newsies, 8 - july '97

[ttweed@wildrockies.org (Tony Tweedale)]

            OPPT NEWSBREAK                Wednesday, 9 July 1997
            Today's "Toxic News for the Net" brought to you by the OPPT
            Library
                         http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/oppt_nb.txt
  
  
            "Class-Action Settlement Proposal Is Upset by Supreme Court
            Ruling [Law]."  Wall Street Journal, 10 July 97, B10.
                 This column looks at the implications of the class action
                 settlement proposal rejected by the Supreme Court. Public
                 interest groups and academics say large companies have been
                 able to manipulate settlement rules so that certain suits
                 cannot be brought by individuals who should have standing to
                 sue.
  
                                          NEWS
  
            "Pulp Friction:  All-Star Dioxin Protest [The Reliable Source]."
            Washington Post, 9 July 97, C3.
                 Among those expected to show up at Lafayette Square at noon
                 tomorrow to participate in a Greenpeace-sponsored rally to
                 protest dioxin poisoning are Perry Farrell and his band,
                 Porno for Pyros; singer-songwriter Michelle Shocked; Lois
                 Gibbs, a former resident of Love Canal; and members of the
                 British band James.
  
  
            "Sterilizer Is to Replace Incinerator in Bronx."  New York Times,
            10 July 97, A26.
                 A medical waste incinerator that was shut down by
                 neighborhood residents in the South Bronx last month will be
                 replaced by an autoclave, a device that sterilizes refuse
                 with superheated steam that turns it into harmless trash.
  
  
  
  
  <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Enviro Facts Line >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
  
  July 8, 1997
  FROM GREENPEACE, Greenbase Project
  
  <<< TOXICS >>>
  
  <<GP>>
    2 Asahi News Service JULY  8, 1997,  FEAR SPREADS OF DIOXIN IN MILK
  TOKYO Japanese mothers are concerned about how much dioxin, a
  cancer-causing substance, could be finding its way into their
  babies through breast milk, despite reassurances from a recent
  
    3 07/08 Dioxin-Chickens GINA HOLLAND JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- A component in
  dioxin-tainted chicken feed has apparently been traced to a north
  Mississippi clay mine, officials said Tuesday.    The federal Environmental
  Protection Agency has been trying to pinpoint the source of elevated dioxin
  
    4 US FDA stops catfish, egg shipments over dioxin WASHINGTON, July 7
  (Reuter) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration told commercial catfish and
  egg producers on Monday not to ship certain human food products it said may
  contain the deadly chemical dioxin.  The action is the latest step the FDA
  
    5 Vietnam seeks U.S. money for Agent Orange victims HANOI, July 8 (Reuter)
  - Hanoi said on Tuesday it had asked government agencies to detail the
  impact of chemical defoliants used by the United States during the Vietnam
  War as part of a renewed drive to win compensation from Washington.
  
    6 U.S. court overturns EPA rule on import of chemicals Adrian Croft
  SAN FRANCISCO, July 7 (Reuter) - A federal appeals court on
  Monday overturned a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  regulation that allowed a toxic chemical to be imported into the [PCB's]
  
  
    4  EU Commission hints at anti-PVC measures  BRUSSELS, July 9 (Reuter) The
  European Commission hinted on Wednesday at future EU measures to limit the
  use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), saying it would study the plastic and the
  pollutants released during its incineration.
  
  
  
  From: greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org
  Comments: Authenticated sender is <greenbas@pop.greenbase.gl3>
  To: press-releases@xs2.greenpeace.org
  Date: Thu, 10 Jul 1997 10:48:40 +0000
  MIME-Version: 1.0
  Subject: Lollapalooza and GP Unite to Expose Dioxin Danger
  Sender: owner-press-releases@xs2.greenpeace.org
  Precedence: bulk
  Reply-To: nobody@xs2.greenpeace.org
  
  LOLLAPALOOZA AND GREENPEACE UNITE TO EXPOSE THE DANGERS OF
  DIOXIN; PEACE RALLY IN FRONT OF WHITE HOUSE
   PROTEST, CLINTON/GORE RETREAT ON DIOXIN POLICY
  * * *
  Perry Farrell, Michelle Shocked, James Perform
  
  WASHINGTON, DC, July 10, 1997 -  Lollapalooza and Greenpeace
  joined forces today to popularize the fight against dioxin with
  a peace rally in front the White House in Lafayette Park.
  Peaceful protesters are expected to participate in the event.
  Perry Farrell, Michelle Shocked, and British band James came
  together in the nation's capital to educate the youth of America
  on the hazards of dioxin, the invisible poison.  Dioxin is one
  of the most poisonous chemicals ever produced and through our
  food supply, presents serious health threats to the entire
  American population.
  
  Perry Farrell, along with WHFS radio personality Kathryn Lauren,
  are serving as the masters of ceremonies.  There will be
  acoustic performances by Farrell & Porno For Pyros, Michelle
  Shocked with the Union Temple Youth Choir, James, and music from
  DJ Feelgood.  The rally features noted experts on the many
  effects of Dioxin, including Lois Gibbs, author of  "Dying From
  Dioxin"; Terri Swearingen, incinerator activist; Menelika
  McCarthy, Louisiana activist; and Bill Walsh, Greenpeace Toxics
  campaigner.  Activities also include a massive "die-in" to
  symbolically memorialize the victims of dioxin death and
  poisoning.
  
  Farrell,  who founded Lollapalooza seven years ago and made
  dioxin awareness part of this year's tour says, "We haven't had
  a good old-fashioned American protest for a decade or two.  I
  don't believe that anyone would argue about the need for the
  world to be cleaner.  I want the universe to be in harmony."
  
   Most people are unaware that dioxin is silently released into
  the   environment whenever chlorine-based products are
  manufactured or   burned.  Production, use,  and disposal of PVC
  is the largest source  of  dioxin in the environment.  The
  rally's purpose is to inform the   public about what can be done
  to impact this problem such as buying   only chlorine- free
  paper products and avoiding use of PVC  plastic #3  - also
  called vinyl.
  
  "Dioxin is found in all of our bodies at dangerous levels.
  There is no safe dose of dioxin.  Yet each time Clinton and Gore
  have had the opportunity to eliminate a major source - such as
  incinerators, paper mills or PVC factory expansions - they have
  backed down under pressure from corporate polluters," said
  Greenpeace toxics campaigner Bill Walsh.
  
  For the first time in Lollapalooza's seven year history, the
  festival is focusing on one social/political topic - the
  environment, namely the festival's commitment to the dioxin
  issue. Lollapalooza '97 features the Greenhouse, an
  environmental pavillion located in the festival concourse,
  devoted to educating concert goers on environmental issues.
  This year's Lollapalooza  features mainstage artists Damain &
  Julian Marley, James, Korn, Tricky, Snoop Doggy Dogg,  Tool,
  Orbital, Prodigy, Orb, and Devo.  Lollapalooza ends August 16 in
  San Francisco.
  
  =========
  ends