Welcome to our February 2009 issue of DWEJ e-newsletter.
We will keep you updated on our programs, campaigns and upcoming events, as well as current environmental justice issues.
| MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
 Message from the Executive Director
Is it me, or does it seems as though we are in the middle of a wonderful whirlwind? The world is changing whether we embrace it or not. What complicated and exciting times we are living in. Like most, I am somewhere between euphoria and reality about President Barack Obama and the winds of change his candidacy has ushered into this seemingly contrary moment in time. While I cannot ignore the incredible challenges our nation and city are experiencing, I can’t help but be excited about the creativity that is bound to emerge. The work that we have embarked upon here at DWEJ focused on transforming the city into a greener, sustainable thriving place to live work and play is well on its way. The Green Jobs Training program has flourished beyond our expectations. We are delighted about the great partnerships with employers, funders, community and others that have developed over the past year. The Build up Detroit (BUD) Project is soon becoming the model for revitalization and our efforts to continue to grow leadership among young people continues to amaze me. The 2009 summer experience now in the planning stages for Youth on Patrol Against Pollution (YoPAP) will have long lasting benefits for our community.
I truly hope you are feeling me. As I ponder the work that our new president has in front of him, I am convinced that he is more than able to carry the torch. After all, he got his feet wet organizing on the south side of Chicago addressing environmental justice issues among others with our sister organization People for Community Recovery. That being said, the Obama administration has an opportunity to right the wrongs of the previous administration by exercising their influence to help with the passage of the Environmental Justice Act of 2007 which is being reintroduced to congress. If passed H.R. Bill 1103 will place the country on the correct course to provide a level playing field for communities who have shouldered the greatest burden of this nation’s pollution. I along with others in the country will be presenting the work we are doing at a congressional hearing in March to bring home the point.
Nevertheless, let’s imagine the impact of having someone of his stature in the White House, who really gets it. I don’t know about you but that alone gives me cause to celebrate. So what does that mean for us who have struggled a long time to get someone to pay attention to our issues? It means that the vision for a healthy, thriving, sustainable existence for all is possible. It is well within our reach. Please know that as you read on I hope that you will be inspired to join us in seeing this vision come to pass in Detroit and Southeast Michigan. I look forward to the shared benefits we’ll experience by doing it together!!
Donele
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GREEN JOBS TRAINING PROGRAM
The 2008 graduating class from our Green Jobs Training program has a 100 percent jobs placement rate and we are beginning our next phase of the program. As we embrark upon the adventure of changing not only our environment but lives also, we enter the next segment of our jobs training program with the realization that; in this environment of change if we remain deligent to the task at hand the vision of a sustainable Detroit is well within our reach. With that being said, here's what a graduate from the program and his new employer had to say:
Thank you DWEJ for everything you have done. This job is wonderful and has changed my life. I really appreciate it. Everthing I learned in the training program I use daily on the job. The basic skills training got me ready for the job, and the physical training got me in shape. My attendance is great and I'm always on time for work.
Grayling Owens
Effective 11/28/2008 we have added another well qualified employee to our company and his name is Mr. Grayling Owens. Welcome aboard Grayling! Your dedication to the vision of B & A Environmental Services and your commitment to superior service to our customer base is greatly appreciated.
Mr. Gregory Boney
Click below to read more about our Green Jobs Training program in the recently published Michigan Citizen article.
Michigan Citizen Article |
| BUILD UP DETROIT
The Build Up Detroit Advisory Council held its second meeting Feb. 16, and formed five committees: Sustainable Economic Development, Outreach/Media, Community-based Policymaking, Model Neighborhood Project, Fund development/Social Entrepreneurship. The Advisory Council will provide strategic guidance, develop recommendations, and identify key resources and opportunities to further the mission of Build Up Detroit.
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| YOUTH ON PATROL AGAINST POLLUTION
For the past four weeks our youth have been helping students from Youth on the Edge of Greatness program at Duke Ellington Middle School to create photovoice presentations of their community. Much like the traditional concept of social documentation, the photovoice presentation combines the power of photography with that of social action and activism. By promoting dialogue about the issues they see as important, the photovoice provides the youth with a powerful tool, enabling them to act as recorders and a potential catalyst for change in their communities. Once the projects are completed students will present them to parents, teachers and community members.
We are also in the process of preparing for a fun and exciting summer. Our projects for the summer will include hosting Toxic Tours, Green building education, Urban Gardening, Water Monitoring and much more! If you are or know a youth between the ages of 14-19 interested in participating please contact Domiana Carter at (313) 833-3935.
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 DETROITERS WORKING FOR ENVIORNMENTAL JUSTICE
Call for Interns or volunteers
General Description
• Must be available to start work June 6th, 2009 hours will be Monday-Thursday 9am-3pm
• Responsible for supervising 5-8 high school students on a three environmental justice projects that we will be working on this summer.
• The first project is the Greening of Belle Isle which includes green building design, fish advisory education, urban gardening and beach monitoring /water testing.
• The second project will focus on doing environmental justice education and advocacy through toxic tours in Detroit.
• The last project will focus on Brownfield redevelopment.
• Interns will be responsible for leading high school students on each project, follow lesson plans and help students to complete task and projects.
Work Experience
• Excellent computer skills
• Experience working with high school age youth
• Some community organizing skills
• Understand the concepts of Environmental Justice
Education Background
• Major: Aquatic sciences, Conservation Biology, Environmental Informatics, Environmental Justice, Sustainable Systems or Landscape Architecture
If you are interested please email Domiana Carter at domiana@dwej.org
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| COMMUNITY HAZARD AWARENESS TRAINING (CHATS)
 My name is Gwendolyn Oglosby-Ward. In 2002, I gave birth to my fourth child, Rakeem Ahmad Akbar. At six months, he was diagnosed with lead poisoning. The health effects of lead poisoning include damage to the kidneys, central nervous system and brain, resulting in poor muscle coordination, aggressive behavior and learning disabilities such as ADD and ADHD. It was devastating to know that my son’s health was at risk. I began to learn everything I could about lead poisoning.
Within three months of eating healthier and taking multi-vitamins, my son’s lead level dropped. By November 2002, Rakeem’s blood lead level had decreased to almost nothing. Now my son is a bright, healthy, intelligent and active six-year-old who loves the outdoors and will be entering the second grade this fall.
Another blessing that came from this ordeal is that through a referral from one of the lead programs, I was offered a part-time job doing interim control with Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice. August 2002, after a week of training with the three-bucket method and watching the workers clean, I started working as part of DWEJ’s Home Intervention Team.
Not only was my family able to deal with Rakeem’s health condition before it became too late, I was able to help other families avoid the same hazards. For years I worked with seniors and disabled people because I just love working with other people. Seeing the joy of so many parents after making their homes safer for their children has been so rewarding.
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What we've been up to...
By Sandra Yu
DWEJ Program Manager
Build Up Detroit (BUD) Project
Another World is Possible… Another US Necessary
World Social Forum – Belem, Brazil
Late January, staff member Sandra Yu went to Belem, Brazil, for the 7th World Social Forum (WSF) as a representative of the Local Organizing Committee for sister US Social Forum (USSF). DWEJ, along with four other local organizations, is one of the anchor organizations for the USSF. The others are Michigan Welfare Rights, Centro Obrero, Jobs with Justice and East Michigan Environmental Action Council (EMEAC). Rocio Valero of EMEAC and Sandra were sent to Belem to experience the World Social Forum and bring back their observations to help the LOC organize the 2010 Forum that will be hosted in Detroit.
The World Social Forum was born in 2001 as the anti-World Economic Forum that takes place in Davos, Switzerland each year. Instead of an exclusive gathering of top CEOs and world leaders determining the future of the global economy, the World Social Forum would be a neutral, open space to discuss alternatives to neoliberal economic policies. The WSF motto is “Another World is Possible.”
What are neoliberal economic policies, and why are so many people in developing countries against them? Why should we in the United States care? Why should Detroit care?
Neoliberal economic policies are the ones that:
- let markets rule and limit government regulation (we know how well this has worked)
- cut government spending on social services like health care and education (as we increase spending on war)
- selling off control of water, railroads, hospitals, etc. to private investors (in the name of efficiency, but mostly just concentrates wealth among the few)
- replace the notion of the community with “individual responsibility”(so if the poor can’t get health care or good education, it’s their own fault for being lazy)
Bottom line is, the same economics policies that are devastating developing countries are the same ones that hurt the urban poor. In addition, the Forum is about more than economic theory: key issues/constituents at this year’s WSF included indigenous rights, climate justice, women’s rights, organized labor, globalization, and the conflict in Palestine.
The US Social Forum is a place and time for all of us in the United States to join the rest of the world in getting serious about alternatives to neoliberal economics. The first one was held in Atlanta two years ago, and its motto was “For Another World to be Possible, Another US is Necessary.”
Therefore, as the 2010 Forum approaches, how will organizers make sure that the US Social Forum is successful? How will it demonstrate alternatives to our current economic system that are not only possible, but better – and necessary? How will USSF organizers ensure that it is open, accessible and visible?
What kind of mark will the US Social Forum leave on Detroit?
In the interest of climate justice look forward to a global day of action surrounding Earth Day. News of this event will be posted on our website as well as in our future newsletters.
Corp Watch Article |
| SOUND THE ALARM!!!
Hey Detroit! Your money’s burning in that incinerator!
Everyone’s seen it – that huge smokestack at 1-94/1-75, belching smoke across the street from Golightly Elementary School. That is the nation’s largest incinerator, and it’s right here in the very center of our city. The incinerator is owned by Phillip Morris, operated by a spinoff nonprofit called GDDRA (made up of five mayoral appointees), leased by the City of Detroit, financed by Detroit taxpayers. It burns your trash, pollutes the air, leaks toxins into the soil. The trash burned in the incinerator makes steam and smoke – you see the smoke leave through the giant chimney, and the steam gets captured to turn turbines, generating electricity for buildings in New Center, Midtown and Downtown. What’s left is toxic ash, which has to go to special, more expensive landfills.
AIR POLLUTION
Burning plastic creates toxic fumes that worsen our already awful air quality. In the zip codes near the incinerator – by 1-75/1-94 – children are hospitalized for asthma at three times the average for the state.
BURNING MONEY – A NASTY DEAL
The incinerator burns trash, and the steam that is created is used to provide electricity for several buildings from the Fisher Building to the Ren Cen. Sounds great – get rid of trash and receive electricity. But there’s more to the story.
A nasty deal. The City of Detroit financed for the construction of the facility, sold it to Phillip Morris, and leased it back. After all of the messy transactions, the result is that Detroit pays $170 per ton to get rid of its solid waste – the average is $57 per ton.
Losing steam, losing money. According to this Metro Times article, in November, the City sold the steam from the incinerator to DTE Energy for $14.40 per 1000 lbs. DTE sold the steam to Detroit Thermal for $6 per 1000 lbs. Detroit Thermal makes the steam usable for buildings and sells it back to the City for a variable rate that has ranged from $20 to $24.85 per 1000lbs. - that’s at least 50% more than what it sold the steam for.
It gets better – according to that same article, by Dec. 14, DTE was supposed to drop out, and the City would sell the steam directly to Detroit Thermal at $9.20 per 1000 lbs. until the agreement expires in June 2009.
No chance for wide scale recycling. First of all, the City is trapped into a deal where it has to pay the owner if it doesn’t supply enough trash to keep the incinerator running at a certain capacity. Considering the incinerator already requires trash from other sources outside the City, there’s no incentive to redirect anything from the incinerator to be recycled. What do incinerators like best to eat? Paper, cardboard and plastic – the main recyclables.
The alternative:
Recycle everything we can – there is wealth in that trash. We can recover that paper, plastic and cardboard, and sell it to industries that reuse that material. More labor-intensive than incineration, a municipal recycling program would create more jobs than the incinerator currently does. ***how many people work in the incinerator? How many people work in a typical municipal recycling facility (MRF)?
There are industries that use recyclables interested in moving to Detroit – bringing taxes and jobs to the city, but not as long as there’s a giant incinerator competing for the materials. Are we willing to give up these jobs?
The City has already paid for the incinerator, but it doesn’t have to use it to kill its residents. That facility can be turned into a municipal recycling facility – it’s already got all the big conveyor belts, for example.
Organic waste could be composted and used in all those urban gardens people are so excited about.
The City of Warren uses their revenues from recycling to CLEAR SNOW FROM THE STREETS. Wouldn’t that be a nice service to have in Detroit?
Whatever can’t be recycled will have to be landfilled. That’s a choice between burying your nastiest trash and breathing it.
July 1, 2009 the City’s $440 million debt for financing the incinerator will be paid off, and Detroit will be free to walk away from this mess.
Finally, we want transparency around the whole deal. As evidenced by the crowd reaction during the State of the City address, the City is sick of pay-for-play. In 1991, Tom Stephens and Carol Ivant described the situation with the incinerator in this way:
“It is not possible at this stage to summarize the situation of the Detroit incinerator in any straight-forward way. It should be clear that Detroit is mired in an ecological/financial mess with no easy way out. Wealthy multinational corporations are (as usual) leading politicians around by their noses, playing environmentalists off against the urban poor, pitting both against organized labor, and fighting hard to stem the rising tide of the international grassroots eco-justice movement.”
Detroit residents, we have to stop getting played for a fool. That incinerator is burning up money and jobs, and leaving us sicker to boot. Are we going to let those rich corporations suck the city dry? Are we going to let our politicians get away with this? Is anyone paying attention?
Last year, City Council voted not to renew the incinerator contract in June. But if we don’t show that we’re paying attention, the politicians can sneak it right under our noses.
Call City Councilors. Call the Mayor’s office.
Metro Times Article |
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DID YOU KNOW? You can make your own environmentally safe all-purpose household cleaner.
Today's homes are loaded with toxic household cleaners. Even some of the so-called evironmentally safe cleaners have items in them that bear a better explanation (natural emulsifers, natural alkalinity builders, and naturally-derived surfactant). Let's get back to the basics - good old baking soda and vinegar makes a great all-purpose cleaner. Below is a recipe for an environmentally safe all-purpose household cleaner:
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup baking soda
1/2 gallon (2 liters of water)
www.eartheasy.com |
DWEJ appreciates your continuing interest in and support for environmental justice in Detroit.
Sincerely,
Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice |
