2011-12-07 "Fight Against Covanta & For Environmental Justice"
[http://rhhr.wordpress.com/2011/12/07/fight-against-covanta-for-environmental-justice/]
Covanta Incinerator in Crows Landing, Stanislaus
Fact Sheet:
Covanta is operating on a Title V Clean Air Act permit from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District that expired in 2007.
The incinerator emits dioxin, a super-toxin that major scientific studies have proven to cause cancer and birth defects even at low levels.  Dioxin accumulates in our food chain and is stored in our body fat, a big concern for our agricultural economy and health.  Only women have the ability to get rid of some of the dioxin in their bodies, sadly by passing it on to their children during pregnancy and breast feeding.
Concerning all stationary sources in Stanislaus County, Covanta is the number one emitter of mono-nitrogen oxides (nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide, also known as NOx), the number two emitter of sulfur oxides (SOx) and the number three emitter of volatile organic compounds (VOC’s).  These ozone pollution precursors have been shown to increase the risk of asthma and other respiratory diseases in children, aggravated asthma conditions, decreased lung function in all ages, cardiovascular disease, an impaired immune system, chronic bronchitis, aggravated allergies, low birth weight and preterm birth, cancer, and premature death.  Some of the symptoms caused by air pollution exposure include coughing, shortness of breath, wheezing, fatigue, throat dryness, chest pain, headache, and nausea.
All of the municipal solid waste incinerators in California are located in low-income communities of color (City of Commerce- 90% Hispanic, Long Beach- 70% minorities, and Crow’s Landing- information unavailable but evident when visiting).  In 1984, the California Waste Management Board hired Cerrill Associates to help find locations for waste incinerators.  According to Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, “the Cerrill Report suggests that companies target small, rural communities whose residents are low income, older people, or people with a high school education or less; communities with a high proportion of Catholic residents; and communities whose residents are engaged in resource extractive industries such as agriculture, mining and forestry.”
Incineration discourages Stanislaus County from promoting reuse, waste reduction, composting, and recycling.




Principles of Environmental Justice
[http://www.ejnet.org/ej/]
WE, THE PEOPLE OF COLOR, gathered together at this multinational People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit, to begin to build a national and international movement of all peoples of color to fight the destruction and taking of our lands and communities, do hereby re-establish our spiritual interdependence to the sacredness of our Mother Earth; to respect and celebrate each of our cultures, languages and beliefs about the natural world and our roles in healing ourselves; to ensure environmental justice; to promote economic alternatives which would contribute to the development of environmentally safe livelihoods; and, to secure our political, economic and cultural liberation that has been denied for over 500 years of colonization and oppression, resulting in the poisoning of our communities and land and the genocide of our peoples, do affirm and adopt these Principles of Environmental Justice:

1) Environmental Justice affirms the sacredness of Mother Earth, ecological unity and the interdependence of all species, and the right to be free from ecological destruction.

2) Environmental Justice demands that public policy be based on mutual respect and justice for all peoples, free from any form of discrimination or bias.

3) Environmental Justice mandates the right to ethical, balanced and responsible uses of land and renewable resources in the interest of a sustainable planet for humans and other living things.

4) Environmental Justice calls for universal protection from nuclear testing, extraction, production and disposal of toxic/hazardous wastes and poisons and nuclear testing that threaten the fundamental right to clean air, land, water, and food.

5) Environmental Justice affirms the fundamental right to political, economic, cultural and environmental self-determination of all peoples.

6) Environmental Justice demands the cessation of the production of all toxins, hazardous wastes, and radioactive materials, and that all past and current producers be held strictly accountable to the people for detoxification and the containment at the point of production.

7) Environmental Justice demands the right to participate as equal partners at every level of decision-making, including needs assessment, planning, implementation, enforcement and evaluation.

8 ) Environmental Justice affirms the right of all workers to a safe and healthy work environment without being forced to choose between an unsafe livelihood and unemployment. It also affirms the right of those who work at home to be free from environmental hazards.

9) Environmental Justice protects the right of victims of environmental injustice to receive full compensation and reparations for damages as well as quality health care.

10) Environmental Justice considers governmental acts of environmental injustice a violation of international law, the Universal Declaration On Human Rights, and the United Nations Convention on Genocide.

11) Environmental Justice must recognize a special legal and natural relationship of Native Peoples to the U.S. government through treaties, agreements, compacts, and covenants affirming sovereignty and self-determination.

12) Environmental Justice affirms the need for urban and rural ecological policies to clean up and rebuild our cities and rural areas in balance with nature, honoring the cultural integrity of all our communities, and provided fair access for all to the full range of resources.

13) Environmental Justice calls for the strict enforcement of principles of informed consent, and a halt to the testing of experimental reproductive and medical procedures and vaccinations on people of color.

14) Environmental Justice opposes the destructive operations of multi-national corporations.

15) Environmental Justice opposes military occupation, repression and exploitation of lands, peoples and cultures, and other life forms.

16) Environmental Justice calls for the education of present and future generations which emphasizes social and environmental issues, based on our experience and an appreciation of our diverse cultural perspectives.

17) Environmental Justice requires that we, as individuals, make personal and consumer choices to consume as little of Mother Earth’s resources and to produce as little waste as possible; and make the conscious decision to challenge and reprioritize our lifestyles to ensure the health of the natural world for present and future generations.