Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

March 22, 2015

Media Advisory: Call for Stronger Oil Spill Response

                                                                                                                                                                  
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MEDIA ADVISORY
You Are Invited to Participate in a Webinar

~ A Call for Stronger Oil Spill Response ~

For Immediate Release                                                                             
Contact:  Jeanie C. Williams

Everywhere, USA, March 19, 2015. An opportunity for environmental justice is here! The EPA is taking public comment on its proposed new rules governing the use of dispersants and other chemical and biological products on oil spills in US waters until April 22. The proposed rules have ramifications for spills in fresh water, in the Arctic, and deep offshore. Learn from the experts—the people who live with the consequences of the EPA’s decisions. Panelists include Lyman Welch, with Alliance for the Great Lakes; Emily Harris, MPH, survivor of the Exxon Pegasus tar sands spill in Mayflower, Arkansas; Michelle BarlondSmith, survivor of the Enbridge tar sands spill in Battle Creek, Michigan; JJ Smith, with Earthjustice; Nikos Pastos, with the Alaska Inter-Tribal Coalition; Steve Rothchild, with the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council; and ALERT director Riki Ott, an Exxon Valdez oil spill survivor. Panelists will share concerns, successes with citizens’ oversight, and 10 key recommendations for the EPA rulemaking.

There will be ample opportunities for media to ask questions.
When:  Tuesday, March 24, 2015 ~ 11:00 am–12:30 pm MDT

One hundred percent of oil spill contingency plans are obsolete for conventional oil and gas—or completely irrelevant for unconventional oil and gas. We have the power to strengthen oil spill response in order to protect ourselves, our families, our homes, and all the things we love. This is our chance to act to minimize harm from oil spills in our communities. Let’s make the most of it because we are all human, and will share the same fate when exposed to toxic petrochemicals.
—Riki Ott, PhD


No one told the children!

June 2010. Pensacola Beach, Florida. Beach workers told Riki Ott, PhD that they were instructed not to go into the water because it was “contaminated.” They even taped their boots to their pants to avoid exposure. No one told the children, and beaches across the Gulf Coast remained open to visitors.

For further information about this Webinar, please visit https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/357488978845519874

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