Emissions from Stacks Reach YOUR
Grocery Sacks!
CWWG Kicks Off Clean Food Campaign
by Melissa Tuckey, Kentucky Environmental Foundation, and
Rufus Kinney, Families Concerned About Nerve Gas Incineration
Food producers are staying far away from Tooele, County Utah because of the threat chemical weapons incineration poses to their food. According to County Commissioner Teryl Hunsaker, "Even though where they were looking was far removed from the incinerator, they were scared to death the association would keep people from buying their products," Hunsaker told the Birmingham-Post Herald last winter. This could be bad news for the food production businesses currently located near proposed chemical weapons incinerators in Arkansas, Alabama, and Oregon.
Incinerator emissions like dioxins, lead and mercury are known to poison not only the air and water but also birds, chickens, fish, and cattle, and vegetables. The EPA reports that incinerator-produced chemicals like dioxin biomagnify and build up in the food chain and that we are exposed to as much as 1,000 to 10,000 times more dioxin in the food we eat than by inhalation.
This past June, mercury and PCB contamination forced the shut down of 16 rivers and lakes in Alabama. The Alabama Department of Health issued a warning that the fish in contaminated waters is unsafe for human consumption. Chemical contamination has poisoned food in Arkansas as well. In July of 1997, dioxin closed four Arkansas poultry plants. Hundreds of workers were idled after federal inspectors found that dioxin-contaminated feed had been used by farmers producing chicken, eggs, and catfish.
Children are the most vulnerable to such toxic chemicals. Between 1973 and 1995, children aged 0-4 years have shown an 18% increase in leukemia, a 32% increase in kidney and renal pelvis cancer, a 37% increase in soft tissue cancer, and a 53% increase in brain and nervous system cancers. In addition to causing an increase in cancers, toxic exposures can upset child development and cause learning difficulties and behavioral problems, as well as immune and reproductive system damage and birth defects.
Many food producers are becoming aware that toxic emissions threaten business. Bryan Foods, Sara Lee, Keebler, and Ohio beef cattle and vegetable growers have all opposed incinerators in recent years. Perdue Farms wrote in 1991 that "even the slightest chance of creating a situation that potentially compromises (our) major food and economic chain...should be avoided at all costs. We request that no poultry areas be considered for hazardous waste storage or incineration." Also in 1991, the 320,000 member North Carolina Farm Bureau passed a resolution opposing incineration.
Last year, Families Against Nerve Gas Incineration in Anniston, Alabama member Rufus Kinney began a letter writing campaign to local chicken producers asking them to take a stand against the Anniston incinerator. Hundreds of letters were sent to Gold Kist, Tyson, and Hudson Foods. Hudson Foods responded by saying they do not support the "building of an incinerator in Alabama." Tyson has not yet taken a stand and Gold Kist expressed support of the Army's plan to burn weapons. Meanwhile, in Arkansas, similar efforts have been spear headed by Dr. Abdullah Muhammad. At our recent CWWG conference in Washington, D.C., Rufus and Abdullah proposed we launch a national campaign.
The Chemical Weapons Working Group has begun a national letter writing campaign in support of these efforts. We are asking food producers near proposed incinerators to act now to support safe technologies and oppose chemical weapons incineration. Let them know that you will buy your products from producers who act to support a healthy and clean environment.
For more information about the clean food campaign, or for an organizing packet call Melissa at (606) 986-0868.
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