=======================Electronic Edition========================
RACHEL’S HAZARDOUS WASTE NEWS #366
—December 2, 1993—
News and resources for environmental justice.
——
Environmental Research Foundation
P.O. Box 5036, Annapolis, MD 21403
Fax (410) 263-8944; Internet: erf@igc.apc.org
==========
The Back issues and Index are
available here.
The official RACHEL archive is here.
It’s updated constantly.
To subscribe, send E-mail to rachel-
weekly-request@world.std.com
with the single word SUBSCRIBE in the message. It’s
free.
===Previous
Issue==========================================Next
Issue===
CAROL BROWNER AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE:
WORDS VERSUS DEEDS AT THE EPA IN GEORGIA
In his speech on earth day in April, President Clinton announced
that he was asking the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and
the Department of Justice to formulate “an aggressive
investigation of the inequalities in exposure to environmental
hazards.”
EPA Administrator Carol Browner testified before Congress May 6,
1993 saying, “We now believe that people of color and low income
are disproportionately affected by some environmental risks–the
risk of living near landfills, municipal waste combustors, or
hazardous waste sites…. I have made environmental justice one
of the key policy themes of my administration. Environmental
justice must be woven into all aspects of EPA operations:
rulemaking, permitting, enforcement, education, hiring, and
outreach. Our program offices are expanding their data
collection efforts in communities located near large sources of
pollution in order to help us assess health impacts.” [1]
While President Clinton and EPA chief Browner are making speeches
about the importance of “environmental justice,” EPA Region 4 in
Atlanta has taken steps to oust a physician who has developed a
technique for identifying disadvantaged neighborhoods threatened
by pollution.
Dr. John R. Stockwell–a physician on loan to EPA from the U.S.
Public Health Service since 1987–has been notified that Acting
Regional Administrator Patrick Tobin wants him out of EPA as soon
as possible. Stockwell is fighting the ouster, and has gathered
support from activists across the south who say Stockwell’s kind
of work is precisely what the agency should be doing. Pat
Bryant, executive director of the Gulf Coast Tenants Organization
in New Orleans says, “This is an attempt to silence Dr. Stockwell
when the only thing he is guilty of is telling the truth.”
Stockwell believes he is being fired for having developed a
computerized mapping system that uses existing data to draw maps
of disadvantaged neighborhoods and the sources of pollution that
may be threatening their health.
When Stockwell was initially recruited into EPA back in 1987, a
memo from Winston Smith, director of the EPA Region 4 division of
Air, Pesticides, and Toxics Management, said, “We respectfully
request the transfer of Commissioned Officer John Robert
Stockwell to the Environmental Protection Agency effective
December 13, 1987…. Mr. Stockwell’s medical background combined
with many years of experience in environmental and occupational
medicine, public health and management make him uniquely
qualified to provide the immediate contribution sought by Region
IV.
“Mr. Stockwell’s expertise is specifically needed in carrying out
health effect initiatives in our Region’s Toxic Substances
Control Act (TSCA) Program,” Smith’s memo said. “The TSCA
program has been assigned one of the highest national priorities
by EPA due to the proven imminent hazard to public health from
toxic and hazardous materials. His immediate appointment to
provide technical expertise in solving these environmental health
effect problems will have significant impact on our needs and
program objectives.”
According to the ATLANTA JOURNAL AND CONSTITUTION, Stockwell’s
performance evaluations from his EPA supervisors have
consistently included remarks such as “Recognized by peers as
source of exceptional work,” and “admirable work ethics,” and “a
source of high quality reports.” [2]
Stockwell became known internationally as an expert on pollution
in low income and minority communities. When Senator James
Sasser (D-Tenn.) asked EPA Regional Administrator Patrick Tobin
to study pollution in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Tobin assigned the
task to Stockwell.
Stockwell had conducted a pilot study of Mobile Bay, Alabama,
developing his computerized mapping technique for pinpointing
neighborhoods at risk. He was a logical choice to study
Chattanooga.
On September 16, 1993–after Stockwell’s preliminary report on
Chattanooga was completed–Patrick Tobin issued a memo saying,
“Dr. Stockwell’s specialty is preventive medicine, and he has
been employed in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
regional office since 1987.
“We have analyzed our needs for this specialty and have
determined we no longer have a need for Captain Stockwell’s
services,” Tobin’s memo said. “Additionally, we have not been
able to identify a need for Captain Stockwell within other EPA
offices. Pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding between EPA
and the PHS, we request that you initiate action to return
Captain Stockwell to the PHS or other agency which has a need for
this specialty,” Tobin’s memo said.
Stockwell’s final study of Chattanooga has still not been
released, though we have obtained a copy of the draft report.
The draft report identifies areas of Chattanooga where poor
people live and where major industries are releasing large
quantities of toxic materials on a daily basis. Stockwell’s
present supervisor at EPA, Bruce Miller, spent more than an hour
on the phone with us trying to explain why Patrick Tobin wants to
oust John Stockwell from EPA. But after an hour we still had not
heard a single plausible reason. The closest thing to a real
reason we heard was this: Miller says one of Stockwell’s
recommendations in his report was controversial and did not fit
EPA’s mission. The specific recommendation was, “Given the
POTENTIAL exposure [from chemical releases previously described]
further study is recommended to determine whether this population
is experiencing any increased environmental health risk.”
[Emphasis in the original.] So far as we were able to determine,
it was this conclusion that put John Stockwell on the firing
line. It is the only conclusion Bruce Miller would say EPA
Region 4 does not go along with. Miller says flatly, “This is
not the kind of study we do, trying to link specific diseases to
specific chemical exposures.” We pointed out to him that EPA
scientists routinely publish studies linking pollutants such as
lead and particulates (soot) to specific human diseases, but
Miller simply repeated that EPA does not do this kind of work and
Stockwell would be better placed in another agency. We pointed
out that Stockwell’s report did not even recommend that EPA
should do the health studies–Stockwell simply said, “further
study is recommended,” not suggesting which agency should do the
study. Miller continued to repeat that EPA does not do health
studies linking specific chemicals to specific diseases and that
Stockwell would be better placed somewhere else. Miller gave us
permission to interview Stockwell, which we did.
Stockwell believes he is being punished for having published his
findings about the situation in Chattanooga and other
communities: “I found a triple whammy effect,” he told us. “The
greatest quantities of the most toxic chemicals are being
released precisely in those communities that can least afford to
cope with that type of pollution: the least educated, the poor,
the non-white,” he said. In sum, Dr. Stockwell believes he is
being fired for having documented what others call “environmental
racism” in Chattanooga–the placement of polluting facilities in
neighborhoods that are poor, non-white and politically weak. [3]
Given President Clinton’s speech on earth day and Carol Browner’s
testimony before Congress May 6, this hardly seems a
controversial conclusion–certainly not one controversial enough
to get a respected physician fired. But that appears to be
what’s going on in Region 4 in EPA, where environmental racism
may indeed still be alive and well.
If you would like to help fight John Stockwell’s dismissal from
EPA, contact Connie Tucker, Southern Organizing Committee for
Economic and Social Justice, P.O. Box 10518, Atlanta, Ga. 30310;
phone (404) 243-5229; fax: (404) 243-4028.
Other Developments in Environmental Justice
On November 4, 1993, U.S. EPA formally announced creation of a
National Environmental Justice Advisory Council to “provide
advice, consultations and make recommendations… directed at
solving environmental equity problems.” EPA is actively seeking
suggestions for candidates for the Advisory Council; if you have
names to suggest, send them to Clarice E. Gaylord, Director,
Office of Environmental Equity, Mail Code 3103, U.S. EPA, 401 M
Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20460. For further information,
including copies of the Advisory Council’s Charter, phone Mustafa
Ali at (202) 260-6357. To suggest a candidate, you must provide
name, occupation, position, organization, address, and phone
number, and the candidate must submit a resume of their
background, experience, and other relevant information. The
deadline for suggesting names is December 10, 1993–next Friday.
Important Conference
Feb. 10-12, 1994, the National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences (NIEHS) is sponsoring an important conference called
“Symposium on Health Research & Needs to Ensure Environmental
Justice.” The symposium will focus on “reinventing government to
ensure environmental justice,” including community
participation/empowerment; federal agency policies, research
agendas, and practices to ensure environmental justice;
interagency coordination; new models for prevention and
intervention. Key health issues to be discussed include
sensitive populations; respiratory diseases; lead poisoning;
hazardous waste; pesticide exposure; workplace hazards; and
Superfund site hazards.
Limited funds are available for financial assistance to help
people attend this important conference. For more information,
phone (919) 541-2637 and leave your name, address, phone number,
and any questions you might have.
–Peter Montague, Ph.D.
===============
[1] Carol Browner, “Statement of Carol M. Browner, Administrator,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, before the Government
Operations Committee, United States House of Representatives,”
May 6, 1993, pgs. 3-4.
Descriptor terms: environmental racism; environmental justice;
poverty; epa; environmental protection agency; john stockwell;
pat bryant; chattanooga; tn; mobile bay; al; air pollution; water
pollution; tri; pollution prevention; national enviromental
justice advisory board; niehs; symposium on health research needs
to ensure environmental justice; respiratory disease; lead;
superfund; pesticides; occupational safety and health;