Woman" The Last Lady Standing, that's my e-mail address until I leave this Earth.

Hoague: Being a researcher and being someone that looks like they could be from the community, being someone who can be trusted, that's, like, another really important piece of being able to do scholar activist work.

Woman: Ujima Village was built on top of a oil tank... Hoague: Mm-hmm.

Woman: and according to the attorneys, we should have known the place was contaminated.

Hoague: I read the case that you sent to me.

Woman: Right.

We should have known?

Hoague: I feel like it's my responsibility to use my research skills to be able to advocate for the people of Watts...

I was going to ask if you have a faucet that hasn't been run as much today.

Like, I know that you said that you have two bathrooms.

Woman: Maybe outside faucet.

Hoague: Yeah.

[Water running] Woman: OK. Hoague: OK. ...being a researcher and going into the community with the project that I want to do, asking the community members, "What is it that you need?"

and then being able to use my position as a student and becoming an expert to give voice to community.

I told you that I called Kleinfelder, right, the ExxonMobil people who did the-- Woman: No.

You didn't tell me.

Hoague: They sent me these new maps.

They said that they couldn't send me the ones from 2010... Woman: Mm-hmm.

Hoague: because we needed them digitally, and, because they wouldnt send them to me, we had to go and get them scanned for $750.

I think my work as a social scientist has really drawn me to this place because I'm interested in how lead ends up in a place like Watts.

I'm going to test the tap water because if this house has lead pipes, it'll read.

Any kind of lead that is brought into the home from water, soil, dust, or lead paint is harmful.

It's harmful to anyone's health but specifically children, who have more hand-to-mouth contact and ingest more.

That is what is so detrimental to the population here, and it is why people have a truncated lifespan, so if the water doesn't get you, the soil will get you.

Woman: And then my daughter, she done had 3 operations, tumors in her throat.

Initially, I asked, "Where did I get this from?"

and what they said firstly was like, "It could be environmental.

We don't know."

Hoague: To be able to provide facts based on what we do know is true, we're able to give veracity to the claims of the residents here.

I can drive us in my car.

Smith: Thank you, because my car is-- Hoague: My car's a mess right now.

Smith: This is Ujima Village.

Aint it nice?

All of this was apartments and townhouses, and my apartment was right over here.

♪ Hoague: Environmental justice is something that has been kind of cropping up, especially, like, with what the EPA is trying to do, what different state agencies are trying to do, and our job is to get Watts in front of them to make sure that this marginalized community is being pushed to the center of what's going on.

Smith: That's what people say-- "What are you fighting for?"

I'm fighting for justice.

Justice need to be done.

Hoague: Mm-hmm.