Racial Discrimination Alleged in Contaminated Land Case

SANTA ANA, CA-The Santa Ana Unified School District and Rancho Santiago Community College District are charging that the land allocated to them by the City of Tustin from the closed Marine Corps Air Station is so polluted that it is a way of keeping their mostly Hispanic students out of the city.

The districts, along with the Mexican American Legal Defense & Education Fund (MALDEF), filed the suit, alleging Title VI discrimination against the school districts’ students, a majority of whom are ethnic minorities, largely Hispanic.

Originally, the US Department of Defense decided to close the base in 1991, naming the City of Tustin the Local Redevelopment Authority (LRA) for the base closure. The lion’s share of the base’s 1,585 acres was in the City of Tustin, with a small portion in the City of Irvine.