Taking Action for Health and Environmental
Justice
Bayview Hunters Point, San Francisco, CA
“If
the government and PG&E won’t close the Hunters Point
Power Plant, the People Will!” Community Sets April 11th
Deadline for closure of dirty power plant! The fight to close
the polluting PG&E Hunters Point power plant
is coming to a climax. Community groups and Greenaction will protest
in December to keep pressure on the state agency called the “California
Independent System Operator” (ISO) to finally close the
PG&E
power plant. Tired of repeated broken promises, community groups
and Greenaction are calling on residents and supporters to come
to the power plant on April 11th, the day the plant will either
be closed down by the government….or will be closed down
through nonviolent protest.
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 are also working
with public housing residents to document unacceptable 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: Residents & Greenaction Battle Against InEnTec’s “Plasma
Arc” Incinerator Permit
Residents
are fighting InEnTec’s plans for a
medical waste “plasma
arc” treatment plant that would heat the wastes and then
burn the toxic gases, emitting toxics into the air. 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. Hundreds of residents
have attended the appeal hearings and a community protest was
held November
19th.
Kettleman City, San Joaquin Valley, California: Stop Proposed
Toxic Waste Dump Expansion!
Greenaction
is helping this farmworker community fight expansion of the nearby
Chem Waste Management hazardous
waste landfill.
Greenaction joined a big crowd of angry residents to oppose the
dump expansion
at the October 19th meeting sponsored by Kings County and State
agencies. Kettleman City was the site of the historic victory
in the early 1990’s against a proposed hazardous waste incinerator.
We are conducting a training program for women in the community
on environmental health issues and leadership skills.
Stanislaus County, San Joaquin Valley, California:
Campaigns against incineration and pesticide drift!
In the spirit
of the great farmworker union leader Cesar Chavez,
Greenaction and the Grayson Neighborhood Council are planning
an April 1st march and rally for environmental justice and against
the Covanta garbage incinerator located in Crow’s Landing.
In response to our campaign, Stanislaus County and the City of
Patterson are expanding their recycling programs. We are educating
residents
about the dangers of pesticide drift 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.
Medicine
Lake, California: Save Sacred Indian Site & Wilderness
from Calpine’s Proposed Power Plant!
Greenaction
is supporting the Pit River Indian Tribe and their Dahu Lah As
Sacred Site Defense
coalition in their efforts to stop Calpine’s
proposed geothermal power plants that would desecrate Medicine Lake
and the beautiful areas nearby. Greenaction will join the tribal-led
coalition in protest at Calpine’s headquarters in San Jose
this winter, and in an ongoing nonviolent spiritual gathering
at Medicine Lake starting in early spring 2006.
Continued other side
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 bring
together 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 recently 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 helped White Mesa
Ute and Navajo tribal members, the Ute Mountain
Ute Tribe, the City of Moab and other allies win a big victory
when the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) decided to move the radioactive
tailings from the defunct Atlas Uranium Mill on the banks of 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. We will attend the upcoming
January 5th hearing in Blanding, Utah to oppose new proposed shipments
of highly radioactive wastes.
North Salt Lake City, Utah: Progress in the Campaign
to Shut the Stericycle incinerator!
Our community
outreach for the State’s August 31st public
hearing 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 want the incinerator closed and call on
Stericycle to replace it with a safer, non-incineration treatment
technology. A community meeting will be held this winter to build
the campaign to close the incinerator.
Defending the Sacred Ward Valley Film Project
Greenaction
and the Mohave Cultural Preservation Program have launched a project
to distribute the new film “Defending the Sacred.” The
film tells of the successful fight by the five tribes of the
Colorado River Native Nations Alliance, Greenaction and a big
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.
Support
the Gwich’In Indian Nation in
Alaska: Save the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge!
Greenaction urges everyone
to contact the U.S. Senate and House
of Representatives to urge them to save the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge from proposed oil and gas drilling. Call (202) 224-3121
today and every day!
Colorado River Indian Tribes, Arizona: Shut down Westates
Carbon!
Greenaction is helping Colorado River Indian Tribes
members in opposing the continued operation of the Westates/US Filter
hazardous
waste
facility on tribal lands. Westates emits dioxin and other pollutants,
but the US EPA has allowed the company to operate without proper
permits or full 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.
