Before the trucks came, Mira Loma Village was a quiet, 100-home neighborhood of modest ranchers in the city of Jurupa Valley. It was seen as a respite for those seeking open land, big sky, and a break from the constant whir of Los Angeles, just a 50-minute drive west. Miles of equestrian trails thread the city, and in some neighborhoods built specifically for keeping horses, those trails even take the place of sidewalks.

Starting in the 1990s, a 15-square-mile warehouse district was steadily built around the mostly low-income Hispanic community. Thousands of diesel delivery trucks followed. Now, enclosed by a tightening belt of traffic, Mira Loma residents live with ailments they’ve never had before, like chronic asthma, allergies, nosebleeds, and near-constant cold symptoms. Kids’ lungs aren’t developing like they should. Cancer is a constant worry.

Seeking environmental justice for their community, families in Mira Loma and throughout the city of Jurupa Valley, population 106,000, have spent decades advocating and mobilizing for change. That change finally came in October, when the Jurupa Valley city council approved plans to reroute diesel trucks out of Mira Loma and through Jurupa Valley’s industrial corridor instead. It’s not a permanent fix to the pollution that has plagued the community, but activists say it’s the first time families feel like their local government is listening to their concerns.

Read the full article about California's diesel death zones by the team at Grist.