As Laura M. Holson from the New York Times reports, as climate change dialogue is increasing across the country, be it through realistic portrayals or fictionalized Hollywood movies, children are increasingly nervous about the prospect of impending disaster. Children, especially, are feeling the impacts of our overall anxiety about climate change because much of the messaging is directed at them, explaining how our children are the ones that will feel the worst impacts of our warming planet.
As climate change becomes a very real issue weighing on our kids’ minds, here are some ways to explore the topic to help our kids feel as though they have agency over their futures. <Read more>
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Tag: Environmental Justice
Last Monday, the Supreme Court ruled on Virginia Uranium vs. Warren, a case questioning whether Virginia had the authority to ban Uranium mining, the New York Times Reports. The justices were deciding whether the Atomic Energy Act, a federal law regarding Uranium, would overturn Virginia’s decision to ban the practice after a fierce battle beginning in the 1970s, when Uranium was first discovered in the state.
The Supreme Court upheld Virginia’s right to ban Uranium Mining, with Justice Neil M. Gorusch (joined by Justice Thomas and Justice Kavanaugh) stating that states should have the authority to regulate their own policies on mining. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (joined by Justice Sotomayor and Justice Kagan) wrote a second opinion, agreeing with much of Gorusch’s analysis but stated that Gorusch’s opinion discussing the perils of questioning the motives of legislation “sweeps well beyond the confines of the case”.
Chief Justice Roberts, along with Justice Breyer and Justice Alito, offered a dissenting opinion. <Read more>
Members of the Seneca Nation paddled down the entire 290 miles of the Allegheny River, called Ohi:yo’ (meaning beautiful river) in the Seneca language, in a journey called Paddle for Peace to Protect Our Waters. The journey has been organized by Seneca cause Defend Ohi:yo’, a group that helped stop corporations from dumping treated fracking water in the river just last year. The purpose of the journey is to raise awareness about the importance of protecting the environment and to protest a proposed pipeline project that will threaten the region’s rivers. <Read more>
- One of many bends down the 290 mile length of Ohi:yo’ (Allegheny) River
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This is the question that journalist Jim Daley raised recently in an article published in Scientific American. According to the article, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is substantially changing the program that evaluates the toxicity of chemicals by shifting staff and program emphasis from the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) to duties related to implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Daley writes that “Former EPA officials contend that the shake-up takes chemical assessments out of the hands of career scientists, potentially to the detriment of public health.”
As evidence of this shift, Daley writes that that the agency has reduced the number of its ongoing chemical toxicity assessments from twenty to three.
The IRIS Program began in 1985 to support EPA’s mission to protect human health and the environment by identifying and characterizing the health hazards of chemicals found in the environment. The IRIS program has become the most respected scientific program in the agency. Its health assessments are the backbone of EPA risk analysis work and is the preferred source of toxicity information used by EPA to determine public health risks. It is also an important source of toxicity information used by state and local health agencies, other federal agencies, and international health organizations.
The TSCA program on the other has a much narrower focus which is primarily on reporting, record-keeping and testing requirements, and restrictions relating to chemical substances and/or mixtures, according to EPA’s website. Certain substances are not covered by TSCA including food, drugs, cosmetics and pesticides. While the 2016 amendment to TSCA greatly improved this regulation, it did not address its narrow focus. This shift began with the leadership of Andrew Wheeler who took over for a beleaguered Scott Pruitt as administrator of EPA in July 2018.
One EPA official who declined to be identified was quoted in the Daley article saying that IRIS and TSCA are “very different” in their approaches to evaluating the public health risks posed by exposure to chemicals. “One could make the argument that this is political interference, in that high-level people are saying which methodology we should be using to assess the safety of a chemical. “And the policy’s pretty clear that they’re not supposed to do that.”
Bernard Goldstein, Professor Emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, who served as EPA Assistant Administrator of the Office of Research and Development (ORD) from 1983 to 1985, summed it up this way in the Daley article, “I really see this as part of a restructuring of EPA in such a way that science will have very little to do with what EPA is basing its regulation on, and that we will end up with much weaker regulations in terms of protecting public health. “It’s troubling, in large part because it’s very consistent with an overall approach – a very astute approach – to take out the inconvenient facts.” Also cited in the same article was a comment by Thomas Burke from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a former EPA lead scientist adviser and Deputy Administrator of ORD from 2015 to 2017, “’any reduction’ of the number of IRIS chemical assessments ‘is a loss for public health and, unfortunately, puts populations who are exposed at risk.’”
Read the full article here.
A new elementary school in Moore County, North Carolina, is to be constructed between two Superfund sites threatened by high levels of air pollution, NC Policy Watch reports. According to the city, the site bears no heightened risk of contamination, but CHEJ science director Stephen Lester isn’t so sure. Stephen shares CHEJ’s findings that there is no scientifically proven “safe distance” from pollution sites, and he calls into question effectiveness of current school siting guidelines. He recommends that parents sending their kids to the new Aberdeen elementary school in the future be incredibly vigilent about changes in their children’s health.
The Moore County case is particularly relevant because the new Aberdeen elementary school would serve primarily low-income students and students of color. In many ways, constructing a new elementary school is a push toward progress, as existing Aberdeen elementary schools were built during the segregation era. However, the new elementary school’s future location could potentially mean disproportionately exposing students of color and low income students to environmental contamination. As Stephen says, children are at higher risk for health complications from pollution contamination, and no child should have to face health complications due to pollution. <Read more>
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Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
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From the leaders of Minden’s movement for justice:
Reflecting on the March for Minden
On Saturday, June 8th, over 150 Minden residents and allies marched through Minden into Oak Hill to bring awareness to the long-term impacts of PCB exposure. They took to the streets to memorialize the Minden residents who they believe lost their lives to PCBs, to support those who are currently suffering from PCB-related illnesses and to pay tribute to the activism that first brought attention to toxic dumping in Minden in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
The march was a 30th anniversary historical reenactment of an event that took place in 1989, when Concerned Citizens for Fayette County organized a march to demand that the government provide clean up and relocation for Minden residents. Meeting a goal that was made by those same marchers decades ago, Minden was recently added to the National Priorities List of Superfund sites. The EPA’s National Priorities List is reserved for the most toxic sites in the United States. Placement on the list gives Minden more access to funds for testing, clean up, and potentially, for relocation.
The Minden Community Action Team has three major demands. First, members demand that those who wish to leave Minden receive government support for relocation. In addition, the group believes it is essential that past and present Minden residents should have access to specialized healthcare for those who have been exposed to PCB’s and other chemicals. The group also is demanding a thorough clean-up and decision making power for those who may choose to stay after the community is relocated.
According to marchers, the long, uphill route out of Minden that participants walked during the march symbolizes the uphill battle for justice and relocation in this small but strong community. Allies from all over West Virginia and six different surrounding states marched with Minden residents. Their energy and support strengthened the marchers resolve to keep walking and keep fighting. As Jean Evansmore, a community activist from Mt. Hope, stated about the marchers who travelled many hours to stand in solidarity with Minden, “People realize that this issue affects all of us because we’re all humans who want to put an end to suffering. “If it’s hurting you, I don’t care where you live…it’s hurting me.”
Minden residents and allies spoke at the culmination of the march in Oak Hill about their motivation for making that long walk and getting involved in organizing for justice. Eddie “Percy” Fruit pushed a barrel up the length of the march in homage to Lucien Randall, who did the same 30 years ago. Thinking of these organizers decades ago, Percy reflected, “My thanks goes out to Lucian Randall, Larry Rose and John David, who started out a quest to make a wrong right. So many lives have been lost to cancer from PCBs. Thank you pioneers…the fight will continue.”
Sixteen year-old Marcayla King took to the stage and expressed her desire to see justice for Minden residents. “I’ve lived in Minden most of my life and have been told to stay away from the creeks and the soil,” she said, “Even with the death tolls rising, with family and neighbors getting sick, we’ve been told that it’s safe and there’s nothing to worry about. The only solution is to relocate so that people in Minden have an opportunity to have a better quality of life.” Marcayla then went on to explain how she and a group of high school students conducted tests for PCBs in Minden and determined that levels of the chemical were over 50 parts per million–far from safe for human exposure.
Kimberly Duncan spoke about the loss, grief and illness PCBs have inflicted on her body and the lives of family members. “I’ve lived in Minden since 1989, in a little white house, right next to the Shaffer site,” Kimberly said. “Our kids use to play in mines where they didn’t know the PCBs were dumped. I was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2007. Because of the aggressive treatments of chemotherapy, I went from being an independent person to needing help with everything. I grieve for my lost loved ones and family and neighbors. My dad had skin cancer on his face. My son is getting checked for thyroid cancer. I have over five family members that have seizures.” Reflecting on the activists of the 80’s and 90’s, Kimberly noted, “The women who marched then were called hysterical housewives. But those women were right.”
Lois Gibbs, whose organizing in her community of Love Canal, site of the infamous environmental disaster, led to a national emergency declaration and eventually to the creation of EPA’s Superfund, also attended. Local environmental activist, Pamela Nixon whose work in her hometown of Institute, West Virginia, led to the creation of the Community Right to Know Act that was enacted in 1986 showed up in support as well.
While Minden residents and allies grieve for the lives that have been taken by PCBs, they continue to have faith in the power of community to serve as an instrument for hope, change, and justice. Remarking on Minden’s placement on the NPL list, Lois Gibbs said of the Minden Communit Action Team, “you might not have had a perfect victory, but you have power, and you are a force to be reckoned with.”
For further media inquiries about the March for Minden, contact Brandon Richardson at 304-640-6353
Categories
March for Minden
Join us June 8th in Minden, WV
This March will be taking place on the 30th anniversary of a march that happened in June 1989. The participants are marching again for the same basic needs. We are reenacting the march by using the same route, recruiting the same allies, and bringing awareness to the same issue. The March for Minden is to increase awareness about the problems that face the toxic town of Minden. Participants will be remembering those who have needlessly lost their lives because of toxic PCB exposure, showing support for those who are currently suffering from PCB related illness, and paying respect to the activism done in the 1980’s&1990’s when the Concerned Citizens to Save Fayette County first tried to get something done about the toxic dumping.
The March will begin at 3:00PM at 1574 Minden Rd. which is the old company store. We will march in the road out of Minden, on to Main St. Oak Hill, down Central Avenue, and to the Oak Hill City Park where we will have an assembly with speakers from Minden as well as special guests. We will continue to the Collins Park on Burgess Street in Oak Hill where toxic Minden dirt was dumped as a part of Oak Hill’s recent sewer upgrade construction. We will Bring attention to the toxic dirt and have Music provided by Lady-D. At Dusk, we will have a candlelight vigil to remember all of our people who have fallen because of the decade’s long PCB contamination.
For more information:
Susie Worley-Jenkins: 304-640-3653
Annetta Coffman: 304-228-1145
March Logistics: Brandon Richardson: 304-640-3653
The Environmental Protection Agency plans to change the way it calculates the future health risks of air pollution, a shift that would predict thousands of fewer deaths and would help justify the planned rollback of a key climate change measure, according to five people with knowledge of the agency’s plans. <Read more>
Portland and Oregon have struck a deal with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency aimed at accelerating work on the Portland Harbor Superfund cleanup. <Read more>.
Minden, a small Fayette County [WV] community, is now officially on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Priorities List of Superfund sites, making it a federal priority for enforcement, cleanup and funding. <Read more>