MORE CANCERS IN WASHINGTON

Washington residents have a higher-than-average risk for many cancers associated with persistent bioaccumulative toxins (PBTs), says WashPIRG, the public-interest research group (www.washpirg.org). The group says industries like oil refineries and pulp mills have �...discharged them into the environment for decades.... For some people, the cancer risk from exposure to PBTs is as high as one in 100.... The effects on wildlife are more obvious. Columbia River otters have been observed with physical deformities as a result of the pollutants and suffer reproductive problems like low sperm count. Washington ranks sixth in the nation for highest levels of carcinogenic discharges into waterways...and 13th highest for discharges of PBTs.... 59 percent of the state�s rivers, 35 percent of its lakes and 65 percent of its estuaries are not safe for swimming or fishing. Drinking water supplies have also been affected.... 2.1 million people in Washington drew their drinking water from sources that were cited for health standard violations by the EPA.� Industry has repeatedly persuaded the Department of Ecology to forego regulatory action, but in a victory for activists, a review is scheduled to take place.

WASHINGTON HAS MOST POLLUTING SCHOOL BUSES

(ENS)-A recent study by the Union of Concerned Scientists shows that the most polluting school buses are in the states of Washington and California. Most states rely on diesel school buses to transport children, yet no state monitors the amount of pollution released from the buses or requires school districts to purchase low emission buses. �California and Washington�s fleets were the worst in the country,� said the author of the report, titled Pollution Report Card: Grading America�s School Bus Fleets. �In a single year, America�s average school bus emits as much soot as 125 cars,� the UCS spokesperson added. America�s school bus fleet emits almost 95,000 tons of smog-forming pollution and more than 3,000 tons of soot every year. Diesel soot is small enough to evade the body�s defenses and lodge deep in children�s lungs, increasing the likelihood of asthma, chronic bronchitis, heart disease and even premature death. The report is at www.ucsusa.org/publications/PollutionRptCard.pdf

LOVE CHOCOLATE, HATE SLAVERY

The Seattle Chapter Fellowship of Reconciliation and other groups are campaigning to Stop Child Slave Labor and Poverty Wages in the Chocolate Industry. Over 40 percent of the world�s chocolate comes from Ivory Coast where child slaves as young as nine years old work in the fields. The groups gathered signatures on Valentines Day to give to the See�s candy company as part of a nation-wide effort led by Global Exchange to make Fair Trade Chocolate available. For more on this go to Global Exchange www.globalexchange.org/cocoa or Fellowship of Reconciliation, 206-789-5565.

FRANCE, SWEDEN GO ENVIRONMENTAL

(ENS)-France should promise its citizens a �protected and preserved� environment as a constitutional right, French President Jacques Chirac said recently. He said five environmental principles should be the law of the land. These are: environmental responsibility; the precautionary principle; integration of environmental issues into all sectors; damage prevention; and citizen participation. He added that energy policy is one of the chief issues the government must face if it is to improve the environment. Chirac repeated his support for the creation of a global environmental governance body that would be modeled on the UN World Health Organization.

Sweden is taking steps to become the world�s most environmentally sustainable nation by 2010. By the target date, emissions of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds are to be cut by 44 percent; thousands more miles of forests and 300 wetlands are to be protected; nitrogen discharges to the Baltic Sea are to be cut by at least 30 percent; lake and river acidity will be cut; half the entire water environment is to be placed under long term protection; oil discharges to the sea are to be negligible; at least 50 of the 100 high-priority contaminated sites will be cleaned.

KEEP TELLING THE CORPORATIONS

A WFPer wrote to Trader Joe�s saying their products looked great, but she wasn�t interested in buying them because most aren�t organic and don�t eschew genetically modified ingredients, which may harm human and animal health and the environment. Trader Joe�s replied in a letter calling attention to its Web site statement that �Effective immediately [Nov, 2001] we will work with any new vendor to produce private label products for Trader Joe�s without genetically engineered ingredients. Our goal for existing private label products is to have all such products reformulated, if necessary, and certified within one year.� The lesson is, keep writing to the corporations demanding products that are safe for farm workers, the environment and health. They are listening!

DON�T DRINK BOTTLED WATER

(ENS)-The conservation group World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is urging consumers to forego bottled water for the sake of the environment. WWF commissioned a study that showed that despite selling for up to 1,000 times the price of tap water, bottled water may be no safer or healthier than tap water in many countries. Yet it is the fastest growing drink industry, representing an annual volume of 89 billion liters and an estimated US$22 billion. There are more standards regulating tap water than bottled water, the study noted. �Our attitudes towards tap water are being shaped by the pollution which is choking the rivers and streams, which should be veins of life,� said the director of WWF�s Living Waters Campaign. �We must clean up and properly protect these waters at source, and not just at the treatment works, so that we can all rest easy in drinking from the tap.� The study says that while bottled water is generally safer in areas where tap water may be contaminated, boiling or filtering local water renders it safe at a much lower cost. Every year 1.5 million tons of plastic are used to bottle water, and toxic chemicals can be released during the manufacture and disposal of the bottles the study says.

YELM, WA, RECYCLES ALL WASTEWATER

(ENS)-Yelm, WA is now reusing 100 percent of its treated wastewater. The town south of Seattle uses the recycled water to irrigate landscaping at churches, parks, a football field and one residence. The water also is added to streams and is used to recharge water underground at a city wetland park that includes a catch and release fishpond for rainbow trout. The state Department of Ecology says Yelm is a role model for the rest of the state on how to accommodate the increasing water demands.