Owning Our Air: The West Oakland Community Action Plan
Purpose
To reduce cancer risk and public exposure to air pollution.
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Extent
West Oakland communities, industrial facilities, Port of Oakland, and commercial businesses.
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Prepared by
West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, Bay Area Air Quality Management District
Goals
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2025: All West Oakland neighborhoods have the same air quality as the average in 2017
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2030: All neighborhoods have the same air quality as the least impacted, Hoover-Foster neighborhood in 2017
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How does it impact you?
Air pollution is expected to be reduced from a variety of sources in and around West Oakland, which will also be visible through the changes in infrastructure.
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Impacted Neighborhoods
The map below shows the cancer risks among the West Oakland population in 2017 as the number of people with increased risk of contracting cancer per 1 million people.
The neighborhoods outlined above were chosen as areas identified to have high levels of pollution, as well as high percentages of residents. The Air District highlighted these areas based on the information shown below.
The zones (numbered 1-7) above, were identified by the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (WOEIP) and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) as areas that have higher levels of pollution. In the map, the red dots signify black carbon* levels that are higher than West Oakland's median.
The map below identifies where West Oakland's population lives. With darker purple signifying a denser population, and white showing where there are no residents.
*Black carbon is a "sooty black material emitted from gas and diesel engines, coal-fired power plants, and other sources." It is associated with contributing to climate change, as well as linked to cancer, birth defects, and respiratory and cardiovascular diseases (EPA).
All maps sourced from: Owning Our Air: The West Oakland Community Action Plan
Key Agencies​
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Bay Area Air Quality Management District
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City of Oakland
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Port of Oakland
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Alameda County Public Health Department
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California Air Resources Board (CARB)
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MTC
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Alameda County Transportation Commission
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Caltrans
West Oakland Strategies
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The Plan recommends 84 strategies that are to be implemented by the key agencies involved. Expected implementation dates are between 2020 and 2024.
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Relocating polluting businesses and heavy industries (See West Oakland Specific Plan)
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Shifting truck routes and hours, and proper enforcement (See Truck Management Plan)
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Increasing public transit services, and improving pedestrian infrastructure
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Installing filtration systems in spaces such as schools, community centers, and retirement homes
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Developing a vegetation plan* for West Oakland that would increase trees and vegetation in both public and private spaces
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Creating incentives for various mobile sources* to use clean engines
*A vegetation and "urban canopy" plan involves planning where to add vegetation and trees (canopy) within the city. This maybe along streets and sidewalks, and in neighborhoods.
*Mobile sources include tugboats, locomotives, trucks
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Port of Oakland Strategies​​
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Accelerate the relocation of truck/automobile-related services as specified in the West Oakland Specific Plan
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Adopt Electrical Infrastructure Plan to encourage use of zero-emission trucks
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Establish locations for parking for port-related trucks/cargo equipment
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Incentives for use of clean engines* in equipment
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Implement Clean Ship Program to encourage visits of ships with cleaner engines to the Port
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Implement Clean Locomotive Program to increase amount equipment with cleaner engines at the Port
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Implementation Dates*
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2020-2022
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2020
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2020
2020-2024
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2022-2024
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2022-2024
*Many of the strategies that rely on clean or zero-emissions technology are still being studied to understand if they will be effective in the long-run.
*Use of clean engines that pollute less, or use renewable fuels and/or zero-emissions technology