boil over and start seeping into your own communities. Only then will the rest of the Bay Area start caring. Even at this point, the entire Bay Area is already slowly experiencing the effects of the poor toxic waste regulation happening in Bayview as demonstrated in the decline of quality seafood on which the Bay Area prides itself. So, before this toxic problem becomes the norm in the beautiful bay, we need to be the new Erin Brockovichs of our time and serve our neighboring Bayview community.

In order to be considered part of the solution instead of part of the problem, we need to take off our blinders, stop ignoring the communities we refuse to see out of our peripheral vision and face the reality we hate to admit is occurring in our cherished Bay Area. I can no longer stay quiet about Bayview’s dire situation, and with Earth Day taking place this month, we should be the most aware of the health of our planet and people. The need to organize the public and demand the clean up of Bayview-Hunters Point to be done correctly needs to happen now, because clean air and water should be a right to every human being. As Albert Einstein once said, “Those who have the privilege to know have the duty to act,” and now more than ever is our time to act.

Jessica Yescas unknowingly grew up surrounded by environmental injustices and is now a student at UC Berkeley studying public health in order to serve communities in similar situations.

Contact the opinion desk at [email protected] or follow us on Twitter @dailycalopinion.