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Scores Of Cancer Survivors Lead 1998 "Cancer Industry Tour"
San Francisco, CA -- People living with cancer and their allies marched through downtown San Francisco today, stopping at corporate offices of polluters and PR firms to denounce industry-sponsored cancer "awareness" campaigns that hide the link between pollution and skyrocketing cancer rates. The fifth annual "Cancer Industry Tour" is the culmination of "Cancer Industry Awareness Month," timed to coincide with polluter-sponsored National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a PR scam of chemical companies to distract the public from linking skyrocketing cancer rates and pollution. "Living in a community contaminated by toxic waste is why we have so many cancers in Midway Village," said Lula Bishop of the Daly City neighborhood group Midway Residents for Environmental Justice. "We are marching today because the way to stop cancer is to stop corporations from polluting us." "Mammograms and better drugs won't stop cancer rates from rising, but stopping these companies from dumping millions of tons of cancer-causing chemicals into our air and water might," said Barbara Brenner, Executive Director of Breast Cancer Action. "The American Cancer Society, pharmaceutical companies, and Chevron would have you believe that the cancer problem is almost solved.That public relations machine is killing people," said Barbara Brenner. The term "cancer industry" refers to large, polluting corporations (some of whom also make money treating and detecting cancer) and the network of public relations firms and organizations they pay to draw attention away from the link between pollution and rising cancer rates. Cancer Industry companies visited on today's tour included: Chevron, whose refinery in Richmond releases approximately 9,500 tons of toxic air pollution into surrounding communities every year; PG&E, who operates two polluting power plants in San Francisco and is a backer of the proposed Ward Valley nuclear waste dump; American Cancer Society, who has consistently obscured the links between cancer and pollution. ACS has never taken a public stance on any environmental regulation. Porter-Novelli, a PR firm that works with Monsanto, producer of numerous pesticides classified as suspected carcinogens and reproductive toxins. Porter-Novelli persuaded the American Cancer Society to issue a memo downplaying the cancer risk of pesticides. The tour was led by people with cancer, and others marching for loved ones with cancer, and organized by the Toxic Links Coalition, an alliance of community groups, cancer activists, health care, environmental justice and pesticide reform organizations. "Our home is surrounded by fields doused with pesticides, and my son received his first treatment for cancer on his 12th birthday," said Gloria Muruato, a Watsonville resident who will speak in front of the PR firm Porter-Novelli. "It's time for government agencies and the people who are supposed to be protecting us to stop being puppets of the chemical industry and to start being responsive and responsible to our communities. We need to prevent these toxic chemicals from poisoning our children." For More Information, Contact:
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Greenaction works with women's health groups, cancer survivors and community groups living near polluters to make the link between pollution and cancer and other illnesses. We play an active role in the Toxic Links Coalition, a Bay Area alliance working to Stop Cancer Where It Starts. We will play a key role in organizing for the 1998 Cancer Industry Tour of downtown San Francisco, where corporations and government agencies and institutions are held accountable for their practices which threaten the public health and the environment. Greenaction is helping to distribute a new video entitled "Stop Cancer Where It Starts" about the Toxic Links Coalition and last year's Cancer Industry Awareness Tour of downtown San Francisco. Call us at (415) 248-5010 for information on the video and to get involved.
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