Index of SPPS Budget Discussion http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/spps-posts.html _________________________________________
For Immediate Release March 2, 2004
CALL TO ACTION Rally Protecting Citizen Rights from Toxic Sickness due to Hazardous Environments On Thursday, March 4, 2004 at 1:00PM, in the State Capitol Rotunda. Citizens concerned in issues of the endangerment of their health due to Toxic Environments should plan to attend. Confirmed speakers and dignitaries include: State Attorney General Mike Hatch, Speaker of the House Steve Sviggum, State Senator Chuck Wiger, Maplewood Mayor Bob Cardinal, State Senator Ellen Anderson, State Representative Alice Hausman, Grant Merritt, State Representative John Lesch, State Senator Sandy Pappas, State Representative Carlos Mariani, Saint Paul City Councilman David Thune. Margaret Behrens, an activist on the Ramsey County Compost Site in Maplewood, as well as John Birrenbach, an activist on the GSE Ethanol plant will be on hand. Mayor Dave Pechulis of Preston, Minnesota as well as Environmental Activist Kathleen Attwood, will speak about the Ethanol Plant and Tire Burning Facility in Preston and environmental activist Julie Jansen will be speaking about the animal feedlot issue. Tom Taylor from Northeast Minneapolis will speak about the problem of Asbestos contamination in his neighborhood, and a group pushing for the restructuring of the Pollution Control board will speak as well. Others have been invited to speak and will be added to the list as they confirm their attendance. Join us in sending a message to the legislature that we need to enforce the current laws on the books protecting the citizen from hazardous business operations being thrust upon us in our communities, sometime by government sanction, as is certainly the case with the Ramsey County Compost program. A strong message must be sent that these types of unfettered operations are ruining the quality of the life and health of the communities in which they exist. The message is clear to our elected officials: Protect our safety as you are constitutionally obligated to do. We will no longer tolerate our health and property being sacrificed to the Ethanol industry in exchange for the paltry subsidies and expedient business deals they bring into play. We will no longer tolerate state or local government to force unsafe programs upon its citizens, such as the compost program in Ramsey County without fully understanding the science of the program and engaging in an Environmental Impact and Immunological Study and prior to its implementation. Citizens must be warned of potential harm that can be caused prior to deciding to subject themselves to toxic exposure. After a rally in the Rotunda, citizens will make a concerted effort to visit the offices of their state representatives and speak to their concerns. There are laws that protect us from these hazardous operations - they only need to be enforced. We will demand that the MPCA be investigated and restructured to include mandatory environmental impact studies on all large operations that threaten the quality of life of our communities. State of the art scientific testing must be strengthened and the MPCA should be a part of the State Health Department so they work together, not against each other. Tell your friends about it. We are asking citizens to make signs regarding the environmental nature of the event and anything goes. Please, no sticks can be on the signs inside the Capitol, so do not include them when you make your signs. We will provide information to all who wish to discuss the issues with their legislators. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE RALLY: CONTACT: PAMELA ELLISON - (651) 487-3914 EMAIL AT: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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