EPA scheduled these meetings to hear public comment on their reassessment of the health effects of dioxin, published last September. The scientific evidence published in this 2,400 page report indicates that dioxin is worse for us than previously reported. The EPA study confirms what grassroots activists have feared for years; dioxin is a deadly chemical that is destroying the health of our people and the environment.
There are many important findings in the reassessment:
* Not Only does dioxin exposure lead to cancer, but exposure to dioxin at levels 100 times lower than levels associated with developing cancer has been linked to severe reproductive and developmental effects. The report also confirms that dioxin exposure can damage the immune system, leading to increased susceptibility to infectious diseases, and can disrupt the function of regulatory hormones.
* Some health effects of dioxin, such as sterility, endometriosis, reduced glucose tolerance, birth defects, immune system suppression, and decreased testis size, were found to occur "at or near levels to which people in the general population are exposed;"
* The major route of human exposure is through ingestion of a wide variety of common foods containing small amounts of dioxin, especially dairy products, meat and fish. This has resulted in widespread low-level exposure of the general population;
* The principal sources of dioxin in the environment are incineration, chemical manufacturing and processing, industrial\municipal processes and "reservoir" sources (dioxin contaminated soils and sediments).
The EPA reassessment confirms what those exposed to dioxin have been saying for years: women who had miscarriages in Alsea, Oregon; families living around the Hoffmann-LaRoche chemical plant in Seveso, Italy; residents of Love Canal, NY, Times Beach, MO, and Jacksonville, AR; and Vietnam veterans. CCHW is working with local groups around the country to create strong local coalitions that can work together in a nationally linked Stop Dioxin Exposure Campaign. We are developing a campaign guidebook for grassroots people to use in building their local coalitions and writing a People's Guide to the 2,400 page EPA Dioxin reassessment.
The Stop Dioxin Exposure Campaign will initiate a new dialogue among the American people about "getting government off our backs and then getting government on our side." As the Gingrich plan to free corporations from the shackles of regulations and taxes begins to unfold, a bottom up effort to stop dioxin exposure can provide us the opportunity to develop a different shared analysis of what has gone wrong and what we must do together to make it right.
To be successful, the Stop Dioxin Exposure Campaign can't be another one hundred national organizations-signed-on-but-just-on-paper-coalition in which local people's involvement is limited to writing a check or sending clever postcards to their members of Congress. This campaign has to be hundreds of local coalitions whose member groups figure out how to work together; Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange; people living near pulp and paper mills; families who live downwind from incinerators; and workers in the pharmaceutical, pesticide and chemical manufacturing industries have all been fighting for public recognition of the health damage caused by dioxin exposure.
The new EPA report on dioxin provides an opportunity for grassroots environmental justice groups to broaden their base and become more powerful. Dioxin is the smokestack in everyone's backyard. It is a problem that can be the basis for building local coalitions of Vietnam Veterans, La Leche League breast feeding advocates, farmers, Indigenous People, community groups fighting incinerators, and victims of breast cancer and endometriosis. The EPA reassessment on dioxin gives the grassroots movement for environmental justice the chance to broaden and strengthen our groups and deepen our involvement in our local communities. Because dioxin effects everyone and because the EPA reassessment provides new, compelling information to share with Sunday school classes and PTA's, dioxin provides grassroots activists with a terrific opportunity to reach new people and break through the labels that have been given us by the media and the corporations.
To help build this campaign, CCHW will provide organizing and technical assistance to local coalitions and create a network in which local coalitions can work together.
Shutting down the sources of dioxin won't be easy. Industry will say that there just haven't been enough studies to justify regulation or that the existing studies are bad science. Coalition members will be in conflict with each other over strategies or funding. The Contract with America advocates will argue that regulation isn't necessary. But look at what we stand to win with a successful national bottom-up campaign to stop dioxin exposure. We get less cancer, stronger immune systems, fewer birth defects, and more people who can bear children when they're ready to start a family. We also get the beginnings of a rebuilt democracy based on the coalition efforts of local people who have figured out how to limit corporate influence and maximize public participation.
We can stop dioxin exposure by building a national network of local coalitions. To get started contact CCHW, P.O. Box 6806, Falls Church, VA. 22040 (703-237-2249).
To subscribe to CCHW's electronic Dioxin Bulletin Board send the message "subscribe dioxin-I Lois Gibbs is the Executive Director of Citizen's Clearinghouse For Hazardous Wastes.