Environmental Injustice

Environmental Injustice is defined as the following:

"Environmental Injustice":
An environmental injustice exists when members of disadvantaged, ethnic, minority or other groups suffer disproportionately at the local, regional (sub-national), or national levels from environmental risks or hazards, and/or disproportionately from violations of fundamental human rights as a result of environmental factors, and/or denied access to environmental investments, benefits, and/or natural resources, and/or are denied access to information; and/or participation in decision making; and or access to justice in environmental-related matters."

The following YouTube video was forwarded to the Alliance Landfill Task Force from an Environmental Justice group based in New York, NY. We ask that you watch the video in entirety by clicking on it. Please value the importance of how the women is fighting for her " human rights". Please listen carefully to the comments on cancer rates, community health and family death.




Now ask yourself the following questions....

How could this happen in America?

Who allowed this chemical to be dumped in this landfill, so close to these homes?

Where was the EPA?

Now ask yourself these questions...

Could something like this be happening at Alliance Landfill?

How can the PaDEP issue another permit to Alliance Landfill on inconclusive testing?

Why is Michael D. Bedrin(PaDEP -NE/Regional Director) not asking the Alliance Landfill Task Force to be involved in environmental participation that effects our community?

Why is Senator Robert Mellow and Representative James Wansacz not introducing legislation for mandatory landfill monitoring (example:mandatory 2.5 community based ambient air monitoring) for all state landfills?

IS THERE ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE HAPPENING IN OUR COMMUNITIES?

Teamster.org - In Harm's Way: How WASTE MANAGEMENT, INC. Endangers the Sanitation Workers Who Protect the Public's Health

Waste Management's unionized work force recently was spoken for by their leadership group the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Waste Management's unionized work force spoke of horrible work conditions. The unionized work force speaking up allowed testimony to be heard by the US Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety - which showed Waste Management's OSHA violations rising by 28% between 2003 and 2007.

The National Commission of Inquiry into the Worker Health and Safety Crisis in the Solid Waste Industry issued a reported titled - "In Harms Way". You will be shocked to read what Waste Management's own employees are saying about their company. Click the link below to read "In Harms Way".

http://www.teamster.org/divisions/SolidWaste/PDFs/Waste_In_Harms_Way.pdf

One has to wonder after reading "In Harms Way" do the Waste Management "non-union" employees of Alliance landfill feel the same as their fellow unionized Waste Management employees represented by the Teamsters. Do Waste Management corporate officials or Alliance Landfill management hold a power over them?

WE ASK ALLIANCE LANDFILL EMPLOYEES....WHY WOULD YOU NOT WANT TO PROTECT THE COMMUNITY IN WHICH YOU WORK, LIVE, AND RAISE YOUR FAMILIES? WHY WOULD YOU NOT WANT PERMANENT MANDATORY PM2.5 COMMUNITY BASED AIR MONITORING?

One can only continue to wonder why.....unless of course you don't live in Taylor, Old Forge or Ransom; like some of Alliance Landfills executives.

Unions Urge Senate: Act Now on Safety Crisis at Trash Giant Waste Management

WASHINGTON, April 1, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety heard testimony today from unions in the Change to Win partnership on the need for greater oversight by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of companies with a history of serious, ongoing safety violations -- including waste hauling giant Waste Management, Inc.

To Read The Full Article Click The Link Below:

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/printarticle.aspx?feed=PR&date=20080401&id=8418617

Teamsters President Jim Hoffa made the following statement before the Senate Subcommittee:

"We've all seen the commercials where those gleaming WMI trucks drive through green landscapes. But the truth belies WMI's marketing. Nearly 60% of the WMI workers surveyed rated WMI's truck maintenance as fair, poor or a failure," Hoffa said. "So how safe are workers in these trucks, and how safe are the other drivers on the road with these trucks?"

In Harms Way, a report released by the National Commission of Inquiry into the Worker Health and Safety Crisis in the Solid Waste Industry sums up Waste Management as "playing a risky game with workers' lives and public safety."