Health & Environmental Impacts of Warehousing in Ontario, CA
How does warehousing impact communities at the forefront of Southern California's logistics industry?
Introduction
Goods movement plays a critical role in California's economic and social life, delivering everything from life-saving vaccines to impulsive Amazon purchases. Warehouses are integral storage and distribution points for goods, and yet, for many communities, bring with them disastrous social, health, and environmental outcomes.
As post-pandemic consumers continue to demand more products delivered at a faster pace, the size and number of warehouses are likely to continue growing. Who will be affected by the changes they bring?
Research Methods
Approaching warehouse impacts through people-centric analysis
This StoryMap visualizes the historical development and potential futures of warehousing in Ontario, California. Our data examines the environmental, public health, and economic effects of warehousing, taking care to highlight the labor and community-based movements resisting warehouse expansion.
Our research uses the following data sources:
Environmental Justice Index (EJI) | The EJI is a newer index administered by the CDC that provides information on what communities experience severe cumulative impacts from environmental burden. This dataset provides environmental, social, and health data that we use to identify the causes of vulnerability for the communities in Ontario.
Warehouse CITY data | The Warehouse CITY (Community Cumulative Impact Tool) data currently contains information on assessor parcel number, year built, and type. This data is collected with the purpose of providing a tool to help communities in Southern California understand and quantify the cumulative impacts of warehouses in the region.
California State Geoportal | This dataset provides access to various geospatial data and services related to the state of California, including data on topography, demographics, land use, natural resources, and other related topics. We downloaded geojson files of Ontario city’s schools, parks, the airport, or any public places to see their locations and how warehouses may possibly impact people using these facilities.
2021: ACS 5-Year Estimates | Table S0501: Selected Characteristics of the Native and Foreign-Born Populations. This dataset provides basic demographic data for the City of Ontario. We use this data to provide a demographic overview of the people who live there.
Qualitative Sources | The following link contains a detailed bibliography of references for our qualitative research and literature review.
We coded our visuals in Python using the pandas and geopandas library to clean, organize, and prepare our data for analysis. For more details, and to view the JupyterLab notebooks for our research, navigate the link beow.
"That’s like a slow death, huh? Just seeing one block go down at a time... Until everything I see [is] just a wall of warehouses.” - Ana Carlos, Bloomington resident
Environment
Polluting for Profit
The City of Ontario has a higher level of environmental burden in areas closer to the airport.
The logistics industry relies significantly on diesel-powered vehicles, which comprise only 4% of all vehicles on the road yet have a disproportionate environmental impact. Over half of the transportation industry's smog pollution and a quarter of its climate emissions originate from these trucks. 3
Census tracts near or with warehouses have higher environmental burden ranks. This metric combines these measures: diesel, PM 2.5, ozone, and air toxics cancer risk.
The Diesel Rank map shows a correlation between warehouses and diesel pollution risk. See below for an interactive version of this map.
There is a moderate correlation between air toxic cancer risk and warehouse concentration. Other census tracts with limited warehouse presence also have high air toxic cancer risk levels, but this may attributed to pollutant particles traveling from their source point.
The interactive map above allows you to view each tract's Diesel Emission Percentile Rank and visualize diesel emissions in relation to Ontario's schools and parks. While warehouses are not concentrated within residential areas, they still contribute to worsening air quality in neighboring areas.
Public Health
Bearing the Burden of Two-Day Shipping
When you’re raised in [freight] communities, you believe this is normal... Eventually, it made so much sense as to why I had so much difficulty breathing. - Ivette Torres, Moreno Valley resident
Regression analysis indicates that environmental burden correlates to negative outcomes for public health, including high blood pressure, diabetes, and asthma rates. We analyzed these results through percentile rankings.
Varied relationship between warehouses and people with high blood pressure. The tract with the highest rank has a larger population of adults age 65 and older, which could skew the rank because this population group tends to have higher rates of high blood pressure. High Blood Pressure Rank = 0.2444 * Environmental Burden Rank - 0.0455 (R square = 0.1534).
Limited relationship between warehouses and mental health. The highest-ranking census tract is a census tract with a high low-come and minority population. Mental Health Rank = 1.029 * EB rank - 0.3125 (R squared= 0.5929).
Some relationship between warehouses and people with diabetes. The highest-ranking census tracts are either census tracts with a high population of adults 65 and older or with a high poverty and minority population. Diabetes Rank = 0.9848 * EB rank - 0.2719 (R squared = 0.787).
Limited relationship between warehouses and people with asthma. The census tract with the highest rank for asthma has a high minority and low-income population. Asthma Rank = 0.7098 * EB rank - 0.1536 (R squared = 0.4920).
Economy
Creating Jobs, Exploiting Workers
In the warehouse debate, proponents of warehouse expansion tout the economic benefits to communities. Since February 2020, towards beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic when consumer demand skyrocketed, the Inland Empire's employment warehousing and transportation industry rose by 39%. Amazon has become the region's biggest employer. 4
However, the true impact on jobs and employment is much more complex. To get a clearer picture of warehousing's economic effect, we map the economic conditions of the city during a massive wave of warehouse expansion.
Using block group level data from the 2019/2010 5-year estimate, the map on the right shows changes in jobs within the 'Transportation and Material Moving Occupations' category.
The map on the bottom right depicts the change in median household income (in 2019 dollars) of the same block groups. The markers, indicating warehouses built between 2010-2019, a major wave of new construction.
Visually, we infer that block groups throughout Ontario had increases in employment within the "Transportation and Material Moving Occupations" category. However, only a limited set of block groups experienced increases in median household income, while others experienced significant drops. T
Despite a significant rise in employment, the majority of Ontario is at or above 200% the national poverty level. 2021 ACS Data.
Only 19% of the population in Ontario has a bachelor's degree or higher while 51% have a high school certificate or less.
11% of the population living in Ontario and in the workforce works for the 'Transportation and warehousing, and utilities' industry. A significant percentage also work in the industrial sector, such as manufacturing.
Warehouse workers across the world struggle against low wages, unsafe working conditions, and retaliation from managers. Many are injured on the job or are unable to afford the cost of living in the areas where they work. Depicted above are protests and strikes in San Bernardino County in California, Coventry in the UK, and Staten Island in New York. The top right image depicts Warehouse Workers United's 50-mile "Walmarch" from Ontario to LA City Hall in 2012.
As developers are seeing their business become more lucrative, we're seeing sustainable poverty - Ben Reyoso, Inland Congregations United for Change
Community Response & Protest
While Ontario engages in its own battle against warehouses, communities across the country are rising up in protest.
We need to flip the script on the 'land of cheap dirt' and instead invest in a paradigm where Inland people are considered valuable knowledge holders, planners, and stewards of land. -IE State of Emergency Request
Warehouses impact communities of all socioeconomic and geographic backgrounds, but the extent of that impact varies. Navigate the map below to read about some of the residents trying to change the status quo.
Dairy farmers in the 1980's, when warehouses were only beginning to emerge in Ontario.
At the nexus of labor, environmental justice, and community wellbeing.
A warehouse is more than a symbol of economic growth. The construction of a single facility can impact a community for decades to come, with lingering effects on local land, residents, and workers.
As a nearly post-pandemic world continues to face skyrocketing consumer demand, warehousing will continue to expand. How should planners, policy-makers, communities, and industry deal with them?
