By Kirill Volchinskiy In many parts of the bay, we enjoy comfortable lives. We have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink. We live in quiet, peaceful neighborhoods, and we don’t have to worry about our safety when we step out the door. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the citizens of West Oakland.
Residents of West Oakland are surrounded on all four sides by highways, and breathe car exhaust every day. They are forced to cope with pollution from the trucks that come and go everyday to pick up and drop off supplies at the Port of Oakland. Worst of all, the citizens of West Oakland live among factories that make unbearable noise while releasing toxic fumes into the residential neighborhood.
The levels of lead inside of EXCEL High School in West Oakland were found to be 54 times higher than the EPA standard. The levels of other toxic metals such as cadmium and nickel were all at least eight times the safe levels.
Dioxins, chemicals that cause cancer, have not been tested for yet because the tests are too expensive. When we first heard about the situation in West Oakland, we were stunned that such terrible circumstances would be allowed to exist in America, and we were inspired to take action.
Our goal is to educate the public about this unjust situation, primarily the people of West Oakland, so they will be able to take necessary action in order to regain clean air and clean water that they are entitled to. Our film will be shown at a fundraiser organized by David Joseph that will raise funds for Global Community Monitor.
Also, we will donate money to Global Community Air Monitors if we make a profit from this documentary.
We have already started on this project, and as I mentioned earlier, you can watch our two minute teaser here.
However, we have already run out of money, and still need to obtain these items in order to complete our larger project:
With these tools we can work on a full length documentary. Right now, with Spot.Us, we hope to produce a short documetary of 10-15 minutes.
It is important to know that the film-makers behind this project are both in highschool. My name is Kirill Volchinskiy and I am working with my friend Alex Hillan on this project. We are two film makers who want to make a real difference in the world. Alex and I have about two years of experience in shooting and editing. You can watch the teaser we made as an example of our work.
We will produce a short documentary in two parts on environmental injustice, specifically about how people of color and lower income are being disproportionally burdened by industrial pollution in West Oakland. We expect this to be between 10-15 minutes long.
