Funding must be restored for cleanup

Published 9:00 pm Friday, April 16, 2004

We are proud of the state Senate for having restored, in these financially difficult times, the funding in the amount of $325,000 to the Department of Ecology’s program to eliminate persistent toxic chemicals from the environment. However, we are distressed to hear that, due to relentless pressure from the pulp and paper industry, they did not include money for monitoring mercury in fish. (Many pulp mills, including our own Kimberly Clark, dump toxic chemicals such as dioxin and mercury into Puget Sound. Recently the Department of Ecology renewed Kimberly Clark’s permit for another six years, without requiring them to put into effect more stringent procedures to clean up their output.)

Without monitoring the level of mercury in fish, it is not possible to assess whether it is safe for humans to consume local fish, and whether the Department of Ecology’s programs to eliminate this deadly toxin (which can cause retardation, nerve damage and birth defects) are successful. We call upon the Senate to restore this funding and for the pulp industry to put their neighbors’ health first.

Everett