OCE Puts the "Fun" Back in Fundraiser
In what is destined to be an annual affair, OCE founder Tiffany Schauer hosted a lovely gathering of 50 women to raise their glasAses (and a little money) for the environment. Cheers!
On May 1, 2005, in what we hope to be an annual affair, over 50 women attended Our Children's Earth's first benefit fundraiser called "Tea at Tiffany's" in San Francisco, California. Hosted by OCE's founder and executive director, Tiffany Schauer, the event raised over $10,000. The women dined on hors d'oeuvres and desserts prepared by local Bay Area chef Grace Lee, who donated all of her time and services! The highlight of the tea was a silent auction featuring a wide range of items, including a Memorial Day weekend getaway at Stinson Beach, antique Japanese hand-painted china, Esteban Prieto glasses and two baby strollers.
Champions of Clean Air
The OCE team joined leading environmental advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the annual Clean Air Awards Luncheon in San Francisco.
On May 12 at the World Trade Club on the Ferry Plaza waterfront, OCE participated in the 29th Clean Air Awards Luncheon, as presented by the American Lung Association of San Francisco and San Mateo Counties. The yearly awards ceremony honors those businesses, organizations, agencies and individuals that have made significant contributions in the fight against air pollution. Of special note, OCE's team of attorneys had the wonderful occasion to chat with the keynote speaker, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He is a long-time defender of environmental protections through successful legal actions, and it was a great opportunity to meet him.
Stormy Waters Ahead for Bay Area Polluters
OCE has delivered a 60-day notice of intent to file lawsuit against Standard Iron & Metal Co. in San Francisco for violations of the Clean Water Act, calling on them to be accountable for scrap metal operations that are polluting the Bay Area with storm water runoff.
With every rainfall, hundreds of millions of gallons of polluted rainwater originating from Bay Area industries pour into San Francisco Bay and other receiving waters. Metal scrapping and remanufacturing facilities, especially those with outdoor stockpiling, processing and segregation of materials, are a major source of storm water contamination.
OCE gave Standard Iron and Metal Co. (Standard) the requisite 60-day notice of its intent to sue Standard under the Clean Water Act for discharging polluted storm water runoff into storm drains that flow to San Francisco Bay. In violation of its obligations for best management practices and monitoring, Standard's discharges contribute to the ongoing storm water pollution problem and exemplify the type of permit violations that OCE is seeking to bring under control.
"These types of businesses, operating near our Bay, are being put on notice that Bay Area residents are not going to stand by idly and allow them to continue polluting our water," said Tiffany Schauer, OCE executive director. "Under the law these companies are required to self-monitor and make sure that they are not releasing toxins into the water and they are simply not doing it."
Scrap metal wastes in different stages of corrosion and decay may release a variety of harmful substances into the water, including heavy metals, fuel, oil, lubricants, PCBs, grease, lead acid, lead oxides, chlorinated solvents, asbestos, ethylene glycol, paint, and chemical residues.
The consensus among agencies and water quality specialists is that toxic pollutants from storm water runoff account for more than half of the total pollution entering the marine environment each year. The proposed lawsuit would seek to stop or reduce the pollution discharges from Standard's facility and deter other metal recycling facilities from discharging pollutants, which would significantly improve water quality in San Francisco Bay.
Field of Dreams: Transportation Equity in Santa Barbara
Regional governments decide how to allocate state funding for transportation needs, and the farmworkers of Santa Maria Valley feel they are left with slim pickings. OCE is part of a process to bring equity to the area's transit solutions.
The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) is continuing to deliberate on how to meet the transportation needs of its region's farmworkers and whether and when to end its practice of diverting transit funds for road maintenance. Every year, about $12 million in funding is made available to north and south county through the Transit Development Act (TDA), via a state-wide sales tax on gasoline, to provide for "unmet transit needs." The SBCAG allocates funding for transportation needs considered "reasonable to meet," but just as often uses the money for road repairs when the requests do not meet specific criteria.
A lawsuit calling into question the funding practice of the SBCAG board was filed on behalf of David Pierce of Lompoc, Jesus Estrada of Santa Maria (coordinator of the Frente Indigena Oaxaqueño Binacional), and Our Children's Earth Foundation. Arguing that several agencies are misdirecting TDA funds for potholes rather than transit, the action hopes to effect a sea change in the county's transportation policy.
For two years, farmworkers have asked the SBCAG to recognize their need to get to work as an unmet transit need, but last year the board rejected the request and claimed it did not meet their definition of an unmet transit need (i.e., the farmworker request applies to a specific group rather than the general population). Advocates claim the board's current definition should allow farmworkers to qualify for funding, as do seniors, the disabled and Vandenberg Air Force Base workers.
Room to Breathe: Improving Air Toxics Rules
Over the last two years, OCE and other community groups have persevered to strengthen the air quality standards of the Bay Area, and our abiding vigilance is proving successful.
Since 2003, OCE, the Environmental Law and Justice Clinic (ELJC) at Golden Gate University, and other community advocates, have been voicing our concerns about proposed regulations for air toxics under consideration by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (the District). We are hopeful that our continued efforts will result in positive change when the District holds a hearing on this issue June 15th.
To date, our tireless efforts have resulted in substantial victories concerning the ways in which air toxic emissions are regulated in the Bay Area:
The District agreed to conduct a full environmental impact report to evaluate the potential health and environmental effects of the new rule. This means that any significant adverse impacts that would result from new toxic emissions should be mitigated.
Our continued advocacy on the issue of cumulative risk resulted in the District's development and adoption of the Community Air Risk Evaluation (CARE) program and inclusion of community representatives.
Finally, at our relentless urging, the District eliminated one of the most egregious parts of the proposed toxics rules. Without our efforts, the District would have included a "special findings exemption" that would have allowed entities to emit emissions levels up to 10 times greater than normally acceptable risk limits. Thankfully this provision has been eliminated from the rule.
Notwithstanding these victories, however, there remain several shortfalls within the current rule. One of the biggest problems with the current proposal, says Amy Cohen, staff attorney for ELJC, "is that the proposed revision still ignores cumulative health risks and the District refuses to lower 'acceptable' risk limits for individual permits. This is not our ideal outcome for this rule."
Stay tuned to learn what happens on the 15 th of June!
Back of the Bus: Diesel Exposure Greater for School Children
Get on the bus? The choke's on you. In an ironic twist, perhaps while riding to school to learn about environmental stewardship, a recent study shows that children are being exposed to more harmful diesel pollution than other area residents.
In the first study of its kind, a new analysis by researchers at the University of California shows that children riding on school buses collectively inhale as much or more exhaust from those buses as does the rest of the city's population. While most environmental regulators focus on controlling vehicle emissions, the results of the study highlight the problem of "self-pollution," whereby exhaust from the vehicle leaks into the passenger compartment. The research, published in the April issue of the journal Environmental Science and Technology , noted that children are vulnerable to airborne contaminants because their immune systems are not fully mature, and because, per body weight, they breathe in more air per day.
While newer diesel buses are more common in school bus fleets, the problem of vehicle self-pollution is especially bad among older models, particularly those manufactured before 1977. Diesel exhaust particulates are considered by public health officials to be a toxic air contaminant and a major source of cancer risk from outdoor air pollution.
Having measured the air quality in school buses traveling through established routes in the Los Angeles Unified School District, with windows both opened and closed, the researchers found that, in a single day, a child riding a bus will breathe in anywhere from 7 to 70 times more exhaust than a typical L.A. resident will inhale from all school bus emissions in the area.
The broader message from the study is that there are forms of direct exposure to air pollution that are flying below the radar of our current air monitoring system. Policymakers could promote more health in our communities, especially for children, in reducing emissions of school buses than from other diesel vehicles such as 18-wheelers or constructions trucks.
