Taking Action for
Health and Environmental Justice
Green Energy Environmental Justice Campaign
Greenaction works with
urban, rural, desert and Native communities to promote
green, renewable energy - and to oppose proposed and existing polluting
power plants. We have a new brochure "Call
to Action for a Healthy Future: Clean, Renewable and Safe Energy."
Health and Justice for Bayview Hunters Point (San Francisco,
California)
The campaign by Greenaction
and the community to shut
down the polluting PG&E Hunters Point power plant, to oppose the
expansion of Mirant's Potrero power plant, and to support
renewable energy, conservation and energy efficiency is gaining momentum
and making progress.
Greenaction and our partners
in the Community Energy Coalition spoke out at a hearing at San Francisco
City Hall to urge officials to call for the immediate shut down of
the PG&E plant as part of the City's Electricity Plan. While the
City plan has some very positive elements (commitment to renewable
energy and moving away from reliance on fossil fuels), the coalition's
proposal was key to creating a City Plan that truly is protective
of health and the environment. Our proposal was well received, and
we will now work to make it a reality.
We continue our support
for the community in pressuring
the U.S. Navy to do a thorough and safe cleanup of toxic and radioactive
contamination at the Hunters Point Shipyard. In July Greenaction
provided information to residents about the dangers of proposed incineration
of contaminated materials at the shipyard, and with our assistance
the incinerator plan was stopped.
Red Star Yeast/LaSaffre Campaign (West Oakland, California)
Greenaction and community
groups are working
to stop the toxic threat from the Red Star Yeast/LaSaffre factory
that emits cancer causing chemicals and foul odors. We are conducting
a community education and organizing campaign to inform and mobilize
residents who also are exposed to numerous other toxic contamination
and pollution sources including a vinyl chloride contamination site
and diesel truck emissions. Greenaction and the community turned out
in large numbers at the June 20th public hearing held by the Bay Area
Air Quality Management District on Red Star Yeast's Title V Clean
Air Act permit application. Greenaction participated in the September
28th Clean the Air Festival across the street from Red Star. Protests
are continuing at the company's front gates, and we will be escalating
the protests in the coming months.
We are now pressuring the
Air District and the U.S. EPA to comply with their stated commitments
to environmental justice and deny the permit. We are also challenging
the Bay Area Air District to change their ineffective and polluter-friendly
odor complaint procedure, which currently is set up to ensure that
polluters get away with violations.
Vinyl Chloride Contamination Site (West Oakland, California)
Greenaction and residents
attended the August 29th meeting held by U.S. EPA regarding the agency's
recommendation to place the vinyl chloride contamination site (near
3rd and Mandela streets) on the federal Superfund list. Old chemical
plants that had operated in the neighborhood left the contamination.
We are demanding the best possible cleanup, with full community control
over decisions about what type of clean-up technology is used. Three
years ago EPA used an incinerator to burn the vinyl chloride and EPA
lied about its emissions -falsely claiming that only salt and steam
was being emitted. Greenaction proved that vinyl chloride and dioxin
was emitted, and we forced the closure of the incinerator. Now the
cleanup must be done safely.
Richmond Toxic Cleanup Victory (Richmond, California)
Greenaction learned in
June that the Bay Area Air Quality Management District had approved
an incinerator (that the agency called a "thermal desporption"
unit) to burn contaminated soils at the now-closed Zeneca/Stauffer
Chemical pesticide plant. The Air District at first denied the existence
of the incinerator. but Greenaction discovered it had actually been
given a permit and we demanded its immediate shutdown. We know these
incinerators emit harmful pollutants into the air, including chlorinated
chemicals and dioxin. In the face of threatened protests by Greenaction
and community groups, Zeneca ended the incineration weeks ahead of
schedule. We will now follow-up and ensure the rest of the toxic "cleanup"
is handled properly and safely.
San Joaquin Valley Environmental Justice Project (California)
The predominantly Latino
and low-income communities in the valley are hard hit by pollution
including pesticides, toxic waste dumps, an incinerator and polluting
power plants, We are working with the Grayson Neighborhood Council
to stop Stanislaus County
officials from turning a local landfill into a regional mega-dump
for garbage and sewage sludge. We held a successful press
conference and protest in July in front of the government building
in Modesto.
In a major new effort,
we are educating and mobilizing the community to oppose
new permits for the Covanta waste-to-energy garbage incinerator in
Crow's Landing. This facility has operated for years without
public scrutiny, emitting dioxin and other toxic chemicals and metals
into the environment. A public hearing has been scheduled for October
7th, but the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District has
not properly notified residents of the hearing. Greenaction is alerting
residents about the hearing and the toxic threat from the incinerator.
Stericycle Medical Waste/Environmental Justice Campaign
With Stericycle's purchase
of IES's customers and assets, much of the waste previously burned
at the IES incinerators will be autoclaved at Stericycle's facilities
in California. Greenaction is actively opposing Stericycle's shipments
of California medical waste to incinerators in Utah and Arizona, as
the victory in Oakland must not turn into another community's problem.
At the invitation of tribal
officials and tribal members, Greenaction is working on the Gila River
Indian Community reservation in Arizona to educate the tribal government
and tribal members about the dangers of the Stericycle medical waste
incinerator located on their land. We are providing technical support
for tribal members, who formed Gila River Alliance for a Clean Environment
and have launched a campaign to evict the incinerator from their land.
We are also reaching out
to residents in Utah near that incinerator to educate them about the
dangers of waste incineration. As part of the international coalition
Health Care Without Harm, we have been meeting with Stericycle to
encourage them to encourage their customers to reduce the amount and
toxicity of medical waste being generated by health care institutions.
Health Care Without Harm
We are part of the international
Health Care Without Harm coalition
working to transform the health care industry to reduce their use
of toxic materials such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics and mercury-containing
devices, and to end incineration of medical waste. We work with health
care institutions, community and health groups, workers in hospitals,
and government agencies in this effort.
White
Mesa Uranium Mill (Utah)
Greenaction
has begun assisting Ute, Navajo and non-Native communities living
near the International Uranium Corporation's White Mesa Uranium Mill
in southern Utah. Located near the White Mesa Ute reservation and
Blanding, Utah, the mill has turned into a de facto radioactive waste
dump, as government officials look the other way. Greenaction is meeting
with tribal members and other local residents to escalate efforts
to shut this facility
which threatens health and the environment - and desecrates
Native sacred, cultural, archeological and burial sites.
Colorado
River Indian Tribes Environmental Health and Justice Project
Greenaction is working
at the invitation of tribal members concerned about the ongoing operations
of a commercial hazardous waste facility on tribal lands, next to
a sacred religious site. Westates Carbon/U.S. Filter operates the
plant that treats hazardous wastes shipped to the reservation from
across the U.S., including waste from EPA Superfund sites and from
federal agencies. Contrary to company claims that the emissions are
"essentially steam," Westates emits dioxin and many toxic
chemicals and metals into the air. Tribal members and Greenaction
are challenging the U.S. EPA to stop its complicity in polluting tribal
lands and desecrating the sacred site next to the factory.
San
Rafael Rock Quarry (California)
Greenaction responded
to requests for help from residents tired of the dust and toxic diesel
emissions into their neighborhood from the San Rafael Rock Quarry
owned by Dutra Materials. The quarry's operations are noisy
and hundreds of trucks travel local roads at all hours. The company
has ignored Greenaction's request for a meeting, so we will be visiting
them at their front gate with picket signs - accompanied by local
residents. Our goal is to stop the company's overwhelming diesel truck
traffic and off-site dust clouds.
Stop
Cancer Where It Starts
Greenaction is working
with the Toxic Links Coalition to mobilize cancer survivors and community
and environmental justice groups to participate in October's
Stop Cancer Where It Starts activities. This is a direct response
to polluter-founded Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which refuses to
address the environmental causes of cancer. We will take action in
October against industries that emit cancer-causing pollutants into
our environment, including the October 30th Cancer Industry Tour of
San Francisco's financial district.
Environmental
Justice Air Quality Coalition
Greenaction is a founding
member of the Environmental Justice Air Quality Coalition that was
formed in response to the pro-polluter and anti-environmental justice
practices of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. We are
working to change the agency's policies and practice and hold them
accountable to protect air quality and promote environmental justice.
Greenaction Web Site (www.greenaction.org)
Our website is being used
by thousands of people across the country and the world. Community
and environmental activists, students, educators, government officials,
media and even polluters regularly visit the Greenaction website for
updates, solid information and action alerts on campaigns for health
and environmental justice.
Join the Greenaction Activist Network!
Call (415) 248-5010
or Email us at greenaction@greenaction.org
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sign up and get involved!
