Latest news with #RenaeKimble
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Still a chance for NY packaging reduction bill to reach assembly floor
A spokesperson for the leader of the New York State Assembly said it's possible lawmakers in Albany will consider a packaging reduction bill supported by local and statewide environmental advocates before the session ends next week. Whether there will be enough votes to actually approve the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act remains to be seen. In response to questions from the Niagara Gazette this week, Thomas O'Neil White, a spokesperson for assembly Majority Leader and Buffalo Democrat Crystal Peoples-Stokes, said the bill is not on the agenda yet, but People-Stokes believes it will make it to the floor for a vote before the end of the session, which is expected to close either Tuesday or Wednesday. 'It depends on what is in the bill as it could change a few times before coming up for a vote,' O'Neil White said. Supporters of the bill said on Friday that 'possible' consideration was not good enough. Renae Kimble, president of the Niagara Falls chapter of the NAACP, who joined local and statewide environmental advocates in calling for the bill's passage earlier this week, described the bill on Friday as 'vitally important' to protect the health of every Western New Yorker. 'Given the toxic legacy of Western New York, we need all of the assembly members to lead and support this bill,' Kimble said. 'The bill has already been amended 26 times at the request of various businesses. The Senate has already adjourned meaning there is no time for further amendments, so we need the assembly to vote on the bill, as is, before they also adjourn in the coming days.' The act would impose a 30% reduction on packaging statewide over the next 12 years and calls for the phasing out of 17 toxic chemicals currently found in various forms of packaging. Supporters say it would cut plastic waste, improve public health and reduce costs for taxpayers. They also warn that remnants from plastic waste impact health and wellness, resulting in higher costs of care borne by New York residents and local governments. Environmental advocates say plastic waste is particularly harmful to the environment, especially the Great Lakes, including Lake Ontario. Kimble said the impacts have proven particularly harmful to minorities living in cities like Niagara Falls and Buffalo. 'Black, brown, disabled, and marginalized members of our communities across the state have been subjected to the deadly effects of toxic pollutants due to the disproportionate amount of contaminated packing waste sent to landfills and incinerators in heavily populated Environmental Justice communities,' Kimble said. Supporters of the bill's passage have also noted that existing state and local policies, such as the State Agency Green Purchasing Executive Order, and retailer programs, such as Walmart, already work to avoid the use of high-hazard toxic chemicals in packaging and products. Patti Wood, executive director of Grassroots Environmental Education, said the bill builds upon Governor Paterson's 2008 State Agency Green Purchasing Executive Order, which requires state agencies to prioritize the procurement of products. The former governor's order requires the state to reduce or eliminate the health and environmental risks from the use or release of toxic substances, minimize the risks of the discharge of pollutants into the environment and minimize the volume and toxicity of packaging. 'This bill builds on smart green purchasing state and local policies that have been requiring manufacturers to avoid highly toxic chemicals in their products and packaging and 'green the marketplace' since 2008,' Wood said.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Residents concerned about Goodyear plant urged to get active
Jan. 30—Niagara Falls residents with concerns about the release of a known chemical carcinogen from the Goodyear Rubber & Tire Co. plant off 56th Street were urged Thursday to get organized, get active and get vocal. Representatives from six environmental and community advocacy groups held an informational meeting at New Hope Baptist Church where they encouraged about 50 attendees to contact their elected officials to tell them to take action to protect public health in the neighborhood where Goodyear operates. "It is time for us to set up a coalition and that coalition is each and every one of you that are here," said Renae Kimble, president of the Niagara Falls Chapter of the NAACP. The primary concern remains the plant's emission of Ortho-Toluidine, a chemical used in the production of tires that has been linked to incidences of bladder cancer among workers in the past. While the state changed its guidelines to reduce the allowable output of the chemical in 2021, the facility has for years operated under earlier, less stringent standards. DEC officials contend, based on existing data, that the situation does not pose an "imminent" health risk to neighboring home and business owners. Advocates for changes inside the plant aren't buying it. "We call on our government agencies and officials to protect our community now before it is too late," Kimble said. "It should not be about dollars and cents. Our health is paramount, more than anything else." The World Health Organization classified O-T as a known human carcinogen in 2008. The state's 2021 release requirements for the chemical classified it as a "high toxicity contaminant." According to the federal Center for Disease Control, O-T exposure can cause bladder cancer, anemia, dizziness, headaches, confusion, eye, skin and breathing irritation as well as skin lesions. Under previous O-T limits, Goodyear was allowed to emit up to 5,000 pounds of the material into the air per year. Under the 2021 limits, the company's output should have been reduced to no more than 100 pounds per year. In 2022 and 2023, the company reported that it released 1,244 pounds and 1,263 pounds of O-T, respectively. In September, the DEC released a plume map showing a roughly half-mile area around the plant where the chemical is being released into the air. Critics argue that the data used by the agency to generate the map is flawed as it is based on results from just two of 13 stacks on-site. They also maintain that the DEC failed to take into account so-called "fugitive" emissions, which include leaks from pipes and other equipment and ventilation systems. Kelly Cloyd, a retired DEC geologist who attended Thursday's meeting, said the most recent tests done by Goodyear in 2022 were rejected by the DEC because they were not performed in keeping with guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. As a result, he said, the DEC is working with inaccurate information and that the true impact on the community may prove to be much higher following updated testing and a more accurate accounting of "fugitive" emissions. "One of the big problems with where we are is we really don't know what the community's been exposed to," Cloyd said. Earlier this month, the DEC entered into a consent order with Goodyear that will require the company to install temporary pollution control devices next month and permanent control measures by October 2026. The agreement allows Goodyear to perform additional stack testing only after the controls have been implemented. "One of the things we've asked for that DEC has not demanded from Goodyear is stack testing prior to the installation of the equipment so we have some idea of what people have been exposed to," Cloyd said. "That seems kind of critical to me." Organizers of Thursday's meeting urged residents in attendance to follow their lead and contact Gov. Kathy Hochul's office to encourage her to direct the DEC to amend the consent order. They want the DEC to require Goodyear to immediately install temporary pollution controls and to commit to the installation of permanent equipment to reduce O-T emissions by 90% as soon as possible. They also want state regulators to mandate new stack testing in keeping with EPA guidelines before any new pollution control measures come online. "We're asking that the equipment be installed in two months, not in the two years that the DEC has recently given Goodyear," said Matteo Anello, who has lived in his family home on 56th Street just east of the plant for decades. A trio of local elected officials attended Thursday's meeting, including Falls lawmakers Donta Myles and Brian Archie and Niagara County Legislator Jeffrey Elder. All three expressed willingness to join residents in pushing state officials to address local concerns about the plant's operation. "It's going to take a collective effort from all of our local governing bodies," Myles said. Elder said he intends to bring the issue up for consideration at a future county legislature meeting. "When we are collectively together, we can make things happen," Elder said.
