CCA News & Information Articles

Light Brown Apple Moth Spray Off 04-24-2008 Hey Everybody, Thank you to everybody who responded to the call for help from Barbara Wilkie. Please remember to thank the Governor. Take care and please keep safe. deborah This is Your Brain on Public Relations 04-24-2008 By Kenny Ausubel, AlterNet. Posted October 28, 2003. How do conservative politicians manipulate the public into harming the environment, even though the majority of Americans want to protect it? Toxic Immunity 11-01-2003 News: Faced with a hazardous-waste crisis, the Pentagon is pushing hard to exempt itself from the nation's environmental laws. Clean up after yourself 11-05-2003 Clean up after yourself The Supreme Court has just upheld the polluter-pay principle. A pollution tax would drive the message home, says environmental lawyer DAVID BOYD By DAVID BOYD Wednesday, November 5, 2003 - Page A25 What is remarkable about the Supreme Court of Canada's latest environmental law decision is not how ecologically enlightened the court is (several cases have already demonstrated its green wisdom), but rather the gap between the principles of law and the on-the-ground application of those principles. Last week the court ruled on a case involving a site in Quebec contaminated years ago by Imperial Oil. The site was eventually sold, partially cleaned up, and turned into a residential development. When pollution problems returned, Quebec's environment department ordered Imperial to fund a new study about remediation options. Imperial challenged this order in court. In upholding the Quebec government's order, the Supreme Court agreed with lawyers from the Sierra Legal Defence Fund that the polluter-pays principle is "firmly entrenched" throughout international, federal, and provincial environmental laws. The principle is that if you make a mess, you're responsible for cleaning it up. Hardly controversial -- in theory. But in practice, Canadian individuals, businesses and governments rarely pay for the pollution they create. Consider four examples: motor vehicles, industrial activities, abandoned mines, and agriculture. Cars, trucks and SUVs spew a range of pollutants into the air, including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxides, and carbon dioxide. Polluters don't pay -- despite the effect on health (10 times as many deaths in Canada each year as homicides) the economy and environment. Large industrial operations, such as petroleum refineries, aluminum smelters, chemical factories and steel plants discharge hundreds of millions of kilograms of toxic substances each year, as reported to the National Pollutant Release Inventory. The cost to corporations? Nothing. Thousands of abandoned mines scar our landscape; many cause continuing pollution problems. Mining companies provide reclamation bonds that cover only a small fraction of the costs of cleaning up these contaminated sites. Four mines studied by Canada's environmental commissioner in 2002 had bonds totalling $23-million, but Ottawa estimates that it will spend up to $680-million to clean up these sites. And taxpayers will get stuck with the bill. Canadian agricultural operations use thousands of tonnes of chemical pesticides and fertilizers that cause health and environmental damage. Vast volumes of manure from livestock, averaging almost 4,000 kilograms per Canadian per year, also pose health and environmental risks. Again, the polluters don't pay. Thus, while the Supreme Court is correct that the polluter-pays principle exists on paper in Canadian law, we have a long way to go in translating the principle into action. There are still examples of Canada paying polluters, rather than making polluters pay: consider our continuing subsidies to the oil and gas industry. Our failure to apply the polluter-pays principle means that our economy keeps treating environmental damage as an externality, as though there are no consequences to pollution. What should polluters pay for? The health-care costs caused by air, water, and soil pollution, and the related economic costs of reduced productivity, and missed school and work (the estimated cost to Canada is billions of dollars due to air pollution alone). More difficult to quantify are damages to wildlife habitat, natural resources and ecological services. A recent Conference Board of Canada report found that Canada lags behind other industrialized nations on environmental performance. Our governments complain that they lack adequate resources to increase environmental protection. Implementing the polluter-pays principle would generate a substantial source of revenue that could be invested in improving Canada's dismal environmental record, as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has repeatedly pointed out. An obvious approach would be to use pollution taxes, which set a fee for each unit of pollution generated. The National Pollutant Release Inventory, which already tracks releases of more than 265 toxic substances, could be the basis for a national system of pollution taxes, with higher levies for more toxic, persistent, or bio-accumulative substances. The funds generated by pollution taxes could be used to clean up contaminated sites, address air pollution, water pollution and climate change, or invested in developing cleaner technologies. Pollution taxes offer a strong incentive to reduce releases of toxic substances and switch to safer, cleaner substances. The Supreme Court deserves credit for boldly encouraging Canadians to shoulder our environmental responsibilities. The court observed that our growing environmental concern reflects not only self-interest in maintaining our quality of life, but "an emerging sense of intergenerational solidarity and acknowledgement of an environmental debt to humanity and to the world of tomorrow." By implementing the polluter-pays principle, Canada can start paying off that environmental debt. David R. Boyd is an environmental lawyer, professor, and author of Unnatural Law: Rethinking Canadian Environmental Law and Policy. Doctors fear chemical link to child disease 01-30-2005 A surge in cancer and neurological cases in north-eastern Tasmania since 2002 is consistent with chronic low-level chemical exposure, says a report to be submitted to the federal Australian Medical Association next month. Mercury calculator 11-24-2004 It is well established that eating seafood that contains mercury is hazardous to our health, especially for pregnant women and children. But with a lack of health advisories nationwide, how are we supposed to make smart choices for our families? The Got Mercury? calculator below helps you make such choices; just enter your weight, the seafood type, the quantity of seafood you will eat during a week and hit the calculator button. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) has released TOXMAP 11-13-2004 an interactive web site that shows the amount and location of reported toxic chemicals released into the environment on maps of the United States. TOXMAP ( http://toxmap.nlm.nih.gov) allows users to visually explore information about releases of toxic chemicals by industrial facilities around the United States as reported annually to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, http://www.epa.gov/tri/). It also integrates the map display with access to relevant bibliographic references and other data on these chemicals, providing a map-based portal to these resources. TOXMAP allows users to create nationwide or local area maps that show where chemicals are released into the air, water, and ground, and also provides region-specific links to chemical and bibliographic information. It is designed to: * Show the geographic distribution of releases by chemical * Show how the amount of chemical releases have changed over time * Link to chemical information in TOXNET's Hazardous Substances Databank (HSDB) and other authoritative resources * Use chemical and geographic terms from the displayed map to search bibliographic databases * Integrate geographically coded data from other sources * Provide general information about GIS, data quality, and map interpretation * Be easy to navigate and understandable to those unfamiliar with GIS Since many users may not be experienced in reading maps or understanding map data, TOXMAP provides Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). The FAQ (http://toxmap.nlm.nih.gov/toxmap/help/faq.jsp) provides questions/answers to supplement the user's ability to understand the map displays and the data. The initial release of TOXMAP includes questions ranging from "What is GIS?" and "What is TOXMAP?" to "How accurate is TRI Data?" and "What are some tips for reading maps critically?" More information about TOXMAP can be found at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/toxmap.html EPA needs to remove the gag 10-17-2004 Somebody, either from on high in Washington, D.C., or on the regional level, has slapped a gag order on a couple of regional Environmental Protection Agency offices, thereby sullying the agency's professionalism and doing damage to the public's right to know. New Waterford Mystery 05-14-2004 Hi Everybody, Go to the link and watch the video or read the transcrpit and see how health care workers and hospital staff in Nova Scotia are facing the same kind of treatment as cca victims. Yes, they have heavy metal poisoning too. An excellent piece by Tom Clark that shows the failure of our government to face the truth about the suffering we heavy metal victims know all too well. Take care everybody and please keep safe. Deborah New Waterford Mystery People generally go to the hospital to get better, not sick. But employees of New Waterford consolidated Hospital in Nova Scotia believe they were poisoned by dust they were exposed to at work. Hospital administrators say there is no conclusive evidence the hospital made them sick. Now the sick employees say they’ve been abandoned when they need support the most. More... EPA Sued For Illegally Taking Direction from Chemical Industry Group 01-15-2004 Washington, D.C. -- Conservation and pesticide-watchdog groups today filed a lawsuit to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from giving illegal special access to a group of chemical corporations. Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and other sources reveal that the corporate insider group has met regularly with EPA officials in secret and has urged EPA to weaken endangered species protections from pesticides. 3 Top Enforcement Officials Say They Will Leave E.P.A. 01-05-2004 WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 - Three top enforcement officials at the Environmental Protection Agency have resigned or retired in the last two weeks, including two lawyers who were architects of the agency's litigation strategy against coal-burning power plants. common chemical linked to breast cancer 01-11-2004 - The Observer A controversial study which suggests a potential link between a common chemical found in cosmetics and deodorants and breast cancer is published this week. School's water undergoes scrutiny 12-06-2003 note from Teresa Binstock [Note that a *parent* paid for the lead test! And, tho' not mentioned in the article, newer studies are reporting that even lower levels of lead can induce neurologic damage. Of course, the EPA's determination of so-called "safe" levels is biased by politics, and the US is still beleaguered by policies based upon Risk Management rather than upon Risk Avoidance.] Indoor air is becoming polluted by powerful household chemicals: Don't take a deep breath 12-23-2003 - Post-Gazette By Don Hopey, Post-Gazette Staff Writer Reinstate polluter-pays fees 12-16-2003 Twenty-three years ago, President Carter signed the federal Superfund program into law to clean up toxic waste sites and ensure that polluters, not taxpayers, paid the costs. It also created a special fund filled by fees on the use of highly toxic chemicals and petroleum products to clean up thousands of abandoned waste sites across the country. The Case of the Toxics Release Inventory 12-12-2003 In "Veil of Secrecy," a NOW with Bill Moyers investigation with U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, David Brancaccio examines the government’s actions to cut access to information about issues from toxic pollutants to airline and auto safety — leaving them hidden from public scrutiny. In an era in which homeland security is imperative, government transparency has been diminished. Since 9/11, the report shows the federal government has blocked access to information that may protect the public's health and safety. World must solve water crisis 11-30-2003 Hi Everybody, Thanks to Teresa Binstock for the article and the comments. I believe one of the major tests of mankind lie in this statement, “I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was hungry and you fed me, I was sick and in prison and you visited me”. If we are unconcerned for the basic needs of our brothers and sisters, there is lttle hope for mankind. Take care everybody and please keep safe. Deborah Georgetown pollution cleanup under way 11-29-2003 Cathy Hendrickson felt like she had the flu. Her bones ached. She had no energy and her mind was fuzzy. When the 42-year-old woman moved out of her basement apartment three years ago, her "mystery illness" vanished. A new global environment award 11-26-2003 From the United Nationas Environment Programme (UNEP) - A new global environment award entitled Champions of the Earth will be presented every year to six outstanding environmental achievers and leaders from each region of the world. Selected individuals will have made a significant contribution, regionally, and beyond, to the protection and sustainable management of the Earth's environment and natural resources. If you have suitable candidates to nominate please do so online at www.unep.org/champions. The deadline for nominations is December 1st 2003. Highly toxic chemicals contaminate the nation 11-24-2003 A cocktail of highly toxic man made chemicals has been found in every single person tested in a UK-wide blood survey commissioned by WWF. PMRA CREOSOTE UPDATE Please be advised that the following document has been updated on the PMRA Web site: Document Title: Update on the Re-evaluation of Heavy Duty Wood Preservative Creosote http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/pmra-arla/english/pubs/rev-e.html Verizon agrees to stop using creosote-treated poles 08-02-2003 - Rutland Herald MONTPELIER - Telecommunications giant Verizon has agreed to stop placing creosote-preserved poles in Vermont, ending nearly three years of negotiations with local utilities and labor unions who alleged the poles posed serious health risks to their workers. By PATRICK JOY EC declares war against heavy metal 07-17-2003 Yesterday, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a Directive aimed at minimising the harmful effects of heavy metals in the air. The heavy metals in question - arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) - can cause adverse effects on human health if they are inhaled for prolonged periods of time. EPA needs to remove the gag 10-17-2004 Somebody, either from on high in Washington, D.C., or on the regional level, has slapped a gag order on a couple of regional Environmental Protection Agency offices, thereby sullying the agency's professionalism and doing damage to the public's right to know. Mercury calculator 11-24-2004 It is well established that eating seafood that contains mercury is hazardous to our health, especially for pregnant women and children. But with a lack of health advisories nationwide, how are we supposed to make smart choices for our families? The Got Mercury? calculator below helps you make such choices; just enter your weight, the seafood type, the quantity of seafood you will eat during a week and hit the calculator button. Tsunami resources and Ways To Help 01-07-2005 - A special Straight Goods Bulletin, December 30, 2004 Although we are on holiday this week, we wanted to pass along some useful on-line resources that will enable you to learn about the tsunami in Asia and how to help. Please pass these on to others. Thanks from Straight Goods team. Shades of Bhopal..................... 01-07-2005 Compare how little we seem to learn from the past