Fisher: Youth group sets civic example, helps shut down toxics plant

If folks in East Palo Alto are breathing a bit easier these days, they have a bunch of kids to thank.

After more than 40 years, Romic Environmental Technologies was forced to close its hazardous-waste disposal and recycling operation. The company has been sold, and the land will be cleaned up. The glistening smokestacks that have been a bayfront landmark will be gone.

It would be a stretch to say that Youth United for Community Action, a local organization made up of activists in their teens and 20s, single-handedly closed down the controversial plant - changing times and changing rules contributed just as much. But the group's eight-year campaign against the company certainly made a difference.

And fresh from this victory, they're tackling other issues in town, like the need for decent, affordable housing.

"This shows that we are able to fight those injustices that we see in society," said Re'Anita Burns, who joined the movement seven years ago when she was just 14. "That's something that we often lack today as young people."

The Romic plant has been handling toxic chemicals from area companies since long before activists like Burns were born - and before East Palo Alto was a city. When the plant opened in 1964, the baylands were littered with auto wrecking yards and warehouses. In fact, it wasn't until about 1990, after a series of fires and an investigation into chemical contamination, that the existence of Romic became a big issue in town.
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