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Campaign Hotline: (612) 521-LEAD Contacts: Ambur Klein (612) 221-7304 Gregory Luce (612) 221-3947 PROJECT 504 LAUNCHES ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE CAMPAIGN Campaign to Document Indoor Environmental Hazards in North Minneapolis JANUARY 10, 2003 - MINNEAPOLIS. Saying that it is time to invest in the environmental health of North Minneapolis and its children, Project 504 announced today the initiation of an environmental justice campaign that will call into question the spending on airport noise mitigation in South Minneapolis while lead poisonings continue to occur disproportionately among children of color in less affluent and more racially diverse North Minneapolis neighborhoods. The campaign, focused on the four North Minneapolis neighborhoods of Hawthorne, Jordan, Near North, and Harrison, will train 10-12 community members in February how to document and test homes for indoor environmental hazards, including lead-based paint, radon, and cockroaches. Project 504 will use the data to request increased financial commitment to prevent further damage to the communities' children. "We need to stop using children as lead detectors and start removing environmental hazards from the home before they poison or hurt," said Francisca Rivera, a long-time Hawthorne resident and one of six community advisors for the campaign. The campaign promises to paint a sharp contrast between the response of governmental officials to environmental pollution in South Minneapolis and the environmental poisoning of children in North Minneapolis. Since the early 1990's, at the prodding of community activists such as current Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, government agencies have spent nearly $200 million in noise mitigation measures in predominantly white and more affluent South Minneapolis neighborhoods. Activists with Project 504 and others say North Minneapolis children also deserve the same commitment to protect them from known environmental hazards. "When noise pollution affects people in South Minneapolis, we have found a way to correct that at no cost to property owners," said Ambur Klein, Project 504's coordinator for the campaign. "The same thing should happen in North Minneapolis, where kids continue to be poisoned by a different and more lethal hazard-- lead-based paint." Project 504 is one of ten groups nationally to launch local campaigns around indoor environmental hazards. Other cities in which campaigns have started include Chicago, New York, Hartford, Houston, San Diego, and New Orleans. Funding for the campaigns has come largely from the Washington D.C. based Community Environmental Health Resource Center (www.cehrc.org). # # # _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
