-----Original Message-----
From: Gary Cohen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Wednesday, December 23, 1998 1:20 PM
Subject: ALL: op ed article for Civil Action movie
>Dear Health Care Without Harm campaigners,
>
>below please find an op ed pice I write to accompany organizing around the
>film Civil Action. Feel free to use this piece however you wish and add
your
>name as a co-author if that helps out with local press. Gary
>
>-------------------------------------------------------------
>
>The Need for Civic Action
>
>Many years have passed since the the wells of families in Woburn,
>Massachusetts were contaminated.
>
>At one level, the tragedy stands as a singular event in the history of the
>nation. In an average middle class town, seven children died from leukemia
>due to toxic chemicals in their drinking water. Lives were forever lost. A
>community was forever scarred. This story has been powerfully captured in
>the book Civil Action by Jonathan Harr and has now been turned into a
>major Hollywood movie.
>
>But, in another way, Woburn has become a familiar script. It goes
>something like this: Multi-billion dollar company poisons community;
>people get sick and die; the company denies the problem as long as
>possible, hoping to use its money to outlast desperate families seeking
>justice from the violence perpetrated against them. When it seems the
>company may lose in court, it settles privately for a sum in exchange for a
>waiver on any future liability.
>
>This script has been repeated over the years - Love Canal, Bhopal,
>Jacksonville, DES daughters. The names of the companies are different, the
>outcomes are similar. Children's lives are just the cost of doing business.
>The world goes on. The companies gear up their public relations machines
>to recreate an image in which they bring "good things to life". Eventually
>the horror fades and is replaced by other images from our daily diet of
>horrors from other places.
>
>But what gets lost in the public's consciousness is the ubiquity of the
>chemical assault in communities across the country. There are hundreds of
>Woburns in the United States, where communities living next to chemical
>companies, paper mills, computer manufacturers, military bases, medical
>waste incinerators and toxic dumps suffer an array of health problems
>related to their toxics exposures. Worse still, when residents seek some
kind
>of justice from these exposures, they are stymied by a regulatory system so
>tragically compromised that it regularly protects the rights of companies
to
>pollute rather than defending the public's health. Contrary to the
>Republican Party's mantra on this subject, the problem is not too much
>government, but too much government serving the needs of industry.
>
>The public health crisis extends well beyond individual communities and
>their polluting corporate neighbors. The reality is that there is no place
to go
>to escape this toxics nightmare. Here are some facts to highlight the
>problem:
>
>* There are fish consumption bans in 39 states due to mercury
>contamination, while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warned in
>its latest report to Congress that 1.6 million children and women are at
risk
>from mercury poisoning due to their modest fish consumption.
>
>* There are such high levels of dioxin in mother's milk that newborns get
>80 times their lifetime "safe" dose of dioxin during their first six months
of
>life. In June, 1998, Consumer Reports published test results that showed
all
>the major baby food brands had alarming levels of dioxin in popularly sold
>meat-based products. Dioxin is a probable carcinogen and is known to
>disrupt the hormonal system of the growing child.
>
>* According to a National Academy of Sciences report, there are 70
>pesticides allowed in commercial foods that cause cancer in animals, while
>20 others are considered probable human carcinogens. Other allowable
>pesticides are neurotoxic, affect normal immunological function or impact
>on healthy reproduction.
>
>Children are the most vulnerable population to this toxic assault since
their
>rapidly developing systems are more sensitive to these chemicals. It is no
>wonder that cancer now kills more children under fourteen than any other
>disease.
>
>The frightening fact is that we all live in Woburn. As a society, we are
>conducting an uncontrolled chemical experiment on our children and future
>generations. While the chemical industry continues to deny its products are
>poisoning us, it is no longer possible for a child to be born in this
country
>without a host of toxic chemicals in his/her body. This is a profound
>violation of basic human rights.
>
>We don't need more Woburns to convince us we have a problem with toxic
>chemicals and a regulatory and justice system that offers neither effective
>regulation nor justice. We just need the political will to directly
challenge
>the companies that are poisoning us and force them to get their chemicals
>out of our water, our air, our food, our consumer products, and our bodies.
>
>
> Gary Cohen
>
>
>Gary Cohen is the National Co-Coordinator of Health Care Without Harm,
>an international coalition working to reform the environmental practices of
>the healthcare industry.
>
>Gary Cohen
>41 Oakview Terrace
>Jamaica Plain, MA. 02130
>(617)524-6018 tel
>(617)524-7021 fax
>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
!end
=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Louisiana Environmental Telegraph | http://envirotel.org
Question? http://envirotel.org/faq.htm
=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: Gary Cohen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Wednesday, December 23, 1998 1:20 PM
Subject: ALL: op ed article for Civil Action movie
>Dear Health Care Without Harm campaigners,
>
>below please find an op ed pice I write to accompany organizing around the
>film Civil Action. Feel free to use this piece however you wish and add
your
>name as a co-author if that helps out with local press. Gary
>
>-------------------------------------------------------------
>
>The Need for Civic Action
>
>Many years have passed since the the wells of families in Woburn,
>Massachusetts were contaminated.
>
>At one level, the tragedy stands as a singular event in the history of the
>nation. In an average middle class town, seven children died from leukemia
>due to toxic chemicals in their drinking water. Lives were forever lost. A
>community was forever scarred. This story has been powerfully captured in
>the book Civil Action by Jonathan Harr and has now been turned into a
>major Hollywood movie.
>
>But, in another way, Woburn has become a familiar script. It goes
>something like this: Multi-billion dollar company poisons community;
>people get sick and die; the company denies the problem as long as
>possible, hoping to use its money to outlast desperate families seeking
>justice from the violence perpetrated against them. When it seems the
>company may lose in court, it settles privately for a sum in exchange for a
>waiver on any future liability.
>
>This script has been repeated over the years - Love Canal, Bhopal,
>Jacksonville, DES daughters. The names of the companies are different, the
>outcomes are similar. Children's lives are just the cost of doing business.
>The world goes on. The companies gear up their public relations machines
>to recreate an image in which they bring "good things to life". Eventually
>the horror fades and is replaced by other images from our daily diet of
>horrors from other places.
>
>But what gets lost in the public's consciousness is the ubiquity of the
>chemical assault in communities across the country. There are hundreds of
>Woburns in the United States, where communities living next to chemical
>companies, paper mills, computer manufacturers, military bases, medical
>waste incinerators and toxic dumps suffer an array of health problems
>related to their toxics exposures. Worse still, when residents seek some
kind
>of justice from these exposures, they are stymied by a regulatory system so
>tragically compromised that it regularly protects the rights of companies
to
>pollute rather than defending the public's health. Contrary to the
>Republican Party's mantra on this subject, the problem is not too much
>government, but too much government serving the needs of industry.
>
>The public health crisis extends well beyond individual communities and
>their polluting corporate neighbors. The reality is that there is no place
to go
>to escape this toxics nightmare. Here are some facts to highlight the
>problem:
>
>* There are fish consumption bans in 39 states due to mercury
>contamination, while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warned in
>its latest report to Congress that 1.6 million children and women are at
risk
>from mercury poisoning due to their modest fish consumption.
>
>* There are such high levels of dioxin in mother's milk that newborns get
>80 times their lifetime "safe" dose of dioxin during their first six months
of
>life. In June, 1998, Consumer Reports published test results that showed
all
>the major baby food brands had alarming levels of dioxin in popularly sold
>meat-based products. Dioxin is a probable carcinogen and is known to
>disrupt the hormonal system of the growing child.
>
>* According to a National Academy of Sciences report, there are 70
>pesticides allowed in commercial foods that cause cancer in animals, while
>20 others are considered probable human carcinogens. Other allowable
>pesticides are neurotoxic, affect normal immunological function or impact
>on healthy reproduction.
>
>Children are the most vulnerable population to this toxic assault since
their
>rapidly developing systems are more sensitive to these chemicals. It is no
>wonder that cancer now kills more children under fourteen than any other
>disease.
>
>The frightening fact is that we all live in Woburn. As a society, we are
>conducting an uncontrolled chemical experiment on our children and future
>generations. While the chemical industry continues to deny its products are
>poisoning us, it is no longer possible for a child to be born in this
country
>without a host of toxic chemicals in his/her body. This is a profound
>violation of basic human rights.
>
>We don't need more Woburns to convince us we have a problem with toxic
>chemicals and a regulatory and justice system that offers neither effective
>regulation nor justice. We just need the political will to directly
challenge
>the companies that are poisoning us and force them to get their chemicals
>out of our water, our air, our food, our consumer products, and our bodies.
>
>
> Gary Cohen
>
>
>Gary Cohen is the National Co-Coordinator of Health Care Without Harm,
>an international coalition working to reform the environmental practices of
>the healthcare industry.
>
>Gary Cohen
>41 Oakview Terrace
>Jamaica Plain, MA. 02130
>(617)524-6018 tel
>(617)524-7021 fax
>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
!end
=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Louisiana Environmental Telegraph | http://envirotel.org
Question? http://envirotel.org/faq.htm
=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
http://members.xoom.com/ThePiedPiper/Intro2.htm
1. Take the 60-day No Aspartame Test and send us your case history.
Mission Possible International
5950-H State Bridge Rd. #215 Duluth, GA 30097 USA
2. Tell your doctor and all of your friends!
3. Return Asparcidal food to the store.
(anything with Monsanto's NutraSweet/Equal/Spoonful/Benevia/NatraTaste)
VISIT http://www.dorway.com Get links to over 30 sites on aspartame
VISIT http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/ ..FAQs & Cases
VISIT http://www.notmilk.com Exposing Bovine Growth Hormone
Disability and Death are not acceptable costs of business!
1. Take the 60-day No Aspartame Test and send us your case history.
Mission Possible International
5950-H State Bridge Rd. #215 Duluth, GA 30097 USA
2. Tell your doctor and all of your friends!
3. Return Asparcidal food to the store.
(anything with Monsanto's NutraSweet/Equal/Spoonful/Benevia/NatraTaste)
VISIT http://www.dorway.com Get links to over 30 sites on aspartame
VISIT http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/ ..FAQs & Cases
VISIT http://www.notmilk.com Exposing Bovine Growth Hormone
Disability and Death are not acceptable costs of business!
