Workshop Announcement on Persistent Organic Pollutants (fwd)

[slester@essential.org]

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   ANNOUNCEMENT!!!--ANNOUNCEMENT!!!--ANNOUNCEMENT!!!
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       please pass this on -- please pass this on
 
  GREAT LAKES HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
 
                  IN COOPERATION WITH
 
      THE GREAT LAKES CENTER FOR OCCUPATIONAL AND
            ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND HEALTH
          AT UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, CHICAGO
 
        WILL HOLD A TWO DAY WORKSHOP IN CHICAGO
                    DECEMBER 6 & 7
 
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  PARTIAL LIST OF PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDE
 
GREENPEACE -  WORLD WILDLIFE FUND - GREAT LAKES UNITED
   NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION - ECOLOGY CENTER A2
        CANADIAN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW ASSOCIATION
      INSTITUTE FOR AGRICULTURE AND TRADE POLICY
 
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         WORKSHOP ON POPs and the GREAT LAKES
 
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                    SPACE IS LIMITED
 
      REGISTRATION $65 USD TO COVER FOOD SERVICE:
            COFFEE, TWO LUNCHES, ONE DINNER
 
              LIMITED FUNDS ARE AVAILABLE
FOR ASSISTANCE WITH TRAVEL, LODGING and/or REGISTRATION
 FOR INTERESTED GROUPS THAT COULD NOT OTHERWISE ATTEND
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   For more information on the workshop: an agenda,
     registration information or information about
         financial assistance please contact:
 
                       Fe de Leon
    Canadian Environmental Law Association, Toronto
             416-980-2294 <centox@web.net>
                          or
                     Angel Cohoon
                  Greenpeace, Chicago
     312-563-6060 <angel.cohoon@g2.greenpeace.org>
 
 
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   GOVERNMENTS OF THE WORLD HAVE BEGUN TO NEGOTIATE
     A LEGALLY BINDING GLOBAL AGREEMENT TO REDUCE
AND ELIMINATE SOURCES OF PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS ( POPs)
 
  ARE THESE NEGOTIATIONS RELEVANT TO THE GREAT LAKES?
 
 DO GREAT LAKES ORGANIZATIONS HAVE A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE
    THAT GIVES THEM A SPECIAL ROLE IN THIS PROCESS?
 
The term Persistent Organic Pollutants (or POPs) 
describes ultra-toxic pollutants such as the DIOXINS, 
PCBs, DDT and others that disrupt the Great Lakes 
ecosystem and injure human health. These pollutants 
persist in the environment and can disrupt the 
endocrine (hormonal) system to cause reproductive 
disorders, learning and behavior disabilities, immune 
system dysfunction, cancers and many other diseases in 
both humans and wildlife.
 
POPs enter the Great Lakes and our regional food web 
mainly from the air. Sometimes the source is a local 
incinerator; sometimes the POPs source can be ten 
thousand miles distant. POPs that enter the environment
from the Great Lakes region can also travel long 
distances and injure people and ecosytems far away.
 
Over the past decade, a movement has been built in the 
bi-national Great Lakes region of Canada and the United
States whose goal is to protect Environmental Health 
through a policy of Zero Discharge and Sunsetting 
Persistent Toxic Chemicals. As governments negotiate a 
global agreement on POPs, does the Great Lakes 
Environmental Health movement have any special role to 
play? The POPs workshop, December 6 & 7 in Chicago will
address this question and explore strategies.
 
Day one will provide background information and 
perspectives. It will include presentations by 
environmental health advocates; by organizations such 
as Greenpeace, World Wildlife Fund, the Canadian 
Environmental Law Association, and others. Invited 
participants on day one will also include 
representatives from the US EPA, Environment Canada, 
the International Joint Commission and the global 
chemical industry.
 
Day two will only be open to representatives of public 
health, environmental groups and allies. It will 
evaluate the presented information, explore the 
relevance of international negotiations on POPs, and 
discuss proposals for action. The starting point for 
discussion will be the toxic substance elimination 
strategy of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement as
interpreted in recent IJC Biennial Reports.