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In May, I finished my third semester teaching a college dual enrollment Healthy Communities course at Madison Park Academy in the Sobrante Park District of East Oakland. Sobrante Park is an environmental justice community burdened with heavy traffic. The majority of households pay over 50% of their income for housing, and the community has some of the highest asthma rates in the country. Most of the environmental injustices faced by residents are due to air pollution from vehicles including the diesel trucks that run on the 880 freeway directly adjacent to the school. Diesel trucks are not

On May 13th, with the symbolic press of a green button, Comite Lost Hills En Accion (Committee Lost Hills in Action), successfully launched the SNAPS (Study of Neighborhood Air near Petroleum Sources) air pollution monitors at the California Air Resources Board SNAPS Kickoff in Lost Hills. Over 25 community members joined the launch and celebration. Lost Hills is the first community selected to host SNAPS monitors. During the three to six months during which they will be in the community, they will monitor air contaminants such as: Volatile Organic Compounds(VOC's), Criteria Pollutants(