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Year
Press Release: Communities to be Harmed by EPA Budget Cuts Ask Congress for Protection
December 14, 2017
Washington, D.C.— As Congress continues its consideration of the Trump Administration’s proposal to slash funding for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a coalition of community environmental justice and health groups issued a volley of letters urging appropriators to maintain funding for vital health and safety programs. The letters, sent from communities across the nation who are dealing with disproportionate levels of environmental pollution, detail how EPA programs—especially Environmental Justice programs and grants designed to support the most impacted communities—have improved public health and provided economic benefits in their neighborhoods, and how starving these efforts may put people directly in harm’s way. Read More
Press Release: Shoppers, Parents and Health Experts Visit 80+ Dollar Tree and Family Dollar Locations Asking for Toxic Chemical Safety this Holiday Season
December 5, 2017
San Diego, CA—During the busy holiday shopping season, concerned customers and activists alerted dollar store visitors to dangerous chemicals found in some products. Activists then met with store managers at over 80 Dollar Tree and Family Dollar store locations in 20 states, Washington, D.C. and Canada to ask for transparent and more protective chemical safety policies. Read More
Visitan más de 80 Tiendas de Dollar Tree y Family Dollar Compradores, Padres de Familia y Especialistas en Asuntos de la Salud para Solicitar Seguridad de Sustancias Químicas Toxicas esta Temporada de Fiestas
December 5, 2017
San Diego, CA— Durante la temporada alta de compras por los días festivos, consumidores preocupados y activistas dieron a conocer información a los visitantes de las tiendas sobre las sustancias químicas peligrosas encontradas en algunas de los productos de venta en las tiendas de dólar. Después, activistas llevaron a cabo reuniones con los gerentes de más de 80 tiendas de Dollar Tree y Family Dollar en 20 estados, Washington, D.C., y Canadá, para solicitar políticas de seguridad química más transparentes y protectoras. Read More
Press Release: Major Retailers Graded on Toxic Chemicals in Products and Packaging
November 14, 2017
Washington, DC – Just in time for the holiday shopping season, today the Campaign for Healthier Solutions and the Mind the Store campaign released their second annual report card on toxic chemicals in consumer products, which found that one-third of 30 major U.S. retailers are leaders, but two-thirds remain serious laggards. The report, Who’s Minding the Store? -- A Report Card on Retailer Actions to Eliminate Toxic Chemicals,includes evaluations of nineteen retailers for the first time. The nation’s largest dollar stores scored poorly, with Dollar Tree earning a grade of ‘D’ and Dollar General earning an ‘F’. Read More
Victoria para la Salud del Consumidor: Siete Cadenas Grandes de Tiendas Se Comprometen a Reducir el Uso de Sustancias Químicas Toxicas en Productos y sus Empaquetados
November 14, 2017
Washington, DC – Justo a tiempo para las compras de la época festiva, hoy la campaña de Mind the Store publicó su boleta anual de calificaciones sobre sustancias químicas toxicas en productos para el consumidor, mismo que encontró que una tercera parte de las 30 cadenas más grandes de tiendas en los Estados Unidos son líderes, pero dos terceras partes permanecen muy atrasadas. Este informe, ¿Quién Está Cuidando la Tienda? – Una Boleta de Calificaciones Sobre las Acciones de Cadenas de Tiendas Hacia la Eliminación de Sustancias Químicas Toxicas (Who’s Minding the Store? -- A Report Card on Retailer Actions to Eliminate Toxic Chemicals), incluye, por primera vez, evaluaciones de diecinueve tiendas. Read More
Press Release: The Environmental Justice Health Alliance Commends Senator Booker's New Bill to Address Environmental Injustices
October 24, 2017
Newark, NJ — Senator Cory Booker was joined by Michele Roberts, National Co-Coordinator of the Environmental Justice Health Alliance (EJHA), to introduce a new legislation seeking to address some environmental injustices communities across the nation face. 'Environmental justice communities', often composed predominantly of people of color and the poor, suffer disproportionate levels of environmental pollution and its resulting health impacts. Read More
Press Release: Wilmington ‘Environmental Justice Communities’ Suffer Disproportionate Health Risks from Multiple, Overlapping Toxic Exposures
October 19, 2017
Wilmington, DE — Today, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Environmental Justice Health Alliance, and local community organizations released a new analysis of public health and mapping information showing all of seven ‘environmental justice communities’ studied in the Wilmington area face substantially higher risk of developing cancers and respiratory illnesses linked to toxic pollution in or near their neighborhoods. Read More
Report: Environmental Justice for Delaware - Mitigating Toxic Pollution in New Castle County Communities
October 19, 2017
Studies show that people in poverty are exposed to more environmental pollution, and our own research shows Blacks and Latinos are far more likely to live next to hazardous facilities which are often its source of this pollution - but these studies simply confirm the experiences of exposure, illness, and death that too many people living in the shadow of industrial chemical pollution know so well. That's why Coming Clean worked with Delaware community groups and the Union of Concerned Scientists to issue a new report showing that all seven 'environmental justice communities' we studied in Wilmington face dramatically higher risk of developing cancers or respiratory illnesses linked to this pollution. Read More
Press Release: Consumer Agency to Ban Harmful Chemicals in Children’s Toys
October 18, 2017
WASHINGTON – In a major victory for public health, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted today, 3-2, to ban several harmful phthalate chemicals from plastic used in children’s toys and child care articles.
The agency finalized its rule on phthalates today in response to a legal settlement approved by a judge in a lawsuit brought by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Environmental Justice Health Alliance (EJHA) and Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP) against the CPSC last December. The final rule permanently bans five types of phthalates from use in children’s toys and child care articles. Read More
As Houston plots a sustainable path forward, it’s leaving this neighborhood behind
September 15, 2017
The cancer risk for residents of Manchester and the neighboring community of Harrisburg is 22 percent higher than for the overall Houston urban area, according to a recent report from the Union of Concerned Scientists and t.e.j.a.s. While the city works to overcome its image as a dirty oil town, these neighborhoods remain solidly dominated by the petrochemical industry. And despite the work of Parras and his team, the environmental and health issues that Manchester’s residents face are not gaining enough political traction to garner real change.“Environmental justice issues become all too easy to grasp when you take people into neighborhoods,” Juan Parras said when the Sierra Club awarded him its 2015 Robert Bullard Environmental Justice Award. So Parras gives the toxic tour over and over again, hoping that, eventually, people will listen.
Read More
A Toxic Storm: Hazardous Facilities, Failed Chemical Safety Policies, and Extreme Weather Leave Houston Residents Swimming in Toxic Soup
August 30, 2017
In response to the devastation and suffering created by Tropical Storm Harvey, and the toxic hazards posed to health and the environment by dozens of hazardous industrial and commercial facilities concentrated in the Houston area, Michele Roberts, Co-Coordinator of the Environmental Justice Health Alliance (EJHA), issued the following statement: Read More
Coming Clean and EJHA's Joint Statement on Racist Violence in Charlottesville
August 24, 2017
Coming Clean, a network of 200 community, state and national organizations working to reduce the disproportionate suffering toxic chemicals impose on people of color and the poor, is deeply saddened and disappointed by the recent racist, hateful actions in Charlottesville, Virginia. Our hearts are with the victims of these attacks—whether they died or were injured directly by white supremacists, died in an accident while seeking to protect the public, or were one of the millions among us who felt the chill and horror intended by this terrorist attack. We condemn racism and all supremacist ideologies everywhere they appear, be they in the streets of Charlottesville, our institutions of government and criminal justice, and in the daily lives of those who continue to suffer their impacts. Read More
Press Release: Dollar Tree Customers Confront Executives At Shareholder Meeting Asking For Nontoxic Products - But Receive No Answers
June 15, 2017
Chesapeake, VA – Today, Dollar Tree executives did not commit to meeting with a coalition of Dollar Tree stock owners and customers, nor did they answer their concerns about high levels of hazardous chemicals found in some of the discount retailer's products. The Campaign for Healthier Solutions, a coalition of public health and community groups, attended the company's shareholder meeting to urge the discount chain to do more to reduce customer's exposure to toxic chemicals, especially in communities already overburdened by toxic chemical exposure, and to share what they are doing with the public. Read More
Press Release: EPA Administrator Pruitt Delays Safety Measures, Puts Workers and Fence-line Communities in Further Danger of Chemical Disasters
April 18, 2017
Washington, D.C. – Recently, Scott Pruitt, Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), further delayed important safety improvements for thousands of hazardous chemical facilities which pose an immediate threat to millions of Americans. Pruitt’s decision to delay improvements to the Risk Management Plan (RMP) program, which have been under consideration for over three years, included numerous opportunities for industry input, and over 150,000 public comments, is contrary to public expectations across party lines. This delay further endangers first-responders, chemical facility workers, and the 134 million Americans who live fence-line to 12,500 chemical facilities managed under the RMP program. Read More
Public Health Campaign Says Dollar General's Illegal Hazardous Waste Treatment is Another Example of Careless Corporate Behavior Endangering Communities
April 18, 2017
San Diego, CA – Yesterday, California district attorneys announced that a Kern County judge has ordered the Tennessee-based discount retailer Dollar General to pay $1.12 million in civil penalties for "routinely and systematically" violating the law by sending hazardous waste to local landfills. Representatives of the Campaign for Healthier Solutions, which works to address the public health impacts of toxic chemicals found in some dollar store products. Read More
Release: Toxic BPA found in food can liners purchased from dollar stores
March 19, 2017
A new report released by six nonprofit organizations that tested nearly 200 food can linings for the toxic chemical, Bisphenol A (BPA) found that two out of three cans tested have the chemical in the lining. BPA is an endocrine-disrupting chemical that negatively impacts our hormonal systems. Evidence suggests it may contribute to a host of harmful health effects including breast and prostate cancer, infertility, type-2 diabetes, obesity, asthma and attention deficit disorder. Other studies have demonstrated the capacity of BPA to migrate into food and then into people, raising concerns about exposures to low, but biologically relevant levels of BPA. Read More
Report: Buyer Beware - Toxic BPA and Regrettable Substitutes Found in the Linings of Canned Food
March 19, 2017
A new report released by six nonprofit organizations that tested nearly 200 food can linings for the toxic chemical, Bisphenol A (BPA) found that two out of three cans tested have the chemical in the lining. BPA is an endocrine-disrupting chemical that negatively impacts our hormonal systems. Evidence suggests it may contribute to a host of harmful health effects including breast and prostate cancer, infertility, type-2 diabetes, obesity, asthma and attention deficit disorder. Other studies have demonstrated the capacity of BPA to migrate into food and then into people, raising concerns about exposures to low, but biologically relevant levels of BPA. Read More
25 EJ Groups Urge Congress: Don't Meddle with Chemical Plant Safety Improvements
February 27, 2017
[Washington, D.C.] – Last week, the Environmental Justice Health Alliance (EJHA) sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, and other Congressional leaders urging them to block efforts to overturn improvements to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Risk Management Plan (RMP). The letter was signed by executives from 25 groups which focus on environmental justice issues, and included many organizations who work with or represent community members living in the disaster-zone of catastrophic explosions or dangerous chemical releases from facilities covered by EPA’s RMP. Read More