WAREHOUSES, POLLUTION, AND SOCIAL DISPARITIES

The report investigates the impact of 3,321 warehouses over 100,000 square feet in the South Coast Air Basin, finding that these facilities are disproportionately sited in low-income communities of color. This siting increases exposure to diesel truck emissions, which are linked to asthma, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. The analysis highlights a disparity where the communities most impacted by warehouse pollution are not the primary consumers of the e-commerce goods stored within them. The authors call for the South Coast Air Quality Management District to implement a strong Indirect Source Rule requiring zero-emission technology in these disadvantaged areas.

• Warehouses in Southern California are frequently located in areas already burdened by toxic facilities. For example, Ontario has the highest concentration of warehouses (289) and falls in the 97.26 toxic percentile, while the City of Industry has the second highest (197) and falls in the 98.28 percentile.
• There is a strong correlation between warehouse proximity and the presence of schools and low-income housing. In the South Coast Air Basin, 640 schools are located within a 1-mile radius of a warehouse. In Bloomington, San Bernardino County, a proposed 3 million square foot warehouse development would demolish 213 homes and be located directly adjacent to several schools.
• The report identifies a 'free rider' effect in e-commerce, where warehouses are primarily located in areas where online shopping is least frequent. This means the communities suffering the health impacts of logistics pollution are not the ones benefiting from the convenience of the services.
• Logistics facilities are disproportionately sited in communities of color and low-income areas. The average percentile for housing burden across warehouses is 61%, compared to a state average of 50%. Additionally, 15% of warehouses fall in census tracts with the worst 10% of cardiovascular disease percentiles.

APA

Torres, I., & Victoria, A. (2021). WAREHOUSES, POLLUTION, AND SOCIAL DISPARITIES. Earthjustice. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/warehouse_research_report_4.15.2021.pdf

Chicago

Torres, Ivette, and Anthony Victoria. WAREHOUSES, POLLUTION, AND SOCIAL DISPARITIES. Earthjustice, 2021. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/warehouse_research_report_4.15.2021.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Torres |first1=Ivette |last2=Victoria |first2=Anthony |title=WAREHOUSES, POLLUTION, AND SOCIAL DISPARITIES |publisher=Earthjustice |date=April 2021 |url=https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/warehouse_research_report_4.15.2021.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{torres2021warehouses, author = {Torres, Ivette and Victoria, Anthony}, title = {{WAREHOUSES, POLLUTION, AND SOCIAL DISPARITIES}}, institution = {Earthjustice}, year = {2021}, month = apr, url = {https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/warehouse_research_report_4.15.2021.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }