[CPEO-MEF] Fw: Military Toxics Project Announces Campaign

[Steve@miltoxproj.org]

On Friday, June 15, the Military Toxics Project publicly announced the
initiation of its Healthy Communities Campaign with a national press
conference and day of action.  The campaign seeks to end military exemptions
from environmental, worker protection, and public safety laws and make our
military accountable to the communities in which it operates.

The national press release is included below.  More information about the
campaign, including copies of the Military Environmental Responsibility Act
and the Defend Our Health report, can be obtained at MTP's web site at
www.miltoxproj.org, by emailing Steve@miltoxproj.org, or by calling (207)
783-5091.

In Solidarity,

Steve Taylor
National Organizer
Military Toxics Project
(207) 783-5091
For Immediate Release June 15, 2001 (207) 783-5091

Contact Steve Taylor



Communities Demand Protection From

Military Pollution During National Day Of Action

Military Toxics Project Kicks Off National Campaign with Report To
Congress Documenting Heath Impacts of U.S. Military Operations



Washington, DC. Every day, the health and safety of communities across the
country are under assault from past and current polluting operations of the
U.S. Military. Today, over 30 organizations from Hooper Bay, Alaska to
Vieques, Puerto Rico participated in the national kick off of the Military
Toxics Project=92s (MTP) Healthy Communities Campaign. The MTP, a national
network of community, veteran, worker, and peace organizations fighting
military environmental contamination, is demanding that the military be
subjected to the same local, state and federal environmental, worker, and
public safety laws that govern other industrial and commercial operations.

"Our military is above the law. They simply don't have to abide by the same
rules as private companies and individuals. They can pollute and poison with
impunity. In a democracy, it shouldn't be that way. We're going to change
it," said Tara Thornton, Executive Director of the Military Toxics Project.

Groups also celebrated the introduction of legislation that seeks to address
the problem of unequal enforcement of environmental and public safety laws.
U.S. Congressman Bob Filner (D-CA) has introduced a bill entitled the
Military Environmental Responsibility Act (MERA), which seeks to remove all
military exemptions from existing environmental, worker and public safety
laws and regulations.

A report released to Congress by MTP today entitled Defend Our Health: The
U.S. Military=92s Environmental Assault On Communities details how polluting
military activities like legal and illegal toxic dumping, testing and use of
munitions, manufacture and use of depleted uranium ammunition, hazardous
waste generation, nuclear propulsion, toxic air emissions and other military
operations have created an environmental catastrophe. Prepared by MTP and
Environmental Health Coalition, an environmental justice organization based
in San Diego, CA, the report shows how military exemptions from laws and lax
enforcement by regulatory agencies have contributed to the existence of more
than 27,000 toxic hot spots on 8,500 military properties.

Neighbors of military operations and their families, dedicated service men
and women, veterans, civilian employees of the military and defense
contractors all are impacted by military toxics. Most often, Indigenous
communities, communities of color, and low-income communities shoulder the
largest burden of military toxics and have the least ability to obtain
protection and justice. Regulatory agencies often respond more quickly to
wealthy white communities but ignore or downplay contamination and health
problems in other areas.

The report shows that communities and individuals neighboring military
operations, as well as active duty personnel, veterans, and civilian workers
suffer from elevated cancer rates; intergenerational health problems;
contaminated subsistence food chains; nuclear safety threats; intolerable
noise and disruption; bombing of sacred areas; and =
destruction of wildlife habitat. The report also documents that the military
is completely or partially exempt from requirements or enforcement provisions
that apply to private individuals and companies under the Clean Water Act,
the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act,
the Clean Air Act, the Oil Pollution =
Act, the Noise Act, the Atomic Energy Act, the Occupational Safety and Health
Act, the Emergency Planning and Community Response Act, and the Coastal Zone
Management Act.

Many communities have suffered egregious environmental and health damage from
military toxins, according to the report.
  a.. In Cape Cod, MA, the Massachusetts Military Reservation 
contaminated the sole source of drinking water for 424,445 permanent and
seasonal residents.=20
  b.. In Hooper Bay, AK, the Cape Romanzof Long Range Radar Station
contaminated the subsistence food supply that native villages depend upon for
their survival.=20
  c.. In Lassen County, CA, the Sierra Army Depot is the largest source of
toxic air emissions in the state, releasing hazardous substances including
mercury, lead, beryllium, copper, dioxin, and PCBs.=20
  d.. In Oklahoma City, OK, federal health investigators tied low birth
weights to exposure to volatile organic compounds released by Tinker Air
Force Base.=20
  e.. In Fallon, NV, next door to Fallon Naval Air Station, fourteen children
have been diagnosed with cancer since 1997, all but one with acute
lymphocytic leukemia.
Many of the problems these communities face stem from military exemptions and
lack of aggressive enforcement by EPA and other federal agencies. The MTP
developed its Healthy Communities Campaign to demand military compliance with
the same laws and standards as private individuals and companies.

The MTP has identified four key areas of focus for its Healthy Communities
Campaign. These are:
Military Environmental Responsibility Act

The military is exempt from many laws that protect communities and workers,
either because it is completely exempt or because the Environmental
Protection Agency has inadequate enforcement authority. MTP is supporting
Congressman Filner=92s bill that would make the military accountable to all
federal and state environmental, worker, and public safety laws.=20

Health Effects

Military toxics have poisoned families and communities across the country.
Communities will document the human cost of military toxics and make it a
central part of the debate.Access To Information
Private citizens consistently are denied critical information about military
toxics that affect their health. MTP will expose the military=92s "right to
hide" and win access to the information people need to protect themselves.

Enforcement

Even when U.S. EPA has full authority to enforce laws against the military,
the agency often does not act. MTP will challenge all EPA regions to show the
courage demonstrated by Region 1, which has enforced the Safe Drinking Water
Act to protect communities from military toxics. The campaign also will teach
local organizations which laws EPA can enforce and how to pressure their EPA
region for action.=20

Organizations participating in the Healthy Communities Campaign kick off
include:

Military Toxics Project, National
Just Transition Alliance, National
Aberdeen Proving Ground Superfund Citizens Coalition, Aberdeen, MD
Activist San Diego, San Diego, CA
Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Statewide, AK
Arizona Safe Energy Coalition, Tucson, AZ
BANDU, Tucson, AZ
Citizens Research and Environmental Watch, Concord, MA
Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger, Merrimac, WI
Columbia River Education and Economic Development, The Dalles, OR
Committee for the Rescue and Development of Vieques, Vieques, PR
Defense Depot Memphis, Tennessee Concerned Citizens Committee, Memphis, TN
Environmental Health Coalition, San Diego, CA
Fellowship of Reconciliation Task Force on Latin America & the 
Caribbean, San Francisco, CA
GE Stockholders Alliance, Tucson, AZ
Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union Local 30, San Diego, CA
International Waterkeepers Alliance, Pensacola, FL
Native Villages of Hooper Bay and Paimiut, Alaska
New Jersey Military Toxics Project, Springfield, NJ
Patriots for Peace, Shalimar, FL
Peace Resource Center of San Diego, San Diego, CA
Pennsylvania Environmental Network, Statewide, PA
Pine Bluff for Safe Disposal, Pine Bluff, AR
Raytheon Peacemakers, Tucson, AZ
School for Chiapas, San Diego, CA
Southwest Workers Union / Committee for Environmental Justice Action, =
San Antonio, TX
Tucsonans for a Clean Environment, Tucson, AZ
Upper Cape Cod Concerned Citizens, Cape Cod, MA
Women=92s International League for Peace and Freedom, San Luis Obispo, San
Luis Obispo, CA
Women=92s International League for Peace and Freedom, Tucson Chapter, Tucson,
AZ

The U.S. Military should bear the same responsibility for environmental and
public health protection as private citizens and private companies.
Communities and citizens are fed up with unequal protection under the law for
military neighbors, civilian workers, and active duty personnel. =
It is a situation the people of this country will no longer tolerate.
Community health and safety is our most important national security interest.
It=92s time to stop destroying our communities in the name of protecting
them. The MTP says: Defend Our Health!
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