Bonnoris noted, “The environmental justice movement posits that the distribution of environmental harms and benefits should be fairly apportioned among all communities”. As Bonnoris argued, the burden of air pollution is disproportionally distributed among communities based on their racial, social or economic status. Disproportion distribution of air pollution among communities can be a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution because it violates equal protection of residents’ public health.
Los Angeles is known for the nation's worst air quality and its “sharp inequalities in environmental exposures”. Wilmington, Los Angeles is a neighborhood located on the southern part of Los Angeles, California. 54,512 people live in Wilmington, the median household income is $40,627, about 86 percentage of them are Latino and only 5.1% of Wilmington residents 25 or older have a four-year degree.
Wilmington, most of its residents are ethnic minorities, is possible to bear more environmental burden than other communities in Los Angeles because it is located next to several sources of air pollution. For example, Wilmington has "the highest concentration of refineries in the State". Emissions from refineries in Wilmington include carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and benzene. Wilmington has higher concentration of diesel particulate matter due to emissions from diesel trucks from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The risks associated with diesel are often underestimated since existing epidemiological studies cannot isolate exposure to diesel PM. However, exposure to diesel particulate matter can cause “irritation to the eyes, nose, throat and lungs”, asthma, “exhaust immunological effects”, and cancer.
Several NGOs have worked to improve the accuracy of Wilmington air quality data and air quality in order to protect approximately 1400 children who live or visit schools or childcare facilities at Wilmington. The environmental group “Coalition For a Safe Environment” installed an air pollution monitoring devices on the residential buildings in Wilmington in order to prove that emissions from local oil refineries and diesel trucks to the ports pollute the air in Wilmington, disproportionately affecting Wilmington residents to suffer from health problems including lung diseases and respiratory diseases.