Taking Action for Health and Environmental
Justice
Bayview
Hunters Point, San Francisco, CA: A big step towards victory against
PG&E power plant!
The fight
to close the polluting PG&E Hunters Point power plant
is closer to victory after the “California Independent System
Operator” (ISO) voted in September to allow the closure
of the power plant if PG&E finishes a transmission project
by March. Greenaction helped residents make the long trip to the
ISO meeting
where we demanded action, not promises. We are planning actions
to keep the pressure on until victory is won.
Greenaction
and residents have started new campaigns targeting
Darling International and Pan-Glo Services, two polluters that
have operated
with virtually no regulatory oversight. We also are working
with public housing residents to document bad housing conditions
that
can contribute to asthma and allergies.
Resisting
the Onslaught of “Incinerators in
Disguise” Across
the Country and the World
Greenaction
is continuing our all-out campaign to defeat the waste industry’s attempt to site incineration
technologies such as gasification, pyrolysis, and plasma arc for
treatment of hazardous,
solid, medical waste, sewage sludge and tires. While the industry
claims these technologies are “recycling” and “renewable
energy,” in reality these “incinerators-in-disguise” burn
toxic waste gases and produce toxic emissions. We support pollution
prevention, increased recycling and real renewable energy instead
of incineration technologies.
Red
Bluff, CA: Greenaction & Residents Appeal
InEnTec’s “Plasma
Arc” Incinerator Permit
Residents
are in an uproar in opposition to InEnTec’s plans
for a medical waste “plasma arc” treatment plant that
would import waste to be heated and burned in their community. Greenaction
and a citizens group have appealed InEnTec’s permit, and
the appeal process is underway. We alerted residents to this project
after the government failed to inform the community, and we are
helping with technical expertise and organizing to defeat this
incinerator
in disguise. Our efforts have mobilized residents and resulted
in major press coverage.
Stanislaus County, San Joaquin Valley, California: Campaigns against
incineration and pesticide drift!
Greenaction
and the Grayson Neighborhood Council are escalating our campaign
against the Covanta garbage
incinerator in Crow’s
Landing. In response to our campaign, Stanislaus County and the
City of Patterson are starting serious recycling programs. We
are educating residents about the dangers of pesticide drift and
how
to file complaints against violations, and are teaching leadership
and organizing skills to women and youth. We participate in the
Central California Environmental Justice Network and Central Valley
Air Quality Coalition.
Kettleman City, San Joaquin Valley, California: Fighting
sewage sludge dumping proposal!
Greenaction
is working with this farmworker community, located near
a giant hazardous waste landfill in the San Joaquin Valley. Kettleman
City was the site of the historic victory in the early 1990’s
against a proposed hazardous waste incinerator. We are helping
residents monitor developments at the toxic dump and to oppose
attempts to
spread toxic-contaminated sewage sludge in nearby agricultural
fields. We have also started a program to train community women
to become
leaders for health and environmental justice.
Protecting Ward Valley, Again! Pro-nuclear waste dump
appointee defeated!
Greenaction
joined with Native Nations along the Colorado River
and other allies to defeat one of California Governor Schwarzenegger’s
appointments of radioactive waste industry representatives to
the Southwest Low-Level Radioactive Waste Commission, a four-state
board
seeking a new dump site in California. The appointee represented
an industry group that was the main proponent for building a nuclear
dump at Ward Valley in the Mojave Desert, on sacred Indian land
above an aquifer near the Colorado River. This effort showed the
nuclear industry and politicians that a big coalition will stop
any attempt at reviving this dump project.
From East Palo Alto, CA to the Gila River Indian Community, Arizona:
United Against Romic!
The fight to close the Romic hazardous waste
plants located in East Palo Alto, California and the Gila River
Indian Community in Arizona is gaining momentum. We helped unite
Youth United for Community Action, an East Palo Alto youth group,
with the Gila River Alliance for a Clean Environment. We joined
YUCA’s protest and spoke at the public hearing on Romic.
As a result of our joint efforts, government agencies have increased
enforcement and Romic has just received large fines in both communities.
West Oakland, California: AMCO Chemical Superfund
Site
We are working
with the Chester Street Block Club Association to make sure the
US EPA does a thorough, safe and prompt
cleanup
of the AMCO Chemical vinyl chloride Superfund site. We are pressuring
EPA to use the safest possible technology to remediate the toxic
site that is located next to homes and a children’s playground.
White Mesa Ute Reservation and Moab, Utah: VICTORY
against radioactive waste dumping proposal!
We are thrilled to have
helped win a big victory with allies including
White Mesa Ute and Navajo tribal members, the Ute Mountain Ute
Tribe, other residents and the City of Moab when the U.S. Department
of
Energy (DOE) decided to move the radioactive tailings and toxic
waste from the defunct Atlas Uranium Mill away from the Colorado
River to a safer location. The campaign also forced DOE to reject
sending the waste to the International Uranium Corporation plant
next to the White Mesa Ute reservation. We are working with tribal
members and other allies to close the IUC mill due to pollution
and desecration of Indian sacred sites.
Skull Valley Goshute Reservation, Utah: Stop the Proposed
High Level Nuclear Waste Dump!
Greenaction
is working with tribal members to defeat the nuclear
industry’s attempt to build a high level nuclear waste facility
on this tiny reservation west of Salt Lake City. Greenaction calls
on the U.S. and state government that have stolen and polluted
tribal lands and denied tribal members economic development opportunities
to work with the tribe to assist them with economic development
that will not threaten their lives.
North Salt Lake City, Utah: Progress in the Campaign
to Shut the Stericycle incinerator!
Our community outreach for the
August 31st public hearing held by
the State on the incinerator resulted in a big turnout of irate
residents who moved into a new neighborhood next to the incinerator
without being told about the facility. Residents are vowing to
fight to close the incinerator and are demanding that Stericycle
replace
it with a safer, non-incineration treatment technology.
Defending the Sacred Ward Valley Film Project
Greenaction
and the Mohave Cultural Preservation Program have launched this
project to distribute the new film “Defending the Sacred” that
tells of the successful fight by the five tribes of the Colorado
River Native Nations Alliance, Greenaction and a broad coalition
that saved Ward Valley, the Colorado River and sacred Indian
lands from the proposed nuclear waste dump. The video or DVD can
be
purchased from Greenaction for $17.
Colorado River Indian Tribes, Arizona: Shut down Westates
Carbon!
Greenaction is helping Colorado River Indian Tribes
members oppose the continued operation of the Westates/US Filter
hazardous
waste
facility on tribal lands. Westates emits dioxin and other hazardous
pollutants, but EPA has allowed the company to operate without
proper permits or environmental review.
Environmental Justice Air Quality Coalition
Greenaction
is working with community
groups across the Bay Area to pressure
the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and other
agencies to protect air quality and uphold environmental justice.
The coalition held a well-attended protest at the offices of
the U.S. EPA on September 27th to blast the agency’s environmental
racism.
