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Local environmental groups say a recent American Lung Association study that found Latinos are more than twice as likely to live next to major freeways and thereby suffer more acutely from respiratory ailments merely confirms what they have known for years. "In my (opinion), the important thing is, what do we do now?' said Scott Kuhn, legal director for Communities for a Better Environment. "What are we doing to address this There have been enough studies showing there are problems. Now the debate should be shifting to finding solutions.' The report, "Lung Disease Data in Culturally Diverse Communities: 2005,' released last month, showed disproportionately higher rates of asthma among Latinos and African Americans, and linked their asthma rates to where they live. In addition, the report said Latinos in particular tend to work in jobs that expose them to air pollution and possible lung disease citing industries such as agriculture, mining, textiles, demolition and manufacturing. Penalties handed out to polluters who violate federal hazardous waste laws were 500-percent lower in minority communities, compared to areas where whites live, the Lung Association report also found. Kuhn, whose organization led a community-based fight to keep the CENCO refinery from reopening in Santa Fe Springs, said his group has gathered large amounts of anecdotal information that bears out the study's findings. The study "confirms what we've already known from our work in Santa Fe Springs, or Wilmington, or Southeast Los Angeles' that minority communities are "disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards,' Kuhn said. [more]