The Bus Bench

Beyond green jobs and safe streets. The loud buzz in Compton.

2010-09-03T05:30:18-07:00

Compton Electric Wires Buzz

What is that SOUND??

In the 90s Compton had a bad reputation. There were stories of gangs, reports of shooting, and regular updates on the nightly news about murders.

When I first began visiting Compton two years ago I was pleasantly surprised. I was met with many small businesses owned by diverse races of people. I met friendly neighbors who waved hello to me. I got good conversation at the neighborhood coffee shop. I bought cool hair products at the beauty supply for my mountain of misbehaving hair. But I suspected there may still be some problems in Compton.

As I ride my bicycle up Compton Blvd I hear an electric buzz from the power poles. It's something I have never heard before. It feels like the earth is being electrocuted. It's something after 9 a.m. you won't notice because of the traffic, but in the early morning it's like an alarm clock from the earth.

Something is very wrong.

I also have problems breathing. A problem that seems to disappear when I leave the area for three days or more. Initially I thought maybe the sounds and the air were the occasional bad days or my imagination, but then it became bad weeks, bad months. . .then I realized that I had been visiting Compton for over a year and the environment never seemed right.

I did some research.

Compton is home to: 

Dameron Alloy Foundries Inc-4,344.71 pounds of pollution per year from eight different pollutants which includes nickel and nickel compounds (causes chronic bronchitis lung and sinus cancer) chromium and chromium compounds (cause liver and kidney damage)

Foamex LP- 40,395.12 pounds of pollution per year from 15 different pollutants. which includes diisocyanates (cause repository damage and asthma and potentially cancerous)

Owens Corning -360,612.11 pounds of pollution of pollution from seven different pollutants which includes polycyclic aromatic compounds (causes urinary and lung cancer) copper and copper compounds (causes liver and kidney damage)

There is also Century Plastics, Advanced Energy Sources (9,425 pounds of pollution per year from six different pollutants), Artesia Manufacturing Company (10,000 pounds per year from seven different pollutants), Brea Canon Oil Company-Albert (25,000 pounds per year from four different pollutants), JBI Manufactures (industrial furniture), Butcher Co (manufactures polishes and other sanitation goods) Merit Abrasive Products (manufacturers abrasive products for cleaning), Morrel Electro Plating (performs electroplating, plating, polishing, anodizing, and coloring.)

The list goes on and on. This doesn’t even include the places near Compton like Paramount that has dozens of companies or the big daddy of all polluters the Exxon Oil Refinery in Torrance (which had to pay a six million dollar fine for polluting the air around the southern section of L.A. County).

Compton is only 10.2 square miles.

Compton is the center for every cancer-causing, air-polluting industry in L.A. County. I’m surprised that everyone in Compton isn’t dying from asthma or cancer.

I don't know what's causing the buzzing sound you hear in the video and I'm afraid to find out, but I'm going to have to.

I know that many of the facilities listed provide the community with employment, but what good is a job if you're dead or disabled from a debilitating chronic illness?

References:

Planet Hazard Ecology.Fizber SmogStack USA Today

by Browne Molyneux

David Chappelle on Public Transit. NSFW

2010-09-02T14:13:00-07:00

writer

Metro leaves passengers in the dark during day

2010-09-02T05:41:33-07:00

Metro Bus Pass New Bus Stop

On First Street near the Red Line Civic Center station, the bus stop has been moved down the hill. It may not seem far, but there are a few factors that will make it frustrating:

1) Metro has failed to inform its operators of the change;

2) Disabled persons will have an even longer trek up more of an considerable incline to get to the elevator underground to the Red Line;

3) No street lights, benches or telephones.

ANOTHER Metro Bus Passes New Bus Stop

It may not seem like much until one has to endure being passed by a bus or two, must propel oneself up the hill with one's arms or waits round in a darkness in which others' faces cannot be seen even at a few feet. It appears to be a concern that worries Metro so much that they have AGAIN deleted a thread on their FaceBook page, perhaps out of concerns that their shoddy, top-down transit system is being scrutinized too much by those who use it. Whether the city of L.A. is responsible for the bus stop change is a question metro refuses to answer—and to throw the very question down the memory hole means that it may take litigation to wrest an answer from Metro. I only hope someone does not get mugged or worse while waiting for the sometimes hour-long busses to arrive after 9 p.m.

Waiting in Darkness for a Metro Bus

Bus Songs: Wheels on the Bus or Mommy would this be considered a lie since the bus driver is actually a big meanie?

2010-09-01T15:00:00-07:00

writer

We don't like your TAP, Metro. 54% of respondents said NO on our survey.

2010-09-01T13:00:00-07:00

The results of our unscientific poll: Do you like the Metro's TAP system?

The people have spoken, Metro Los Angeles. Out of 100 votes total, 54% of people who claim to use your product don't like TAP. However, The Bus Bench will give you credit: 46% of your friends think TAP was a great idea.

Is a 46% satisifaction rate worth the 154 million dollar start-up cost?
Was it worth being mocked in the LA Times? (I thought that editorial was hilarious, how about you?)

—The Bus Bench