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Community Awareness and Monitoring Project (CAMP) Thanks to a generous grant from the Rose Foundation, the Center has begun a Community Awareness and Monitoring Project (CAMP). The purpose of CAMP is to provide equipment, training and assistance to primarily poor and minority communities in southern California to gather information about, and monitor the industries and activities affecting the air quality by utilizing computer technology. Southern California is renowned for its poor air quality. The World Health Organization estimates that the Riverside-San Bernardino area has one of the worst small particulate air pollution problems in the world, after cities such as Jakarta, Indonesia; Bangkok, Thailand; and Calcutta, India. While much of the pollution is the result of automobile exhaust from heavy traffic, a significant amount comes from industrial emissions and oil refineries, particulate matter and dust laden with pesticides from agriculture, as well as releases from disposal sites. CAMP Has Four Components: Providing access to computers and programs Providing computer training sessions Identifying resources for helpful information Facilitating the development of effective strategies. CAMP has already begun to be effective. It has provided assistance to desert groups fighting the Eagle Mountain Dump proposal, outlining the impacts through increased air pollution. We have begun to formulate information about the Jurupa area finding a proposal which would dump an additional 52 tons of VOCs into our air each year. (See the following article). We have developed a fact sheet on Air Pollution and Health and are compiling sources of useful information on the internet.
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