Friday, September 23, 2011

Toxic Justice Blog - Nancy Swan

http://www.nancyswan.com/blog

1 comment:

  1. Few marriage can survive injustice. One of the most difficult tasks of victims of environmental injustice is that they cannot find an attorney or prosecutor to file a claim to hold the responsible person, company, or entity accountable to the victim and to the taxpayers

    Many marriages fail when there is a chronically ill or toxic poisoned child or spouse. The financial drain on families was responsible for most of the mortgage failures and market collapse.

    Whose has to pay for environmental and chemical injuries? A nation that fails or refuses to protect its children from environmental and chemical hazards commits an injustice on the next generation. Children within the United States are given less protection from harmful environment and chemicals than livestock and animals.

    Following the BP Gulf Oil disaster, President Obama urged the nation and world to help the Gulf Coast economy out by visiting and enjoying the "clean" and "safe" beaches of Alabama and Florida.

    Unknown to the public was the hushed truth. New, softer,scrubbed sand had been added over the spot where the President stood for his photo-op. First Lady Obama and her children dipped into uncontaminated and protected waters.

    The President's own agency, the US EPA knew that the Gulf of Mexico water and sand on Alabama's shores were polluted with cancer and disease-causing BP Oil chemicals.

    Where was the news that parents should have been warned not to let their children near the beaches or water. Prior to the BP Oil Spill, the EPA published a report that children were more susceptible to injury from contact with hazardous chemicals, pollution, and products.

    Hours later the freshly sifted sand of Alabama beaches were covered with tar balls and the iridescent ribbons of oil on the water.

    Months later Nurses were offered a free training course at the University of Souther Mississippi School of Nurses about the health effects of contact with BP Oil contaminants in the Gulf.

    The only notice given the public was a bulletin posted by Healthy Schools Network with credit to Nancy Swan, author of Toxic Justice. "BP Oil Spill: Keeping Kids Safe. http://www.healthyschools.org/HSN_KidsOilSpillFlyer.pdf

    Why were parents not warned? Simple. President Obama need to jump-start the ailing coast economy was more important than protecting the health of American children.

    Did the economy win out? No. It was a lose-lose political photo op from the beginning. The cost of government provided health care is skyrocketing. Injuries from environmental and chemical are usually chronic with CDC claiming childhood asthma epidemic. One of the leading causes of asthma is injury from poor air quality (mold, solvents, paints, pollution, air from nearby factories, household chemicals and fragrances and other dangerous chemicals.

    Asthma is the leading cause of absence from work and school. Companies and business responsible for exposure and injury do not pay for medical costs, you do. Tax dollars and the U. S. Medicaid and Medicare systems pay for environmental and chemical-cause illnesses.

    The Social Security Disability adds new people to its list, many of whom are disabled hazardous working conditions and exposure to toxic products. The strain on tax and medicare/medicare is not just for people getting older. Our nation's population is getting sicker. Tax payers are being held accountable for the lack of regulation and failure to enforce laws and safety standards.

    ReplyDelete