Report: EPA IG Says Agency Has
Not Complied with Required Environmental Justice Reviews
CHEMICAL
WEAPONS WORKING GROUP
128 Main
St. Berea KY 40403
859-986-9868
859-986-2695 (F)
www.cwwg.org kefcwwg@cwwg.org
for
more information contact:
Elizabeth Crowe, CWWG: (859) 986-0868
Riptide Communications: (212) 260-5000
REPORT: EPA INSPECTOR GENERAL SAYS AGENCY
HAS NOT COMPLIED
WITH
REQUIRED ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE REVIEWS
Chemical weapons activists to raise these
and other issues
as
part of national Environmental Justice Tour
Chemical
Weapons Working Group organizers and other environmental justice and
health organizers associated with Environmental Justice for All, Tour
'06, commented on a report issued by the Office of the Inspector
General, which called for the EPA to conduct Environmental Justice
reviews of all of agency programs, policies, and activities. Tour
spokesperson and New Orleans resident, Monique Harden said, "The fact
that EPA has not performed environmental justice reviews is only the
tip of the iceberg. The real problem is Congress pretending
'environmental protection' exists when it has established laws that
authorize toxic dumping in our communities. Across America, poor
communities and communities of color are organizing a national tour to
send a message to Congress that it must fix the broken system of
environmental protection in order to stop environmental racism and the
injustice of allowing toxic threats to our health and future
generations."
The tour which begins on Sunday,
September 24th is made up of a coalition of over 70 environmental
justice, social justice, public health, human rights, and worker's
rights groups. The tour will highlight the devastating impact of
toxic contamination on people of color and in poor communities across
the United States. Three bus caravans carrying activists, health
researchers, environmental scientists, and public policy experts will
tour communities in the Northeast, South, and West Coast, where people
are suffering serious health effects associated with toxic pollution.
Groups at two chemical weapons stockpile sites -- Anniston, Alabama and
Berea, Kentucky -- will host events on the southern tour route.
Organizers say the tour will provide advocacy tools to affected
communities and put pressure on Congressional leaders to make the
elimination of environmental hazards a priority issue in the upcoming
elections.
The tour will stop in communities
around the country that are engaged in solution-driven efforts that
draw attention to a broken U.S. environmental protection system that
defends old polluting industries instead of requiring innovative and
safer technologies, and establishing safeguards for protecting human
health from industrial toxins and hazards.
The Environmental Justice for All,
Tour '06 was inspired at a meeting of environmental justice and
public health groups from across the country who joined together to
draw attention to the work of local activists in West Louisville, KY,
dubbed by industry as "Rubbertown." The collaboration of these
groups brought light to the one-half mile stretch adjacent to an
African American neighborhood where 12 toxic industrial facilities have
left the area polluted, and people sick and dying.
Below, please find a copy of the tour
routes. For more information about The Environmental Justice for
All Tour, visit the website at: http://www.EJ4all.org. Please
direct all Tour related media inquiries or requests for interviews to
Riptide Communications, Inc.
-30-
Tour Routes:
Northeast
Sunday, September 24, 12:00pm:
Buffalo, NY
Monday, September 25, 9:00am --
12:00pm: Syracuse, NY; 2:30pm -- 5:00pm: Endicott, NY
Tuesday, September 26, 10:00am --
4:00pm: Boston, MA
Thursday, September 28, 10:00am --
12:00pm: New York, NY
Friday, September 29, 9:30am --
12:00pm: Newark, NY (Ironbound) and Northern New Jersey; 2:00pm --
4:00pm: Camden, NJ
Saturday, September 30, 10:00am --
1:00pm: Linden, NJ
Sunday, October 1: Washington, D.C.
South
Sunday, September 24, 12:00pm: Port
Arthur, TX
Monday, September 25, 9:00am:
Mossville, LA; New Orleans, LA
Tuesday, September 26: Gulfport, MS
Wednesday, September 27, 2:00pm --
6:00pm: Anniston, AL
Thursday, September 28, 9:00am --
2:00pm: Dickson and Nashville, TN; 6:00pm -- 8:00pm: Knoxville, TN
Friday, September 29, 9:00am --
12:00pm: Berea, KY; 3:30pm -- 7:00pm: Louisville, KY
Saturday, September 30, 11:30am --
3:00pm: Whitesville, WV
Sunday, October 1: Washington, D.C.
West Coast/California
Sunday, September 24, 12:00pm --
8:00pm: Bay Area, Hunter's Point, Midway, Oakland
Monday, September 25, 12:00pm --
2:00pm: San Jose; 6:00pm -- 8:00pm: Fort Ord
Tuesday, September 26, 8:30am --
11:00am: Fort Ord, Salinas; 3:00pm -- 7:00pm: Fresno
Wednesday, September 27, 9:00am --
1:00pm: Earlimart
Thursday, September 28, 12:00pm --
3:00pm: Temecula and Pala Reservations
Friday, September 29, 12:00pm --
3:00pm: Calexico
Saturday, September 30, 10:00am --
4:00pm: Wilmington, San Pedro, Lennox, Del Amo, South Los Angeles
Sunday, October 1, 12:00pm -- 6:00pm:
Pacoima, City of Industry, City of Maywood
Solidarity Event: Saturday, September
30, 9:00am -- 4:30pm: Seattle, WA