Home Front - Brief Article

Sierra, Nov, 1998 by Tracy Baxter

In 65 chapters and hundreds of local groups spanning 21 ecoregions and two nations, Sierra Club members are hard at work protecting our natural heritage.

American Southeast

SARASOTA SUCCESS

The Manatee-Sarasota Group has taken the lead in alerting the public to the threat of orimulsion, a cheap, dirty experimental fuel (see "Ecoregion Roundup," September/October 1996). Unlike oil, the tarlike substance disperses throughout a body of water--making cleanup of Tampa Bay problematic if a spill occurred during the fuel's transport. Moreover, burning the gunk would dramatically increase soot- and smog-causing emissions in Manatee County. By holding informational meetings at local libraries, volunteers Mary Sheppard and Gerry Swormstedt organized citizens to successfully petition Governor Lawton Chiles to deny Florida Power & Light's fuel permit. The group countered the utility's subsequent appeals by lobbying at the state capitol and staging media events. After six years of struggle, FP&L finally threw in the towel this summer. But Sheppard knows the fight isn't completely over. "All Sierrans be prepared," she warns. "Orimulsion could come your way."

THE MICE THAT ROARED

As reported in this column (July/ August 1997), the Alabama beach mouse had won federal protection under the Endangered Species Act in 1985, but was still losing large chunks of its 350-acre scrub dune habitat to development projects sanctioned by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The Alabama Chapter set out to reverse this trend last year in a lawsuit challenging two habitat conservation plans that would have allowed developers on the Gulf Coast of southern Alabama to kill an unspecified number of the mice in exchange for feeble conservation measures. This August, a federal court granted the imperiled creature a reprieve by rejecting the plans.

Great Lakes

CANCER ALLEY NORTH

An 85-mile-long stretch of petrochemical facilities between Baton Rouge and New Orleans has earned the nickname "Cancer Alley." According to a new report by the Sierra Club's Midwest office, another area is on a similar road to notoriety. Great Lakes States, America's New Cancer Alley, reveals that the region leads the nation in dumping carcinogens and hormone-disrupting chemicals and places second in releasing substances known to cause birth defects. The report presents a top-ten list of carcinogen-spewing plants, their rationales for using toxic chemicals, and their varying cleanup records. Readers will also find tips for reducing their own exposure to industrial poisons and negotiating "good neighbor agreements" with dirty companies. For a free copy of the report, contact the Midwest office at midwest.field-office@sierraclub. org or (608) 257-4994.

Atlantic Coast

THE ROTTEN APPLE

The last thing the Greenpoint-Williamsburg neighborhood needs is another waste-transfer station. Occupying only 4.9 square miles, it already contains 23 such facilities, handling more than half of New York City's decomposable garbage. Yet the community might soon be saddled with the East Coast's largest station, located on a 20-acre parcel along the East River where residents have wanted a waterfront park for years.

Working with Neighbors Against Pollution and the Watchperson Project, the environmental-justice committee of the NewYork City Group helped turn out 1,200 residents to a public hearing. Citizen objections to the noise, traffic, and diesel exhaust expected from the facility persuaded Governor George Pataki to order an environmental impact statement. Now the activist coalition is lobbying the state to buy the property with state Clean Air/Clean Water Bond Act funds.

RESTORE THE CORE

"I grew up in the District and really didn't think of the environment as an issue of economic development," says Danilo Pelletiere, a graduate student in public policy at Washington, D.C.'s George Mason University. Pelletiere now shows others the connection through his work on Restore the Core, the New Columbia Chapter's campaign to limit sprawl by revitalizing existing urban communities. Highlighting green opportunities, the chapter conducts walking tours of areas that people frequently overlook or downright avoid. A trip to D.C.'s African-American Anacostia neighborhood, settled by free slaves, was especially eye-opening. "We rediscovered a wonderful nature trail there. Now nonresidents know there's a wilderness and a neighborhood worth defending." Developers are also invited on these treks, laying the groundwork for later collaboration. Although the program is only a year old, Restore the Core boasts a strong volunteer base. "People seem attracted to the mix of walks and activism. We've organized river and school cleanups, voter-registration drives, and lobbied Congress on the siting of federal facilities," Pelletiere says. "The involvement means that communities have a voice in how development happens."

Mississippi Basin

PADDLERS AGAINST POLLUTION

Because Indianapolis' sewage system combines waste and storm runoff, as little as a quarter inch of rain causes raw sewage to pour into the White River and its tributaries. For too long, City Hall seemed content to go with the overflows. Then the Heartlands Group of the Hoosier Chapter publicized its canoe outing on the troubled waters. By the time the 100-person Ride the River flotilla was launched, Indianapolis Mayor Steve Goldsmith had proclaimed a simultaneous White River Appreciation Day and announced a plan to cut river pollution by 20 percent in five years. But the waterway's sullied condition warrants more than a piecemeal approach, insists the group.