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Pope supports environmental justice in Ecuador, will he in the US?

by Vesta Davis

Since being elected pope in March 2013, Pope Francis has been ruffling some feathers. Many consider him to be the most progressive pope yet. He has openly stated that the Catholic Church has been too focused on the topics of gay marriage, birth control, and abortion, while neglecting the poor and the marginalized. Pope Francis has frequently mentioned climate change, the environment, and the people who will suffer the most from global warming.

Before coming to the United States for his 3-city tour of the country, the Pope spent his July traveling through Bolivia, Ecuador, and Paraguay, He made history by focusing on the poor communities, prisoners, and youth, rather than endorsing politicians. Perhaps one of the most notable illustrations of this change was in Ecuador when he spoke at the Pontifical Catholic University. He spoke to both students and professors, urging them to not be blinded by their privilege. He implored to them to value their physical environment and to recognize that they are equal to the less privileged, regardless of any difference in education.

For decades now, there has been a building tension in Ecuador between many of the indigenous communities and the president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa. Before the Pope’s arrival, he received numerous requests from indigenous group leaders and environmental activists to address oil extraction in Ecuador and its impact on the poor and indigenous communities. Just this past May, Pope Francis published his second encyclical letter entitled “Laudato si,” in which he argues the importance of environmental stewardship and sustainable development, particularly for poor and indigenous communities.

Since Correa assumed the presidency in 2007, oil extraction has become a major issue in Ecuador. In 2007, Correa initiated the Yasuni-ITT project, with the hopes of receiving outside funding and making local oil drilling unnecessary.  However, this plan was scrapped in 2013. Thus, Correa auctioned off about 3 million acres of land to the Chinese oil conglomerate PetroOriential in exchange for $1.2 billion. The oil extraction in Ecuador will occur within the Yasuni National Park, one of the most bio-diverse regions of the world and home to numerous indigenous communities.

While it is unlikely that Pope Francis held a private discussion with Correa about oil drilling, he did make a public appeal, claiming that “the tapping of natural resources, which are so abundant in Ecuador, must not be concerned with short-term benefits.” This is all well and good, but it’s not exactly what the indigenous groups and activists were asking for. One of the major benefits of Correa’s plan is that it will decrease poverty throughout Ecuador—1.3 million people have already be alleviated from poverty since Correa became president. However, is a plan to alleviate poverty really successful if it destroys the homes and heritage of a whole other group of people? I think not.

With Pope Francis now arriving in D.C., I am curious to see what social issues he will discuss with President Obama and Congress. Will he perhaps address the Keystone Pipeline fiasco? Or mention other environmental justice and land rights issues that occur in the United States? We’ll have to wait and see.

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Billions of Taxpayer Dollars a Year Spent in Support of Coal Industry

By Dylan Lenzen

Despite recent efforts by the federal government, such as the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, to phase out one of the dirtiest forms of energy generation in coal power plants, a new report shows the US government still provides ample financial support to the coal industry by spending billions of taxpayer dollars on subsidies.   According to this recent report, the US government subsidizes the coal industry to the tune of $2.9 billion a year in the Powder River Basin alone. These subsidies come in the form of direct spending, tax breaks and exemptions, discounted leases, government-funded infrastructure, and reduced funding for cleanup efforts after mining is complete.

This report comes as the climate change, public health, and environmental justice effects of coal energy generation are increasingly being realized. Coal power plants are responsible for roughly one-third of the America’s carbon dioxide emissions. On top of that, coal power plants have long been associated with adverse health effects as a result of toxic SO2, NOx , and particulate matter emissions that lead to billions of dollars in healthcare costs. In addition, according to a report by NAACP, the negative effects of coal power are more likely to be experienced by low-income and minority communities, as power plants are often located in such areas.  Also, NAACP found that the worst performing coal power plants disproportionately affect low-income people of color. So, not only are American citizens forced to bear significant costs of coal energy generation in the form of adverse health effects, but also through their tax dollars, which subsidize the industry and support its proliferation.

While efforts, such the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, are working to reduce coal power’s contribution to climate change and negative public health outcomes, authors of the study on coal subsidies argue that the elimination of this financial support would be the best route to take in order to phase out the dirty energy source. The authors of the study suggest that elimination of subsidies going to the Powder River Basin would result in CO2 emission reductions that are equivalent to closing 9 to 32 coal power plants.

The US and other governments also support other forms of fossil fuel energy generation through subsidies. The International Monetary Fund recently estimated that coal, oil, and gas were supported by $5.3 trillion in subsidies. This figure includes not only direct subsidies, such as tax breaks, but also indirect costs imposed on society that result from the adverse effects of pollution and climate change.

So, maybe the United States government deserves some credit for their work in enacting the Clean Power Plan, but efforts will not adequately address the issues of coal energy generation until the US eliminates opposing policies such as coal subsidies.

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New Citizen Science Resources for Environmental Justice

Citizen science initiatives for environmental monitoring are enabling communities to take their health into their own hands by conducting grassroots monitoring projects. Some of the most recent advances have occurred in the arena of air quality monitoring, providing more readily available resources and training for communities to fight for environmental justice using science.

On July 9th, the EPA held a Community Air Monitoring Training Workshop, sharing tools and trainings to interested community groups on how to start and maintain community monitoring initiatives, and covering technologies that make monitoring more simple and affordable. The training workshop focused specifically on Next Generation Air Monitoring (NGAM) technology, which increasingly includes smaller, more cost-effective sensors and monitoring techniques. Videos and resources from the training are available at the Air Sensor Toolbox for Citizen Scientists website.

Low-income communities and communities of color are overburdened by environmental health threats, and air quality is no exception to this rule. Air pollution may play a key role in increased rates of asthma and other respiratory problems within low-income communities of color, which compound with other stressors to profoundly decrease quality of life for these populations. Many low-income communities are located in proximity to emission sources including highways and power plants, placing these communities on the frontlines of environmental exposure.

As the EPA states in their Roadmap for Next Generation Air Monitoring techniques, traditional air quality monitoring relies on stationary equipment, which capture data only on the air quality in their immediate vicinity. Not only does this method miss small variations in air quality between neighborhoods and even streets, it fails to consider indoor sources which are highly relevant for determining individual exposures. Traditional air quality monitoring, with its focus on average air quality values, fails to capture the full, cumulative burdens faced by our most environmentally vulnerable communities.  By using more portable sensors to gather environmental data, citizens and community groups can gather data that better reflects that spatial variation in air pollution, while gaining a better understanding of their individual exposures.

While the Air Sensor Toolbox is a valuable addition to citizen science resources, it is far from perfect. Because these devices are lower-tech and new to the monitoring field, they cannot usually provide data that holds up in the regulatory sphere. While I am excited to see monitoring technology in the hands of communities, it would be an unfortunate outcome if they grow to bear the burden for producing environmental data that fails to be acknowledged as legitimate in the legislative sphere. Additionally, in their post advertising the videos, an EPA writer states  that several of these devices cost less than a thousand dollars. While significantly cheaper than high-tech laboratory equipment, this cost may still places monitoring devices out of reach of the most vulnerable communities who could most benefit from these resources. As a scientist, I hope to see more outreach projects in the future from both government agencies and academic institutions focused specifically on building capacity for citizen science and providing resources to make these initiatives even more accessible

More resources, including videos of trainings from the recent workshop, are available at EPA’s website.

For outstanding examples of citizen science in action, visit the website of the Global Community Monitor, and read about communities tackling air pollution with low-cost “bucket brigades.”

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Community Fights to Preserve Historic School

The Ivy City section of the northeast Washington, DC is one of the oldest African American neighborhoods in the district, established in 1872. It is the home of the Alexander Crummell Elementary School that served the Black children of Ivy City and Trinidad, a neighboring community. The school was named in 1911 for Alexander Crummell, a noted abolitionist, educator and clergyman, and a champion for Black Lives in his time.

The school was closed in 1977 and has been abandoned since. Residents fought and defeated a plan in 2013 by then Mayor Vincent Gray to use the school parking lot as a bus depot while construction continued at the nearby Union Station train station. Neighbors and activists worried that there already was too much pollution and industrial use in a neighborhood where about 1,200 people struggle to live every day. The school located in the heart of the neighborhood had been previously targeted by the city government for undesirable projects including a junk yard and later for rezoning to commercial land use. The neighboring residents however, wanted none of that. Instead, they want the school building and property to benefit their community. The local residents want the school restored and renovated “in a manner that serves, protects and uplifts area residents and their environment, and honors the legacy of Alexander Crummell.”

According to the website Black Past, Crummell was born in New York City and spent much of his life addressing the conditions of African Americans while urging an educated black elite to aspire to the highest intellectual attainments as a refutation of the theory of black inferiority. He was educated at Queens College at Cambridge University in England where he became the first black student to graduate from Cambridge. Crummell eventually settled in Washington, D.C. where he founded St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. Crummell lectured widely across the United States on race issues. From 1895 to 1897 he taught at Howard University in Washington, D.C. In 1897, the last year of his life, Crummell helped found the American Negro Academy and became its first president, with W.E.B. DuBois and William Saunders Scarborough as vice presidents.  Alexander Crummell, who would become a major influence on myriad black leaders including DuBois, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, and Marcus Garvey, died in Point Pleasant, New Jersey in 1898. The school was added to both the DC and National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

Friends of the Alexander Crummell School was formed to achieve the restoration and reuse of the school. For more information go to <www.Cummellschool.org>.

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Remembering 9/11’s Effects on a Forgotten Community

By Kaley Beins

At 8:45am on September 11, 2001, the first plane hit the north tower of the World Trade Center, and so many lives fundamentally changed. Now, 14 years later, though we continue to remember the lives lost that day, the tragedy lives on in many ways.

In the aftermath of the attacks, many New Yorkers criticized former EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman for claiming, “Given the scope of the tragedy from last week, I am glad to reassure the people of New York … that their air is safe to breathe and the water is safe to drink.” In 2004 the Mount Sinai Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine reported that first responders were likely to have respiratory problems as a result of their exposure to the caustic dust, eventually concluding in a 2009 study that first responders were twice as likely to have asthma as the general public. Although Mount Sinai posted a 9/11 health advisory in 2001 and advised New York City health officials to follow suit, NYC did not distribute health information until 2006, 5 years after the attacks. Researchers continue to study health problems related to 9/11, and have found possible links to cancer, kidney problems, and heart disease. While there are now health programs such as the WTC Environmental Health Center to help with health problems related to 9/11, the long-term health effects first responders face as a result of their heroism are stark.

There is another group potentially affected by the air pollution and debris from September 11th: the inhabitants of Chinatown. One of the residential areas nearest Ground Zero, Chinatown, Manhattan has the largest Chinese population in the Western Hemisphere. The neighborhood demographics also include immigrants from Hong Kong, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Burma, the Philippines, and West Africa. Its median household income is less than $36,000, about 30% lower than the median household income for New York City as a whole, and only 55% of residents 18 years or older have a high school diploma. The 2005 American Community Survey found that almost 90% of Chinatown residents speak a language other than English at home. The combination of economic pressure and a language barrier puts Chinatown in a precarious position in terms of public health.

According to a 2007 study from NYU School of Medicine’s Center for the Study of Asian American Health about a third of Chinese participants needed a translator during medical appointments. Although organizations such as the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center are addressing the lack of resources for Asia Americans in New York, the health disparity in the Chinatown community may leave them even more susceptible to 9/11-related health problems.

Ground One: Voices from Post-9/11 Chinatown has interviewed people from Chinatown, including healthcare professionals, about the effects of the attacks on their communities. Dr. Blanche Leung, a physician affiliated with NYU’s Tisch Hospital, has noticed an increase in complaints about respiratory problems in her Chinatown patients that could potentially be related to the attacks. Following the events of September 11th, she wrote prescriptions for air purifiers. Dr. Sun Hoo Foo, a neurologist at Downtown Hospital, said that the economic problems Chinatown faced after 9/11 meant many of his patients lost their jobs and therefore their medical insurance. As the Ground One project says on their website, “9/11 was a national tragedy that exposed local fault lines.” While it is crucial to support the first responders in their health struggles, who is supporting Chinatown?

Part of environmental justice is giving equal attention and consideration to every affected community. Unfortunately, more limited access to healthcare may prevent residents of Chinatown from receiving the care they need. As we remember the lives of those lost on that horrific day 14 years ago, let us not forget those who continue to face its lingering effects, particularly when they still lack support.

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Where In The World Is Gina McCarthy?

Has EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy totally written off oversight and action in contaminated communities and the Superfund program? Is she just turning a deaf ear to the cries for help?
McCarthy did visited Colorado after and EPA cleanup accidentally released a million gallons of toxic wastewater into the Animas River, a tributary of the Colorado River turning the water orange color. That was so big, so bad, she just couldn’t ignore it.
McCarthy said about the accident, “It is a heartbreaking situation.” I can’t disagree with that but what about all the on-going toxic waste sites where children, hardworking tax paying families live and can’t even get a simple response or acknowledgement from her office?
I’ve never seen so many community being treated so poorly by EPA. This past week in Springfield, Ohio over 700 people turned out at a meeting to tell EPA “NO.” Even the Chamber of Commerce (not always standing with us) paid for buses to help people get to the EPA meeting to show EPA people are serious. State Senator Chris Widener (R) also called on EPA to remove hazardous. Quite loudly they said, “Dig it up and take it out!”  Did that get McCarthy’s attention?
EPA wants to dig up more than 2.8 million gallons of wastes that sits over the drinking water aquifer and put it into an adjunct hole, which also sits above the aquifer that provides drinking water to county families. The community has been fighting for years to get the wastes away from their drinking water source.
Ohio not alone. A deaf ear was turned to the folks in Birmingham, Alabama a low wealth community of color. Instead of listening to a very strong assessment by the federal health agency (ATSDR) that children are at serious risk in North Birmingham stating:

  • Past and current exposure to arsenic found in surface soil of some residential yards could harm people’s health.
  • Children are especially at risk. past and current exposure to lead found in surface soil of some residential yards could harm people’s health.
  • Swallowing this lead‐contaminated soil could cause harmful health effects, especially in children and in the developing fetus of pregnant women. long‐term exposure to PAHs found in the surface soil of some residential yards is at a level of concern for lifetime cancer risk.

EPA’s response is to tell parents to not let their children into their homes until they have taken their shoe and clothes off.
Does Administrator McCarthy really think this is the answer? Has she even talked to her staff about why they are handling this situation or others so poorly? I doubt it.
Missouri joins Ohio and Alabama in being ignored. St. Louis, MO almost every politician from federal Senator Blunt (R) to most recently the County Executive, has asked EPA and McCarthy personally to address the concerns of the burning landfill moving toward the radioactive waste landfill and cluster of childhood cancers. Yesterday a new report from the Attorney General’s office said the groundwater and, yes the trees around the site, are radioactive.
The community leaders Just Moms STL raised money through bake sales and traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with the administrator this past spring and she closed her door to them. She was there in her office and choose to ignore the mothers who came to talk with her.
I understand that Administrator Gina McCarthy has a full plate with Climate Change, Air Standards and so on but people are literally dying. Her office has only suggested that concerned public should look to the regional offices for help.  Unfortunately, regional offices don’t have the authority to open a Record of Decision or relocate temporarily or permanently families at risk.
Many are advocating a federal investigation on EPA and Gina McCarthy’s response or better the lack of response to serious toxic waste crisis. If you are interested in helping to advocate an investigative hearing let us know and we’ll connect you with others.
Gina McCarthy, enough is enough, please pay attention.

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Katrina: 10 Years Later – An Uneven Recovery

Two days ago marked the 10th anniversary of the landfall of Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast. The greatest impact was in the city of New Orleans where the failure of the federal levees submerged some 80% of the city. An estimated 400,000 people were evacuated or displaced from their homes and over 1,800 died, the majority of whom were from New Orleans.

There were bands in the street celebrating the city’s recovery. Specials on CNN and network TV. President Obama stopped by, as did former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. There was a conference hosted by The Atlantic recognizing the city’s resilience. Most major newspapers ran features commemorating that dreadful day and the city’s remarkable recovery. The city has been largely rebuilt and repopulated since that disaster.

Except, not really. Some areas, such as the Lower 9th Ward, that were hardest hit, have struggled to return to normal and face serious challenges, including persistent crime and intrinsic poverty. As detailed in a sobering feature in Mother Jones earlier this month, “Four of the city’s poorest neighborhoods, including the Lower Ninth Ward, are still largely abandoned, with less than half of their pre-storm populations.” NPR’s Greg Allen was quoted in the article following a visit to the area earlier this summer. “One of the first things you notice is the many empty lots, several on every street. Instead of houses, they now hold weeds and tall grass… Some streets are so filled with potholes, cars can’t drive down them. There are a few convenience stores and fast food stands, but no supermarkets or grocery stores.” The article continues: “Some residents in the neighborhood sold their properties to the state after the storm, Allen explained. Others wanted to rebuild their homes but did not receive enough federal money to cover the costs of reconstruction.” Some areas that were less severely damaged are recovering, with higher-earning residents moving into previously working-class neighborhoods. It’s not a pretty picture.

BuzzFeed News reporters also visited Louisiana and Mississippi speaking to dozens of people whose lives were changed by the storm. They published a series of articles “on how life, crime, and politics have shifted since the storm hit 10 years ago.” One feature questioned whether the gentrification that is occurring throughout the city was saving New Orleans or ruining it. “New bike lanes have been built, massive redevelopment projects are underway, and commercial areas like Broad Street in Mid-City … which once were home to liquor stores and check cashing joints, now have boutique tea shops, gourmet restaurants, and upscale grocery stores.”

While change is inevitable, what made New Orleans so unique is its people and its culture. If the changes that the city continues to go through prevent many of the people that made this uniqueness work from living there, what then what will the city really have gained?

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New Study Highlights Reproductive Risks from Fracking Chemicals

Could pollution from unconventional oil and gas drilling cause reproductive problems? Scientists at the University of Missouri are trying to answer this question. A study published yesterday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives assessed the research so far on endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in chemicals used for hydraulic fracturing. The study presented research linking fracking to EDCs, and the authors recommended an increased focus on these compounds in assessing health risks from fracking pollution.

Endocrine disrupting compounds are a class of chemicals that can alter the delicately balanced endocrine system of the human body, interfering with processes involved in development and reproduction. Some EDCs prevent the endocrine system from carrying out normal functions, while others can mimic hormones naturally found in the body and cause increased endocrine activity. As the study authors note, EDCs are of particular concern because they can have effects at very low concentrations, especially during the early stages of development. Small doses of EDCs can cause drastic health changes, some of which can persist across generations.

One section of the study looked at the endocrine disrupting properties of individual chemicals in fracking fluid. Unfortunately, the identities of many of the approximately 1000 chemicals used in the fracking process are kept under wraps by industry, limiting the extent to which scientists can test any of the health effects they present. Of the chemicals the researchers were able to test, many had endocrine-disrupting properties. When the scientists assessed water samples from areas where drilling-related spills had occurred, they also found elevated endocrine disrupting activity. Chemicals involved in fracking processes are associated with reproductive effects, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and cancer, and several epidemiological studies cited in the paper found elevated risks for these problems in drilling-dense areas.

The study also focused on identifying gaps in our knowledge of EDCs in fracking chemicals. While our understanding of the impacts of individual chemicals is growing, we need to develop better methods for predicting and assessing how these chemicals might interact as part of a complex mixture, where the presence of multiple compounds could result in a more potent disruptive effect than that of one chemical alone. By studying concentrations of EDCs and their byproducts in people’s systems, we can determine what chemicals people are actually exposed to, and gather better information on whether these exposures are related to long-term health issues.

Overall, the study concluded that fracking health studies should include a significant focus on endocrine disrupting compounds. Among the many risks presented by fracking, exposure to complex mixtures of EDCs in the environment may prove to have extraordinary longterm effects.

Learn more:  http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/advpub/2015/8/ehp.1409535.acco.pdf

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Historic Environmental Justice Group Threatens to Sue EPA

August 26, 2015

Veteran St. Louis Activist Threatens to Sue EPA

Our group and others are filing a legal notice with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today demanding immediate action to stop oil and gas companies from dumping drilling and fracking waste in ways that threaten public health and the environment. We’ll like file a federal lawsuit in 60 days.

Statement of Laura Barrett of St. Louis, Executive Director, Center for Health, Environment and Justice

“Our group, CHEJ, and others are filing a legal notice today with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency demanding immediate action to stop oil and gas companies from dumping drilling and fracking waste in ways that threaten public health and the environment. We’ll likely file a federal lawsuit in 60 days.

The oil and gas industry is growing by leaps and bounds.  EPA must do its job and update and enforce these vital regulations. Our water and air are threatened by toxic waste from the improper storage of fracking wastes while corporate polluters are allowed to run wild. Homes, small businesses, and low income and indigenous communities are being laid to waste by an industry that is virtually unregulated.”


Statement of Lois Gibbs, Founder, Center for Health, Environment and Justice

“For public safety, EPA must update its woefully outdated 25+ year old regulations on the fast growing oil and gas industry.  I have been called the “Mother of the Superfund” because of the work that I did to get relief for children and families poisoned by toxic wastes in Love Canal.  We won relocation for over 800 families because President Carter and EPA finally stepped up.  The EPA must act now before more rural, indigenous, innocent communities are destroyed.”

More information is available here.

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I’m Dying of Cancer … It Was Preventable

Mary has terminal lung cancer. She never smoked. But what she did do is walk around the local park every morning 24 laps. She believed that she was doing a good thing for her health, getting exercise and fresh air.

Unfortunately, the park that she walked daily was found to be contaminated with radioactive materials. It’s all part of the St. Louis historical work on the Manhattan Project. Mary attended the local meeting this past week about the cleanup of the radioactive wastes. Officials told her that they were not going to close the park that she once walked around daily because the children are back in school. The children, they believe wouldn’t spend much time in the park because of school so they didn’t need to take any  action.

Outraged that no one would close the park, the park she believed was the root cause of her now death sentence, Mary decided to do something about it.  Mary stood in front of the park with a sign that asked people to ask her why she was there, so she could tell them her story. How her grandson will never really know his Nana because she will be gone before they can do much together.

Today the park that Mary once walked laps around  is closed, because Mary wouldn’t leave the entrance with her yellow sign “Park Closed,”  until it was officially closed to innocent children and families. Thank you Mary.

The unfortunate truth is that it took a victim of radioactive exposure, a mother and grandmother to take a stand and protect the innocent from known harm. Where are our health protectors?  Where are the local, state and more importantly federal health authorities that have jurisdiction  and decision making powers when such decisions are needed. Who are they afraid of?

I’m am so tired of the federal government who has investigated and defined the cleanup and testing of this site and so many other sites, turn their heads when it comes to making a decision about protecting the public health. This is not the case when the public is placed at risk from food poisoning or a drug that proved to be more harmful than thought. Why are people exposed to radioactive wastes or toxic wastes the abandoned child? Why is there No Protection or Unequal Protection under government authorities when it comes to working class or low wealth families?

Time and time again we at CHEJ have seen that families are ignored when it comes to the real life threat of exposures to materials that will cause cancer and other diseases. It is well past time that the health professionals who took an oath “to do know harm” to step up to the plate and protect innocent families in the same manner, in the same time frame, as they do families exposed to food related or drug related health impacts.

To hear Mary speak to this issue you can connect to the Youtube video and begin at 1:59, but be sure to have a box of tissues handy to wipe your eyes because the personal testimony is very powerful and sad.