Wherever they turn, residents in and around Santa Fe Springs, California, contend with toxic hazards.
A freight rail line runs through the city’s bustling business district that includes steel fabricators, chemical manufacturers, chrome platers and warehouses operating a stone’s throw from a tidy residential neighborhood of trim lawns and well-kept gardens. Santa Fe Springs, located about 10 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, is bordered on two sides by traffic-choked freeways that bring droves of soot-belching diesel trucks.
