Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Update

To update you on the events that have been taking place, Lois Gibbs from the Center for Health and Environmental Justice (www.chej.org) came and spoke to about 100 students in the Lecture Center earlier this month. The focus of her lecture was to educate students about the way the New York State goverment denied that there was any danger of exposure to toxic chemicals in her home town of Love Canal, near Niagra Falls in Upstate NY. Even though over 50 percent of babies were being born with birth defects (including multiple rows of teeth) and people were getting cancer at alarming rates, the NY State goverment said, "You can't prove it." In order to protect the lives of her children and those around her, she joined up with neighbors and began an onslaught of activism, calling legislators and elected officials....doing whatever it took to put the politicians on the spot and demanding they pay attention. Love Canal was built on a toxic waste dump which was destroying the lives of its residents. New York State allowed it for year, and eventually, with the passion and dedication of the citizens, the town was evacuated. Gibbs went on to build the Center for Health and Environmental Justice www.chej.org, which is responible for pressuring large companies, including Target and WalMart, to stop using highly toxic plastics in their packaging. Go Lois Gibbs!!!!! Power to the People!

This is no joke. If the NY State government would play games with peoples lives back in the 70's when Love Canal was an issue, why would 2007 be any different with the SUNY New Paltz dorms? This issue has been going on for 16 years now, and the SUNY administration still claims that PCB and Dioxins in the four dorms - Capen, Gage, Scudder and Bliss, pose no serious health threats to students....

Just to make things clear as well, there are no questions as to whether or not the dorms are contaminated. The administration has repeatedly said that they are contaminated, but they are safe. Excuse me? PCB and Dioxin exposure (dioxin was the chemical used in Agent Orange) is safe?

The questions we want answered are, how contaminated are the buildings, and where are the hot spots? And what are the health risks to students who live in the buildings year round?

This is what we are in the process of finding out. Student leaders and activists have been meeting with county legislators and will soon be meeting with an environmental consultant to determine the best way to put pressure on the Ulster County Department of Health to take action and cooperate with Senate Resolution 42, which calls for peer-reviewed, split sample testing. Why do we want split sample testing? To make sure they don't lie about the results.


If you live in one of the four contaminated dorms, there are several things you can do right now to learn more and to become involved.

The only way we are going to be able to stand up to the administration is if the students and parents inform themselves and speak up.

Please register for the Dioxin Dorms discussion board. We need to get people talking to each other and informing each other of the issues. We need to create a social movement that is going to create an impact. This is necessary if we are to succeed.
http://dioxindorms.com/discussion_board/

You can also go to www.dioxindorms.com and read the articles there.
There is also PCB/Dioxin Activist Coalition blog to read at www.newpaltzpcbs.blogspot.com

The reason there is not much activity on these sites right now is because there is only a very small group of people doing all the work, and there is so much that needs to be done.

A 3-5 minuted informative video needs to be made and posted on You Tube. Any volunteers?

A student Health Survey needs to be handed out and collected. Who would like to be involved with that?

Are there any students who are studying environmental issues that would like to take this on as an independent study and could likely get credit for it?

Go the the student health center and tell them that you want to get your blood tested for PCBs, dioxin and dibenzofurans. If at leat 30-50 students do this, it will get their attention. Ask for Dr. Peter Haughton and listen to the mouthful of lies he will tell you about how people in Asia drank PCB oil and were fine. It is called the Yusho Incident and you can research it yourself. (We have this statement by Dr. Haughton on record.)

TALK TO YOUR PARENTS.


Please feel free to reply to this email....if we don't respond immediately, please be patient. If you do not live in the dorms, you can still become involved and protect your fellow students. Please email this to anyone you know who lives on campus, or attended SUNY New Paltz in the last 16 years.

Print it out and spread it around.

EDUCATE YOURSELF and please read the letter below.

Thank you and may you be in good health,


The PCB/Dioxin Action Coalition
www.newpaltzpcbs.blogspot.com
www.dioxindorms.com

1 comment:

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