[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 26, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E548-E549]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CELEBRATING MARK! LOPEZ, RECIPIENT OF THE 2017 GOLDMAN ENVIRONMENTAL 
                                 PRIZE

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 26, 2017

  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate mark! 
Lopez, a tireless environmental advocate and the executive director of 
East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, on his receipt of this 
year's Goldman Environmental Prize for North America. mark! has played 
an integral role in the fight to test and clean up the contaminated 
homes of families living near the former Exide battery recycling plant, 
which is situated in my 40th Congressional District. Though mark! is 
just 32 years old, his activism and passion have already made a clear 
and positive mark on our community, richly deserving of this global 
recognition.
  mark! was born to a family of activists, and was raised in the midst 
of the activities of Madres del Este de Los Angeles Santa Isabel 
(Mothers of East LA Santa Isabel), an organization cofounded by his 
grandparents, my good friends Juana Beatriz Gutierrez and Ricardo 
Gutierrez, and continued by his mother, Elsa Lopez. Protesting and 
organizing were familiar sights to him from an early age, and during 
his years as an environmental studies major at UC Santa Cruz, he showed 
his commitment to this family tradition as a community organizer and 
activist for the needs of minority students and service workers. His 
dedication to advocacy and the environment foreshadowed his work in the 
fight to close the Exide plant and clean up the polluted lands 
surrounding the facility.
  Exide finally agreed to shut down this plant in 2015, but properties 
for miles around remained contaminated with high levels of lead and 
arsenic. The work of mark! and his colleagues at East Yard Communities 
for Environmental Justice was invaluable in compelling the California 
Department of Toxic Substances Control to expand its testing of 
properties around the plant, and in helping secure a state commitment 
of $176.6 million to test and clean up contaminated homes.
  All families, regardless of their background, regardless of their 
neighborhood, deserve to raise their loved ones in a safe and clean 
environment. Activists like mark! Lopez not only

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help to make that goal a reality, they inspire other citizens to act 
through their example. As testing and cleanup efforts around Exide 
continue, I have no doubt that mark! will be at the forefront of the 
fight to support and protect families imperiled by this terrible 
contamination, and to ensure a pristine environment for all.
  Mr. Speaker, as mark! Lopez is honored with the Goldman Environmental 
Prize, I hope all of my colleagues will join me in commending him on 
receiving this prestigious award and in saluting his commitment to 
environmental justice.

                          ____________________