WEI is working to change public policy in a number of ways. In 2007 we
are working with the Minnesota Environmental Partnership, to support
legislation which will strengthen Minnesota's Community Right to Know
Act and increase its enforcement. and will also continue to support
"environmental justice mapping" efforts. This project includes two
projects: state funding for environmental justice mapping
and strengthening and better enforcement of community right to
know laws.
(1) Environmental Justice Mapping
Environmental toxins disproportionately impact low income communities,
Native American Indians, and communities of color. Women
and children experience particular risk, especially during
child-bearing years and early childhood when toxic exposure can cause
life-altering damage. Despite federal designation of over 100
Superfund sites throughout the state, recurring air-pollution alerts in
high density areas, serious ground water contamination, officially
"impaired" rivers and lakes, and increasing evidence of possible
environmentally-related diseases, Minnesota lags behind in collecting,
examining and correlating environmental exposure data with health and
disease data. GIS data on toxic sites at the MN Pollution Control
Agency (MPCA) and toxic exposure data at the MN Department of
Agriculture have not been correlated with relevant disease data at the
MN Department of Health. As a result all Minnesotans lack access
to this evaluation that disproportionately impacts vulnerable
communities. WEI will re-introduce "Environmental Justice Mapping"
legislation, also known as 'public health tracking".
(2)) Strengthen and Enforce Minnesota's Community Right to Know Law
The existing MN Community Right to Know Act is out-of date and
difficult for communities to use. As federal law right-to-know
laws are being weakened, state law requiring both the reporting of
toxic releases and their potential health impacts need to be
strengthened and better enforced, including protection of "whistle
blowers".
THE PROBLEM: Information about toxic substances released into
Minnesota's environment has been under-reported and even suppressed by
public and private agencies responsible to inform residents about
potential exposures. Thousands of new chemicals and products are
being produced and introduced without adequate determination of
health-based standards, particularly as they impact children and
pregnant woman who are particularly vulnerable to serious and life-long
health impacts. Minnesota's community right-to-know exposure to
toxic substances law has not kept up with information about emerging
contaminants now being found in our homes, work places and the natural
environment. Enforcement of existing law is weak or
non-existent. Two current examples: 1) Perfluorochemicals
produced in Minnesota need to be more thoroughly investigated for
contamination of our ground and surface waters, land, and air; both
adult and child-based health standards need to be promulgated, and
clean-up needs to proceed with greater urgency. 2) Information on the
extent of arsenical pesticide contamination in several urban
neighborhoods needs to be made public for all potentially exposed
residents and health-risk assessments must be done that consider
impacts on children, pregnant women, including long-term chronic
exposure for both children and adults. WEI's legislation will
strengthen our communities' right-to know toxic exposure by expanding
toxic release and contamination reporting by public agencies and
private sources, better protect "whistle-blowers" in those agencies,
require more comprehensive investigation into the potential health
impacts caused by toxic exposures, and increase enforcement provisions
of the law.
WEI expects to be joined by organizations such as the
Lutheran Coalition for Public Policy, Environmental Justice Advocates
of MN, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, MN Center for
Environmental Advocacy and Clean Water Action in this work. We all
believe the legislature should create a stronger, more comprehensive
Community Right-to-Know state law that empowers communities to better
understand and protect their own environmental health and safety.
