Toxic Free Future News

SEATTLE—Exposure to dangerous toxic pollution from industrial facilities threatens communities in Washington and across the country, according to a new report released today by WashPIRG.

SEATTLE– A new WashPIRG analysis of a proposed Bush Administration rule reveals that residents of Washington would lose valuable information about the amounts and type of harmful chemicals discharged by industrial facilities in their neighborhoods if the rule is finalized.

OLYMPIA—Despite strong bipartisan support, the legislature failed for the second consecutive year to pass important legislation to phase out the use of toxic flame retardants called PBDEs that are rapidly building up in breast milk, our bodies, and in wildlife. PBDEs are chemical cousins of long-banned PCBs, and are known to impair learning, behavior, and development in lab animals.

By overwhelmingly supporting Initiative 297, the citizens of Washington sent a strong, clear message to the U.S. Department of Energy and its contractors—"Do not send in any more radioactive waste to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation until you clean up the mess you have already made.

Results from a recent study show that several species of fish in Lake Washington are contaminated with high levels of PCBs, prompting the Department of Health to issue an interim fish advisory warning people, particularly pregnant women and children, to limit their consumption. The study found that concentrations of these toxic chemicals in large northern pike minnow are some of the highest levels recorded in Washington State. Other PCB-contaminated species include large yellow perch and cutthroat trout.

JCI Jones Chemical, a chemical company with operations in Tacoma, is one of 12 companies that each endanger more than five million Americans in the event of accidents or terrorist attacks, according to a new report by the Washington Public Interest Research Group (WashPIRG) and it's affiliate U.S. PIRG. JCI Jones owns 12 facilities nationwide storing large amounts of chemicals that collectively put more than 20 million Americans at risk. WashPIRG called on JCI Jones and the other 11 companies to reduce the threat to communities near their facilities by using safer chemicals and processes where possible.

The Bush administration is attempting to negotiate a deal to make Washington State a National Radioactive Waste Dump in exchange for promising to do some of the cleanup of the contamination at Hanford that it is already legally required to cleanup.

Washington, D.C.—By a vote of 44 to 52, the U.S. Senate rejected an amendment last night that would have reinstated Superfund’s polluter pays fees. The amendment to the Budget Resolution would have reestablished a dedicated funding source for cleanups at more than 1,200 Superfund sites across the country, including 47 in Washington, thus protecting the health of millions of people while making polluters foot the bill for toxic waste site cleanups. The Washington Public Interest Research Group (WashPIRG) commended Sens. Murray and Cantwell for voting to make polluters pay.

Seattle, Wash.—A commonly used flame retardant threatens public health, according to a new report released today by the Washington Public Interest Research Group (WashPIRG). In lab tests, scientists have linked decabrominated diphenyl ether (Deca)—a chemical closely related to two flame retardants recently banned in California—to health effects including neurological damage or permanent memory loss, and have detected the chemical in the breast milk of American women at higher levels than anywhere else in the world.

Olympia—Gov. Locke today proposed to fully fund in the 2004 supplemental state budget a critical state program that will eliminate toxic pollution, such as mercury, dioxin, lead, and PCBs. Despite strong public support, the Legislature eliminated funding for the program in the last legislative session. The environmental community has designated restoring the funding as one of its top legislative priorities for the 2004 legislative session.