Cuts Will Come At The Cost of Health, Lives

— filed under: Cancer, Waterways, 2011 Legislative Session, Clean Water, Environmental health

Environmental protections are essential to our health, well-being, and quality of life. Over the past few years, environmental protections have been decimated - right now they make up barely 1% of the state budget. And now they may be cut even further.

Cuts Will Come At The Cost of Health, Lives

The following was written by Kerri Cechovic of Washington Environmental Council.

When reading news stories focused on numbers, it’s easy to forget how these protections impact our everyday lives. I wanted to share a story from Liana Beal, a mother in south Seattle, who shows us just how essential environmental protections are to people in their everyday lives.

"I grew up in the South Park neighborhood of Seattle, right near the Duwamish River. Many people don’t realize that the lower Duwamish is a Superfund site - the federal government’s list of the most toxic places in the nation. The waters of the Duwamish are rife with dioxins, arsenic, sewage, and PCBs.
Well, I grew up there before we knew the river was polluted and the risks that posed to our health. As kids we played all over the neighborhood and were exposed to toxins without realizing it. But I’ve seen the impacts in my family and our neighbors. My son and I both suffer from asthma. Family friends have died of cancer – a type caused by exposure to dioxins.
We need to make sure the Duwamish gets cleaned up. Further cuts to the Toxic Clean Up Fund would mean delaying clean up further - putting more people’s health at risk.
What makes this especially urgent for me is that families are moving there all the time – especially immigrant families who don’t know about the toxic history of the Duwamish and who don’t realize the risk posed to their kids’ health."

Right now, there are over 11,000 toxic sites around Washington. Over the past few years, over $250 million has been transferred out of the Toxic Clean Up Fund – delaying clean ups and endangering health. The House has just proposed an additional $17 million in cuts to the Toxic Clean Up Fund. These cuts threaten both our health and local community jobs on clean up projects throughout the state.

The House is expected to roll out their budget next week. We'll keep you posted on what's happening, and what you can do about it.