Lone Tree Council TRW
Dioxin Update
November 7, 2006 # 53
DEQ Community Meeting this
Wednesday November 9th 6:30 pm at Horizon's Conference Center
The Community Meeting agenda and supporting
materials are available on-line at:
http://www.deq.state.mi.us/documents/deq-whm-dioxin-11-9-05CommunityMeetingAgenda.pdf
Please share this notice with others who might be interested in
attending this meeting.
Link to information on Natural
Resource Damage Assessment ( NRD)
On the agenda for the meeting this Wednesday is
the NRD for the Saginaw River and Bay. Below is a link to explain this very
convoluted process. How this process plays out is going to be critical to
the recovery of the river and bay and the subsequent public health and
economic benefits commensurate with that recovery.
Saginaw County Board of Commissioners
Resolution Supporting HB 4617
Go to the TRW web site
www.trwnews.net and click on
current news. The minutes from the board meeting are
present. You need to scroll to the bottom. In the resolution supported
by the board, the commissioners state they see no public health benefit
from the labeling of these properties as facilities . Three reasons for
their not seeing the benefit:
1. they don't understand the law 2. public
health plays second fiddle to special interests 3. a combination of both
A primer:
dioxin >90ppt = facility
facility + the law = cleanup
cleanup = public health benefit
No public health benefit? The law was designed
to protect public health. Dismantle the law for the Chamber of Commerce,
Homebuilders, Real Estate interests and Dow Chemical and your political
future may depend on you not understanding.
James Twp., likely has more properties in the
floodplain of the Tittabawassee river than any other community. Jerry
Wieneke, James Twp supervisor sent a letter to the board objecting to
this legislation and has subsequently sent a letter to the senate. Jerry
is to be commended for his commitment to the health and safety of his
residents and taking time to understand the implications HB 4617 will
have on properties and families in his twp.
More real soon on this legislation as it
snakes its way through the senate...................
International Journal of Occupational
and Environmental Health
From Tracey Easthope MPH Ecology Center Ann Arbor
This month's issue of the International Journal of
Occupational and Environmental Health has an entire issue devoted to
"corporate corruption of science' with case
studies illustrating the point. This follows on the American Journal of
Public Health devoting an issue to some similar concerns. Michigan
industries are implicated in the case studies.
Note that this is a free full text online journal.
See table of contents below.
To access the journal:
http://www.ijoeh.com/
This is from the online
introduction:
"Although occupational and
environmental diseases are often viewed as isolated and unique failures of
science, the government, or industry to protect the best interest of the
public, they are in fact an outcome of a pervasive system of corporate
priority setting, decision making, and influence. This system produces
disease because political, economic, regulatory and ideological norms
prioritize values of wealth and profit over human health and environmental
well-being. Science is a key part of this system; there is a substantial
tradition of manipulation of evidence, data, and analysis, ultimately
designed to maintain favorable conditions for industry at both material and
ideological levels. This issue offers examples of how corporations influence
science, shows the effects that influence has on environmental and
occupational health, and provides evidence of a systemic problem."
I encourage everyone to take time to read this.
Regards,
Michelle Hurd Riddick
Lone Tree Council