Published: September 28, 2006    08:56 am

'Environmental Justice' comes to Berea

Ronica Shannon
Register News Writer

BEREA -- Berea will be a stop on the national Environmental Justice for All tour and several environmentalists from around the nation and state will be speaking about ways to protect communities from several forms of toxic contamination.

The event will be Friday in the Trustees Room of Berea College's Seabury Center. A panel presentation, "Environmental Justice in the South: A Call to Action," will begin at 9 a.m.

The presentation will feature Monique Harden, director of advocates for Environmental Human Rights in New Orleans. She will speak about the need for Congress and governmental agencies to uphold the principles of environmental justice.

Harden will be joined by Jose Bravo, executive director of Just Transitions Alliance of National City, Calif., and Hilton Kelley, director of the Community In-Power Development Association of Port Arthur, Texas.

Bravo will explain how the alliance works to transition communities and workers from unsafe workplaces and environments to healthy communities.

Kelley will discuss his mission to hold polluting companies accountable for damage to the community from chemical and petrochemical contamination.

"This provides a good chance to bring people together to talk about environmental justice," said Elizabeth Crowe, a member of the Berea-based Chemical Weapons Working Group. "It will give students, the community members and anyone else who is interested an opportunity to hear the things that communities are going through and hear the solutions that are being promoted."

Kentucky environmentalists will be featured at 10 p.m. with the presentation, "Building a Vision for Environmental Justice in Kentucky." Featured will be: Craig Williams, director of the Chemical Weapons Working Group; Grace Lewis of the Rubbertown Emergency Action Team; Teri Blanton, with Kentuckians for the Commonwealth; and the Rev. Louis Coleman of the Kentucky Justice Resource Center.

Residents from Mossville, La., also will speak about what it is like to live near several petrochemical industries and PVC manufacturing plants.

"The people living closest to the PVC plant have been tested and have blood levels of some of the most toxic chemicals," Crowe said.

The amount of toxins in their system is 60 times more than levels found in people who do not live close to such factories, she said.

"If you drain the chemicals from your body, the plant is still going to be there," Crowe said. "There has been chemical security legislation passed by Congress, but will it act to prevent problems of toxic exposures from these facilities or will they continue to let industries do what they've always done?" Crowe asked.

The Environmental Justice For All Tour is a collaborative attempt by more than 70 environmental, social justice, public health, human rights and workers' rights groups created to highlight the devastating impact of toxic contamination throughout America’Äôs communities. This week, three bus caravans will tour the United States, taking politicians, health researchers and activists to communities suffering from toxic pollution.

To find out more about the national tour, visit www.artvoice.com.

For more information about Friday's event, call Crowe or Lois Kleffman at 986-0868.

Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 623-1669, Ext. 234.