The brightly colored, 6 foot by 4 foot signs-which read
“WARNING! Louisiana, Global Toxic Hot Spot” urge concerned citizens
to call Governor Foster at the governor’s mansion — were installed
in an area where a sediment sample tested nearly 1,000 times above
the average reading for dioxin in North American sediments. One of
the signs was placed near an area where PPG has, in the past,
dumped 120,000 tons of dioxin-contaminated waste directly into the
bayou.
“PPG has dumped enough dioxin in the bayou to poison every
woman, man and child in the U.S. 30 times over,” said Charles Cray,
Greenpeace toxic campaigner. “The signs we posted today are but a
small contribution to the health and safety of the people of this
area-a contribution, I might add, conspicuously not made by
Governor Foster or the chemical manufacturers in this community
that have known about the horrendous contamination for decades.
Sadly, our action today is not a remedy-the cure is in the hands of
the wealthy and distant owners of PPG and the other chemical
facilities.”
The sign installation came one day after Greenpeace released its
four page report
Lake Charles: A Global Dioxin Hot Spot at a press conference
and Mossville community rally in front of Condea/Vista, one of the
area’s worst polluters. The report underscored the need to post
signs to warn residents about the toxicity of their environment:
“The (U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry)
collected blood samples from 28 residents of the community and
analyzed them for dioxins, furans and co-planar PCBs. ‘These
limited studies support the conclusion that blood dioxin levels in
residents in Mossville are elevated compared to other populations,
and that the elevated levels are not due to age alone,’ the ATSDR
reported. ATSDR concluded, ‘it would be prudent public health
policy to identify sources of dioxin exposure in Mossville
residents and to implement actions to minimize further
exposures.'”
On Wednesday, Greenpeace wraps up
its week-and-a half long “Toxic-Free Future” bus tour of some of
the worst polluting facilities in Louisiana. The tour was promoted
and supported by several community groups which helped post public
information signs reading “Pollution does not stop at this fence”
on the front gates of the facilities visited. The Greenpeace tour
was designed to focus on Louisiana as a global toxic hot spot and
to answer a call for support by concerned citizens in the state
fighting to stop pollution in their communities. Louisiana is home
to many toxics-emitting industries, including a number of vinyl
plants. These plants generate contaminants, such as dioxin, that
travel long distances by air currents and pollute the global
environment.
