White House's New Regulations for Paper Mills not strong enough
11/14/97
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Headline: White House's New Regulations for Paper Mills not strong enough
Source: Rick Spencer, Programs Director
EarthCulture
PO Box 4674
Greensboro, NC 27404
Phone & Fax: 910-854-2957
e-mail: earthcul@nr.infi.net
Date: 11/14/97
WHITE HOUSE BOWS TO PAPER COMPANIES FOR LESS THAN
0.2 CENTS, BETRAYS ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMITMENT
November 14, 1997, Washington, DC - Greenpeace and the
Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) today condemned the
White House's decision not to seek strong regulations to
protect America's rivers from toxic paper mill discharge.
Instead, the Clinton Administration signed new regulations that
will continue to put Africa American, Asian American, and
Native American communities near paper mills at a higher risk.
Tom Goldtooth of IEN said, "The Environmental Protection
Agency's proposal contradicts the Clinton Administration's own
executive order on environmental justice and ignores urgent
appeals from many Indian tribes and tribal organizations. This
decision further calls into question this administration's
commitment to the 1984 Indian Policy they pledged to support."
The rule announced today assumes that people eat no more than
140 grams (4.9 ounces) of freshwater fish per day. However,
low-income populations living downstream from paper mills are
known to eat up to 400 grams (14 ounces) of freshwater fish per
day, disproportionately increasing their exposure.
The new rule is a major retreat by the Clinton Administration
from a stronger 1993 proposal which EPA called a "milestone for
using pollution prevention." The new rules were heavily
lobbied for by the paper industry. As a result, approximately
100 U.S. bleach mills will be required to do little more than
most are already doing, using chlorine dioxide bleach
processes.
Although cost was cited as a rationale, a stronger rule would
cost consumers between zero to 0.2 cents per five hundred
sheets of paper.
"If cost was truly an issue, large paper users such as TIME
Magazine, McDonald's, Kinko's, and Ben & Jerry's would not have
called for a stronger rule," said Rick Hind, Legislative
Director for the Greenpeace USA Toxics Campaign.
Citing EPA documents, Greenpeace has pointed out fatal flaws in
the EPA's risk assessment:
* Virtually all of EPA's data on paper mill pollution comes from
an industry notorious for producing questionable "cigarette
science."
* The EPA's own assessment found that these communities are at
a 1,000 times greater cancer risk than is normally considered
"acceptable" under most EPA regulation of toxic chemicals.
* The EPA focused on only 13 regulated pollutants instead of the
159 toxins found at paper mills.
* The EPA vastly underestimates the amount of contaminated fish
that people living near paper mills are known to eat.
"Worst of all, this pollution is completely preventable. Thanks
to Greenpeace, a safe, totally chlorine-free, paper
manufacturing process is now widely used in Europe," said Hind.
Greenpeace on the Internet at http://greenpeace.org
________________________________________________
Rick Spencer, Programs Director
EarthCulture
PO Box 4674
Greensboro, NC 27404
Phone & Fax: 910-854-2957
e-mail: earthcul@nr.infi.net
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