Video: Meet an Environmental Justice Champion

UPDATE: Read more about Becky Quintana in this Vida en el Valle story.

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“Do you want clean water or dirty water?” Becky Quintana called out from her kitchen, in a joking tone.

For an hour or so, Quintana, a resident of the tiny Tulare County community of Seville, had been telling me about her fight to improve the drinking water quality in her neighborhood and in communities throughout the San Joaquín Valley.

She spoke with such passion that it was no surprise she needed to gulp water – from a bottle of Aquafina. (Seville’s water, which courses through 100-year-old pipes, has high levels of bacteria and nitrates.)

For her passion and dedication to improving drinking water quality in San Joaquin Valley communities, Quintana has earned the 2010 Environmental Justice Champion award from the U.S. EPA, Region 9. She is expected to receive the award on Thursday in Los Angeles.

That’s just one of the many ways Quintana – a member of the local group, Committe for a Better Seville, and the Community Water Center organization AGUA – has been recognized for her water advocacy efforts. She was recently profiled in the Los Angeles Times, interviewed by the Today show, and is scheduling an interview with the BBC.

Maria Herrera, community outreach coordinator for the Community Water Center, said Quintana deserves all of these recognitions.

“I’ve know Becky since late 2008, and I have really seen her transform into this incredible community activist that is not just fighting for basic things for her community, but also for the many communities that are in the same situation that Seville is,” Herrera said.

Watch the video below to hear Becky Quintana explain, in her own words, why she is dedicated to fighting for clean, safe, affordable drinking water for San Joaquín Valley communities.

Do you know an environmental justice champion in your community? Describe the champion in the comments section, and I’ll try to feature him or her in an upcoming blog!