Sludge Watch ==> New York Organic Fertilizer Co (Sludge) - named one of Dirty Dozen

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

Sludgewatch Admin:

Yup...here is the reason why the Bronx sludge drying plant (who could forget 
"Dung Flung in Bronx Blast") is name one of the Dirty Dozen:


http://www.cectoxic.org/2005dirtydozen.html

New York Organic Fertilizer Company (NYOFCO)
NYOFCO has the capacity to handle up to 70% of New York City's sewage 
sludge, an unknown mixture of residential and industrial sewage. The sludge 
is dried, formed into pellets, marketed as fertilizer and sold across the 
country for all types of uses, including agricultural. The plant has one 
central emissions stack, and stack tests revealed the presence of VOCs, 
SVOCs, Dioxins, heavy metals, Nitrous Oxides, and particulate matter. 
Noxious odors escape from the plant and cover an area of roughly a 2-mile 
radius. The plant is located in a neighborhood where 30% of the children 
suffer from asthma.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Citizens’ Environmental Coalition
Student Environmental Action Coalition
Friends of Hudson
Scenic Hudson
United Neighbors Concerned About General Electric/Dewey Loeffel Landfill
Active Citizens of Tuckahoe
Selkirk, Coeymans, Ravena Against Pollution


For More Information Contact:
Christian Werwaiss, CEC, 518-462-5527

Groups Unveil New York's "Dirty Dozen" Bad Actors
"Winners" Include Companies, State Agencies, and Government Officials

(Albany) On Wednesday June 29th, community and environmental groups across 
the state unveiled the "winners" of Citizens' Environmental Coalition's 
(CEC) Second Annual "Dirty Dozen" Awards to draw attention to the worst 
pollution and environmental health problems in the state.

"This year we are teeing off on the worst 12 polluters of New York State. 
The goal of this award is to get the bad actors out of the rough and back 
into the green fairways" said Christian Werwaiss, Environmental Associate at 
Citizens' Environmental Coalition. This year's award is a toxic golf ball, 
perched on a tee oozing with the "winners" name.

The Dirty Dozen "winners" were selected based on the severity of the threat 
they pose and the unwillingness of the polluters and government officials to 
adequately address the situation. A selection committee evaluated 
nominations from across the state. It was comprised of environmental 
professionals, public health experts, and worker health and safety 
advocates: Dr. David Carpenter, State University at Albany School of Public 
Health; Laura Haight, New York Public Interest Research Group; Alexandra 
McPherson, Clean Production Action; Jonathan Bennett, New York Committee for 
Occupational Safety and Health; and Bobbi Chase, Citizens' Environmental 
Coalition. For brief bios of selection committee members, click here.

This year's awardees are:
A.N.S.W.E.R.S. Consortium Proposed Landfill (Coeymans) - would cover 363 
acres of prime farmland and wetland, is unnecessary and would receive 
garbage from up to 100 miles away.
Chemical Waste Management (Porter) - operates New York's only licensed toxic 
waste landfill on the former site of the WWII Manhattan Project (atomic 
bomb). CWM has been fined for violating its permit, and yet seeks to expand 
further.
Eastman Kodak (Rochester) - is New York's number one manufacturing polluter 
and one of the nation's top emitters of cancer-causing chemicals.
Environmental Protection Agency Regions 1 and 2 (Long Island Sound) - 
proposed to dump 20 million cubic yards of contaminated dredge materials 
into Long Island Sound over the next 20 years, which would further devastate 
local fisheries and water ecology.
General Electric (Hudson River, Dewey Loeffel Landfill - Nassau) - continues 
to resist cleaning up the approximately 1.3 million pounds of PCBs in the 
Hudson River and the PCB contamination spread from the Dewey Loeffel 
Landfill into Nassau Lake and the Valatie Kill.
Governor Pataki and Onondaga County Executive Pirro (Syracuse) - want to 
expand Onondaga Sewage Plant and dump 77 million gallons of partially 
treated sewage into Onondaga Creek, a tributary of "the most polluted lake 
in the U.S.," Onondaga Lake (a federal Superfund site).
Indian Point Nuclear Facility (Buchanan) - releases radioactive wastes and 
has created an unworkable, insufficient evacuation plan that endangers 
public health and the environment.
Lafarge Cement Plant (Ravena) - exemplifies efforts to burn waste tires as a 
fuel source in cement kilns across the state. These kilns are ill equipped 
to handle the toxic materials in tires or the hazardous air pollution 
released when burned. Waste tires can be easily recycled.
New York Organic Fertilizer Company (Bronx) - handles sewage waste with 
contaminated heavy metals, dioxins, nitrous oxides and other toxicants in an 
area plagued by high levels of asthma.
New York State Department of Transportation (Statewide) - continues to use 
toxic pesticides to control weeds along highways, despite the option of 
mechanical (mowing) treatments shown to be successful elsewhere.
Radiac, Inc. (Brooklyn) - burns chemical and radioactive wastes in a highly 
populous area with no evacuation plan.
Village of Tuckahoe - refuses to share documents about protect residents 
from contamination in a municipal and industrial landfill in a quarry in the 
middle of densely residential community.

2003's awardees included: Diaz Chemical Corporation, for its years of toxic 
contamination of Holley, NY, which closed rather than upgrade its systems 
after pressure from the public, policymakers and the EPA; the Town of 
Cheektowaga, for illegally canceling its recycling program, which has since 
reinstated the program after intense public outcry; and St. Lawrence Cement, 
which has failed in its bid to build a plant in Hudson, NY.

Since 1983, CEC and its diverse network of 110 grassroots community groups 
and over 14,000 individual members have effectively advocated for industry 
and government to take action on environmental problems in New York State.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Winners of the 2005 "Dirty Dozen" Bad Actor Awards

A.N.S.W.E.R.S. Consortium Proposed Landfill (Coeymans)

For ten years the City of Albany's Mayor Gerald D. Jennings, its Common 
Council and the Albany New York Solid Waste to Energy Recovery System 
(A.N.S.W.E.R.S.) member communities have been trying to buy 363 acres in the 
town of land in the town of Coeymans for a regional landfill. The proposed 
'landfill for the future' will gather all waste from an area covered by a 
circle with a radius of 100 miles, its center being the Rapp Road landfill. 
This is not the original proposal for receiving garbage from the 
A.N.S.W.E.R.S. communities. The 363 acres site is listed as a "Farmland of 
Statewide Importance" and "Prime Farmland" and contains wetlands that feed 
the Onesquethaw-Coeymans Creek, a tributary of the Hudson River and an 
essential component of the Bight Watershed and the Upper Hudson River 
Estuary.

Contact: Jim Travers, S.C.R.A.P. (Selkirk, Coymans, Ravena Against 
Pollution, 518-756-7591, jatrav at yahoo.com
" Withdraw the application, cease and desist purchasing any land in this 
town, let him use his own little wetlands."



Chemical Waste Management (Porter)

Chemical Waste Management (CWM) operates the only permitted licensed 
hazardous waste treatment facility in New York directly on top of 
radiologically and chemically contaminated soil from the WW II Manhattan 
(Atomic Bomb) Project, in Model City, Niagara County, NY. It tops the list 
of New York's Toxic Release Inventory. In 2000, CWM buried 272,000 tons of 
hazardous waste on this site, and released over 130 pounds of known 
carcinogens. Located one mile from the entire Lewiston-Porter school 
district complex, CWM seeks to expand the landfill despite repeatedly being 
fined for violations and recently disposed of anthrax contaminated furniture 
and materials from Tom Brokaw's office. The US Army Corps of Engineers 
(USACE) found plutonium, strontium, and other radioactive materials on the 
site. The public is concerned about the three streams that flow from the 
site. There are elevated levels of cancer down wind and down stream from the 
CWM site, according to the NYS Department of Health . There have been 
legislative and judicial efforts to limit the magnitude of this toxic trash 
operation: in 1987, the NYS legislature ordered the NYS Department of 
Environmental Conservation (DEC) to establish more geographically 
distributed landfill sites, "with all haste". In 1994, the NYS Supreme Court 
ordered the DEC to meet the intended requirements "with all haste"; nine 
years later, the DEC proposed a plan which received overwhelming negative 
comments from legislators and the public. This month, the NYS legislature 
passed a bill that halts siting or expansion of hazardous waste dumps until 
the plan is finalized.

Contact: William Rolland, Residents for Responsible Government, 
716-745-3462, wrolland at attglobal.net
"The mission of this Dirty Dozen Award is to get CWM to tighten their belt 
on WNY's 'expanding Waste Line'. We hope that through this award, we can 
influence them to become better corporate citizens and listen to the 
community in which they do business," said Tim Henderson of Residents of 
Responsible Government.



Eastman Kodak (Rochester)

Kodak is New York's number one manufacturing polluter and one of the 
nation's top emitters of cancer-causing chemicals. In 2,000 - Kodak released 
over 4.2 million pounds of chemicals to the air, released over 2 million 
pounds of cancer-causing chemicals to the air, and over 680,000 pounds of 
chemicals to the water. Between 1987-2000, zip code 14652 in Rochester led 
the nation in releases of cancer-causing chemicals, most of which came 
directly from Kodak. According to the DOH, women living near Kodak Park had 
approximately an 80% greater risk of developing pancreatic cancer; this 
number jumps to 96% if the women have lived in the area for over 20 years. 
Residents report a higher than normal rate of childhood brain and spinal 
cord cancers, and 21 schools are located within three miles of the Kodak 
facility. Kodak has been fined millions of dollars for chemical spills, 
explosions, and illegally operating hazardous waste incinerators. In 
addition, there are a number of hazardous waste sites in need of cleanup at 
Kodak Park.

Contact: Ramona Miller, Kandid Coalition, 585-486-4225



Environmental Protection Agency Regions 1 and 2 (Long Island Sound)

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had a proposal to dump 20 million 
cubic yards of dredge materials into the Long Island Sound over the next 20 
years. They considered designating two long-term dumpsites in the Sound to 
receive these untreated dredge materials. EPA analyzed four sites to be 
utilized as long-term dumpsites. Unfortunately, the I EPA and the Army Corps 
of Engineers (ACE) highly recommended two sites, the Western Long Island 
Sound alternative (WLIS) and the Central Long Island Sound alternative 
(CLIS). The WLIS is located only 2.7 miles from the shoreline and has 
already received 1.7 million cubic yards of dredged material. It was once a 
prime lobster producing area but has died off significantly within the last 
five years. The CLIS is between New Haven, CT, and Shoreham, NY, and has 
already received close to 14 million cubic yards of dredged material. Higher 
levels of toxic waste and problems with low dissolved oxygen (hypoxia) are 
found in and near these sites. Due to the profound impact of this pollution 
on New York State, EPA Region 2 should be transferred authority over this 
issue.

Contact: Dorthea Cappadona, Conservation Board of the Village of Lloyd 
Harbor, 931-549-6087, Doc.Dot at worldnet.att.net
"EPA did not seriously consider the alternatives to dumping in Long Island 
Sound. For example, they did not even consider the technology that 
Brookhaven Labs has developed to use highly toxic dredged material in a 
"cement-lock" process, which makes the toxicity inert. The sale of the 
product could be used to help offset the cost of the process. Consequently, 
their quick decision to just permit the dumping of highly toxic material in 
LIS deserves this kind of an award."

Contact: Maureen Dolan, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, 516-390-7150, 
mdolan at citizenscampaign.org
"This is an historical and landmark victory for the Long Island Sound, for 
the public, and for our quality of life. We have to thank Senator Clinton, 
Governor Pataki, Secretary of State Randy Daniels, but mostly the voice of 
the public for speaking up to protect our magnificent treasure, the Long 
Island Sound," stated Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director, Citizens 
Campaign for the Environment.



General Electric (Hudson River PCBs Superfund Site and Dewey Loeffel 
Landfill - Nassau)

General Electric was nominated by two communities for their PCB 
contamination. General Electric dumped approximately 1.3 million pounds of 
PCBs into the Hudson River, creating a 200 mile-long federal toxic waste 
site. GE continues to shirk its resposnsibilty to clean up these sites. 
Dewey Loeffel Landfill, a class 2 Superfund site, was the recipient of 
approximately 37,000 tons of PCBs, heavy metals, and other toxic wastes at 
the site during the 1950s and 1960s -more than twice the amount dumped at 
Love Canal. Testing has revealed Volatile Organic Compounds in residents' 
private wells and PCB contamination in the Valatie Kill and Nassau Lake. 
Contamination from this site effects approximately 500 families.

Contact: Kelly Travers-Main, United Neighbors Concerned About General 
Electric/Dewey Loeffel Landfill (UNCAGED), 518-732-0334, ktm at berk.com
"General Electric was known to bring 'good things to life'. With the 
findings of immoral waste management procedures, now General Electric's 
selling pitch is "imagine'" Noted Kelly Travers-Main of UNCAGED, "We say to 
you, General Electric, "imagine" the respect you'll regain by cleaning up 
your messes."

Contact: Rich Schiafo, Scenic Hudson, 845-473-4440 X 274
"After years of scientific debate, GE continues to resist the clean up of 
PCBs it dumped in the Hudson River some 50 years ago" said Rich Schiafo, 
environmental project manager Scenic Hudson. "In addition to dropping its 
legal challenge of the federal Superfund law, the time is long overdue for 
the company to fully commit to the cleanup and restoration of the Hudson 
River."



Governor Pataki and Onondaga County Executive Pirro (Syracuse)

The proposed Midland sewage plant will dump 77 million gallons of partially 
treated sewage into Onondaga Creek, a tributary of Onondaga Lake (the most 
polluted lake in the United States). The proposed above ground plant will 
have disastrous effects on the neighborhood and will require the demolition 
of numerous homes occupied by 26 families. Onondaga Creek runs through the 
center of the City of Syracuse. The discharge of partially treated sewage 
will include untreated Ammonia and Phosphorus, residual chlorine, and has 
been criticized for its low disinfection rates. A study by consultants, 
Clough Harbor and Associates, cites that only 48% of the floatable waste 
will be removed. Recent adjustments to the county's designs (macerating the 
sewage by way of a turbine pump) suggest that vortex separation/skimming 
techniques will be even less effective. Hence bacterial removal is of 
concern. Neighbors cite concerns over trucking, storage and operation of 
chlorine disinfection materials. When chlorine compounds strike organic 
materials (sewage), trihalomethanes are created. There is a concern that 
such volatile, carcinogenic disinfection byproducts will be discharged into 
the air, water, soil at the plant into the neighborhood (residents will live 
150 feet away) as well as discharges into Onondaga Creek.
Onondaga Lake is known as "the most polluted lake in the United States" and 
is on the national priorities list as a Federal Superfund Site. The "Metro" 
sewage plant discharges 20% of the Lake's water supply, and residential raw 
sewage also contributes to the pollution. Current clean-up plans - drawn up 
in secret and negotiated by Governor Pataki himself - have drawn criticism 
for potentially leaving the lake with too much ammonia and phosphorous to 
swim or fish in, discharges with chemicals that could impact the ecosystem 
and human health, and building an above-ground sewage treatment plant rather 
than an underground storage system.

Contact: Zac Moore, Syracuse United Neighbors, 315-476-7475, 
sun at dreamscape.com



Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant Reactors 1 & 2 (Buchanan)

Indian Point is a nuclear power plant that releases radioactive wastes and 
ranks among the top emitters for radioactive releases over its years of 
operation. Entergy, the facility's owner, stores spent fuel rods, considered 
high-level radioactive waste, in pools at the facility, which are estimated 
to leak about 25 gallons of contaminated water daily. There is no workable 
evacuation plan to protect the public from death or serious health problems 
in case of an incident or accident. Approximately eight percent of the 
nation's population lives within the federally determined "Peak Injury Zone, 
" a 50 mile radius about the facility, but the evacuation plan only covers 
the first 10 miles, and does not even cover the 17 mile "Peak Fatality Zone. 
" Independent analysis requested by Governor Pataki, found that "...the 
current radiological response system and capabilities are not adequate to 
overcome their combined weight and protect the people from an unacceptable 
dose of radiation in the event of a release from Indian Point. "

Contact: Jason Babbie New York Public Interest Research Group (212) 349-6460 
jkb at nypirg.org
"Indian Point routinely releases liquid, gaseous, and solid radioactive 
wastes in varying doses, which along with an unworkable evacuation plan 
endangers the public and local environment," said Jason K. Babbie,
Environmental Policy Analyst for the New York Public Interest Research Group 
(NYPIRG). "This plant is dirty and dangerous."



Lafarge Cement Plant (Ravena)

Lafarge Cement Company has applied to the Department of Environmental 
Conservation (DEC) for a permit to burn waste tires as a fuel source. Tire 
burning is not an adequate recycling solution to NYS scrap tire problem, as 
it merely converts solid waste to air pollution, and could provide a major 
disincentive to genuine recycling. It releases a host of toxic chemicals, 
including heavy metals, dioxins and furans. Cement kilns are not designed to 
handle hazardous waste, and are not subject to the same rules and 
regulations, which could allow even more pollution to be released. Residents 
living downwind of facilities such as the LaFarge Cement Plant are already 
subject to signifcant emissions of criteria pollutants such as carbon 
monoxide, sulfur and nitrogen oxides, and particulates which affect air 
quality and create significant respiratory problems.
New York has a scrap tire stockpile of 50-70 million tires and annual flow 
of 18 million newly scrapped tires. This problem can be addressed through 
genuine recycling and re-use, such as road construction. In fact NYS 
Department of Transportation has committed to using all of the stockpiled 
tires in the state in road construction. Such recycling and reuse 
applications could address the challenge of scrap tire management in the 
state in a considerably more benign manner than TDF. There would be no need 
to incinerate tires as a waste management practice in NYS, and there should 
be no opportunity for LaFarge or others to transport out-of-state scrap 
tires to be burned in NY. It is a slippery slope that is potentially both 
additive and cumulative. Throughout the US when cement plants have gotten 
permits for burning tires they often subsequently apply for permits to burn 
other hazardous wastes.

Contact: Susan Falzon, Friends of Hudson, (518)822-0344
"LaFarge's cement plant in Ravena has a disturbing record of lax compliance 
with conditions of their existing air permit. Yet they now are applying to 
burn tires which would add a level of complexity to their current 
operations. Their poor compliance record raises serious questions about 
their ability to burn tires safely and cleanly. We nominated LaFarge to call 
attention to this issue and to call upon the company to clean up their 
existing operation which already poses significant potential health problems 
to the population in the vicinity of the plant and downwind of it."




New York Organic Fertilizer Company (Bronx)

NYOFCO has the capacity to handle up to 70% of New York City's sewage 
sludge, an unknown mixture of residential and industrial sewage. The sludge 
is dried, formed into pellets, marketed as fertilizer and sold across the 
country for all types of uses, including agricultural. The plant has one 
central emissions stack, and stack tests revealed the presence of VOCs, 
SVOCs, dioxins, heavy metals, nitrous oxides, and particulate matter. 
Noxious odors escape from the plant and cover an area of roughly a 2-mile 
radius. The plant is located in a neighborhood where 30% of the children 
suffer from asthma.

Contact: Elena Conte, (718) 617-4668, Sustainable South Bronx, 
elena at ssbx.org
"NYOFCo sends out a stench that makes people in the neighborhood sick to 
their stomachs. We can't open our windows in the summertime, and we can't go 
outside without getting hit with it. NYOFCo keeps family members from coming 
to visit, and makes us want to escape our own community. The City, State, 
and NYOFCO's parent company, Texas-based Synagro, have been content to 
sacrifice the health of a low-income community of color in order to rake in 
profit from NYOFCo's operations. They should clean it up or shut it down!"



NYS Department of Transportation (Statewide)

The NYS Department of Transportation uses toxic herbicides to control weeds 
along New York's highways. These pesticides, designed to kill plants, have a 
wide range of health impacts on animals and possibly humans. Many smaller 
municipalities in New York are able to control unwanted plant growth without 
pesticides, while still providing a clear margin to promote driving safety.

Contact: Judy Braiman, Rochestarians Against the Misuse of Pesticides 
(RAMP), 585-383-1317, judybraiman at frontiernet.net



Radiac, Inc.

Significant risk to human life with over 2 million possible lives lost in 
case of an accident where chemical and radioactive waste are burned and 
highly concentrated population has no evacuation plan. Local firehouse 
closed this year that was the last one in Brooklyn with HazMat qualities. A 
plume of smoke from Radiac easily reaches Lower Manhattan, NJ, both airports 
within minutes. No security from terrorists as we have walked on the roof to 
take pictures, a ready made dirty bomb would be easily ignited with minimum 
risk to terrorist: handgun, Molotov cocktail, grenade. Radiac has only a 
thin wall separating plutonium, Uranium from Bromoacetone (chemical warfare 
agent). Thousands of deadly mixtures within all next to Public School 84, 
135,000 within a square mile.

Contact: Sean Nagle, Health and Research Director, Community Health and 
Environment Institute, 718-302-6443, snagle at elpuente.us
" Radiac is NYC's Dirty Bomb a Nuclear and Chemical Storage facility storing 
Uranium, Nerve Gas, Heptane and Plutonium yards away from PS 84, an 
elementary school of over 1,100 students; with 130,000 people within 1 mile, 
and dozens of violations including falsifying training records, stacking 
nuclear drums too high, and virtually no security - one has to wonder why 
the DEC would consider renewing a permit for such risky, poorly located 
facility."



Village of Tuckahoe

The Marbledale Road Industrial Corridor is located on the southern portion 
of Marbledale Road, and runs approximately 1/2 mile from south to north at 
the eastern side of the Village of Tuckahoe. The Corridor cuts through 
residential areas and Tuckahoe's largest, most heavily used recreational 
park and a busy house of worship. The quarry landfill is located on the 
western side of the Corridor. It measures 600 feet in length, 150 in width, 
and is 70 feet deep and is adjacent to several businesses, some industry, 
and auto repair shops. The Village of Tuckahoe is only .68 of a square mile 
in size with a population of about 6500 people. According to Westchester 
County records, Tuckahoe is the second most densely populated municipality 
in Westchester. The Village's small size and large population makes the 
Corridor a prominent feature in the Village. As such, any threat of 
contamination stands to affect a significant portion of Tuckahoe's 
residents, as well as those who work or visit there. The industrial 
facilities along the Corridor are on the Toxic Release Inventory. 
Additionally, there is evidence that the quarry was used as a landfill that 
for decades served as a municipal and industrial dumpsite. However, Village 
officials have refused to share records with the public and attempt to 
intimidate concerned citizens from speaking out. To date ACT knows of 
approximately 50 cases of cancer, respiratory, and autoimmune diseases in 
the area. What makes these numbers particularly disturbing is that they are 
located on only about six streets out of the dozens of streets that surround 
the Corridor. For example, one street with 17 homes has had 12 cases of 
breast cancer.

Contact: Tamara O'Bradovich, Active Citizens of Tuckahoe (ACT), 
(914)793-4797
"Tuckahoe Village government has rejected its responsibility to take a 
proactive role in advocating for the health and safety of Tuckahoe's 
residents, its businesses and their employees. Tuckahoe is small in size, 
but its environmental problems are big. Village government needs to take a 
proactive role in advocating for the health and safety of Tuckahoe's 
residents, its businesses and their employees."




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CEC's 2005 Annual Dirty Dozen Awards Selection Committee

Jonathan Bennett - Public Affairs Director for New York Committee for 
Occupational Safety and Health edits "Safety Rep" and "Update on Safety and 
Health." He is an experienced journalist, having been on the staff of a 
number of newspapers, magazines, and broadcasters. He has written and 
reported extensively on occupational and environment safety and health in 
all media. He is also co-producer of "Health Action" on WBAI-FM, which 
frequently covers job safety and environmental health issues. In recognition 
of his achievements, he has received a Revson Fellowship on the Future of 
the City of New York and a Public Health Association of New York City Media 
Award.

David Carpenter, MD -- Professor at the Environmental Health and Toxicology 
Division, School of Public Health at the University of Albany is currently 
an editorial advisor of the Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology and a member 
of the editorial board of the Journal of Public Health Management and 
Practice and International Journal of Occupational Medicine and 
Environmental Health. He is the host of a public health information show 
called "The Public Radio Health Show", carried on more than 170 stations 
nationwide including the Armed Forces Radio Network and Voice of America. 
Prior to joining the University at Albany, Dr. Carpenter was a Research 
Physician at the Wadsworth Center for Laboratories and Research.

Bobbi Chase, MS - Associate Director of Citizens' Environmental Coalition 
coordinates the Community Environmental Hazards Advocacy Project (including 
creating and updating www.ecothreatny.org) and coordinated NY's Health Care 
Without Harm campaign from 1998-2000. In her seven years at CEC, she has 
organized public events and conferences, facilitated coalitions, and 
authored numerous reports and fact sheets, including Building Green without 
Going in the Red, available at www.cectoxic.org. Ms. Chase served on 
Governor Pataki's Pollution Prevention Award Advisory Group. She holds an MS 
in Ecological Economics, Values, and Policy at Rensselaer Polytechnic 
Institute, where she received her BS in Environmental Science.


Laura Haight, MS - Senior Environmental Associate, New York Public Interest 
Research Group (NYPIRG) in Albany directs NYPIRG's
statewide toxics, solid waste and pesticide projects. Prior to joining 
NYPIRG's staff in 1999, Ms. Haight held positions in several other nonprofit 
environmental groups in New York, including Clearwater, Scenic Hudson, and 
Environmental Advocates, a total of over twenty years of environmental 
advocacy experience. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in American History 
and Literature from Harvard University and a Master of Science degree in 
Environmental Studies from the Bard College Graduate School of Environmental 
Studies.

Alexandra McPherson -- North American Director of Clean Production Action 
(CPA) has been working in the field of clean production for the last five 
years, specializing in building the capacity of the environmental health 
movement in the United States to incorporate clean production strategies 
into their campaigns. She develops trans-Atlantic strategies, policies, 
position papers and activist tools for non-governmental organizations who 
are working on precedent-setting clean production campaigns. Prior to 
joining CPA, Ms. McPherson worked on a binational campaign in the Great 
Lakes, directing Great Lakes United's clean production program.


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