The Rise of Warehouses in the Inland Empire

The Inland Empire is a region in Southern California that ranges from San Bernardino to Riverside County. Before the Inland Empire was established, there were multiple Native Americans tribes throughout the region. This region was originally home to the Luiseño, Cahuilla, Serrano, and Cupeño tribes before both Mexican and U.S. colonialism. One of California’s first off-reservation boarding school that house children from multiple indigenous tribes was established in Perris (a city in the Riverside County) and eventually moved to Riverside . When the displacement of Native Americans was enforced, investors utilized colony systems to draw in white settlers for the regions land-based economy. The expanding railroad networks and investors from around California, spurred the real-estate expansion that created a thriving citrus industry as well as today’s Inland Empire cities (Juan David De Lara 2009).

Similarly, the current logistics industry in the Inland Empire was made possible due to investments from capitalists that funded warehouse real-estate opportunities on widely available agricultural land surrounding a predominantly Latino working class that historically has not been protected by local or state environmental justice policies. 

A large portion of the air pollution in the Inland Empire is attributed to its geographic location and topography. The Inland Empire is barricaded by a ring of mountains which makes it difficult for air to circulate out of the inland regions causing an abundance of bad air quality. Another contributing factor to the horrible air quality in the inland region is the flow of air pollution from surrounding cities, like Los Angeles. In the 1960s and 1970s Los Angeles implemented mountain cropping and landform grading the physical changes to the environment contribute to the present-day air quality. In particular, the construction of the affluent Anaheim Hills called for the slicing of mountains to level land, this physical change created long lasting impacts on the flow of air from Los Angeles directly into the Inland Empire.

Prior to 2008, the Inland Empire was investing very little on the construction of warehouses and was relying mostly on minimal commercial, agricultural, and retail revenue. However, when the 2008 recession hit the United States multiple counties in the Inland Empire were feeling the detrimental affects(Bluffstone and Ouderkirk 2008). Hence, local governments began to invest in warehouse construction which did bring a rise in employment but only for a short period time. If we bounce to the present-day, many of the communities that live by these warehouses are now having to deal with health problems and unemployment centered around these infrastructures.

The map above visually demonstrates how a variety of warehouses( the black squares) are situated in highly polluted areas(red being highly polluted and tan the least polluted). The darkening of the red gradient demonstrates the amount of pollution recorded in 2017 by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), on behalf of the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA). The pollution can be connected to the abundance of infrastructures and the massive transportation industry that is needed in order to export and import products to and from the Inland Empire.

The charts above demonstrate that there was an increase in the amount of particulate matter 2.5 in Riverside County. The change can be attributed to an increase in vehicle exhaust both from private automobiles but especially from diesel trucks. The time period 1990 and 2019 are very important in tying the connection between warehouses and industrial exhausts effects on the health of residents. Once again it is important to note that the development of warehouses began to escalate in the mid-2000s.

The map above explores the amount of hospitalizations because of asthma attacks(yellow circles) with respect to warehouse(black squares) proximity and social vulnerability(dark blue being high social vulnerability and tan the low social vulnerability). Upon further investigation, it can be seen that there is a clear connection between warehouses, the Inland Empire, and the health of the pubic.

The map showcases the social vulnerability index as recorded by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC). The index ranges from 0 to 1, the closer to one an area is the more vulnerable or susceptible it is to external factors that negatively impact their health. The factors can include natural or human-made impacts(like warehouses) that can cause adversities and economic losses. Folks with a low socio-economic status tend to live by warehouses, and as a result are more vulnerable to hazardous living conditions.

With the growth of the manufacturing economy, came the creation of new community groups who lobby and organize to prevent or minimize the detrimental affects logistics industries can have on vulnerable communities. A well-know organization in the Inland Empire is the CCAEJ (Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice). The CCAEJ strategizes ways in which to prevent warehouse construction and invest in different businesses. However, the CCAEJ recognizes that much of the time warehouse implementation can not be prevented so they advocate for community benefit agreements so that members, investors, and the economy can all positively benefit from warehouses.

Notable Sources

De Lara, J. D. (2009). Remapping Inland Southern California: Global Commodity Distribution, Land Speculation, and Politics in the Inland Empire. UC Berkeley. ProQuest ID: DeLara_berkeley_0028E_10276. Merritt ID: ark:/13030/m5q24450. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3pd0b5nd