# @kqed on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CDpgQHjBw2i
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/8395335-kqed-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/165c007ddb.jpg
- **Posted:** 2020-08-09T00:30:20.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** KQED (@KQED) — https://gondola.cc/KQED

## Caption

In Arvin, a small, agricultural town at the southern tip of the San Joaquin Valley, pollution is a pervasive part of life. Pesticides sprayed on industrial-scale farms, fumes drifting from the region’s ubiquitous oil and gas wells, exhaust from the trucks barreling down Interstate 5 — it all gets trapped in the valley, creating a thick haze.

Studies have linked proximity to oil and gas extraction to a wide range of adverse health effects, including increased risk of asthma, respiratory illnesses, preterm birth, low birthweight and cancer. Yet California has no statewide rule on setbacks — a regulatory gap that is rare among the nation’s top oil producers.

In Arvin, a group made up of mostly low-income Latinx residents, along with several other organizations, came together and approached Democratic Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi. He authored Assembly Bill 345, or AB 345, which mandates that California create a setback based on health and science data and environmental justice concerns by July 2022, and that it consider a 2,500-foot setback for schools, playgrounds and other public places where children are present. #smalltownlife #arvin #bayarealiving

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 545
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 7

## Tags

bayarealiving, arvin, smalltownlife

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