Archived press release

Right to know law on toxic pollution

25 June 1997

Friends of the Earth today published proposals for a new law giving communities the right to know about toxic pollution released from factories [attached]. FOE's proposals pre-empt much weaker proposals - shamefully developed in secret between the Environment Agency and industry - which will be launched by the Agency on Wednesday [critique attached] [1].FOE is sending its proposals to Environment Minister Michael Meacher, who made pre-election promises to introduce comprehensive pollution inventories [2], asking him to tell the Agency to scrap their proposals in favour of FOE's tougher controls.

A recent FOE public opinion survey [3] found that 93 per cent of people are concerned about pollution from factories. The new law proposed by FOE would provide the public with much more information on polluting emissions and enable the publication of league tables highlighting the worst polluters, a move supported by 86 per cent of people.

A Community Right to Know Law, as proposed by FOE would:
. Force all factories currently regulated by local authorities and the Environment Agency to report on pollution to air, water and land.
. Introduce a list of chemicals on which factories would have to report releases.
. Crucially, give people the right to petition the Secretary of State to add further chemicals to the list.
. Force the Environment Agency to publish the information widely, enabling the production of league tables of the worst polluters.
. Lead to the reduction of pollution through public exposure of the polluting factories and public pressure to clean up, as is happening in the USA [4].

Mike Childs, Senior Pollution Campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said:
" Exposing industry to public scrutiny by giving communities the right to know about toxic pollution will lead to cleaner, greener factories and a healthier environment. We hope that the Government will honour its commitments on this issue and introduce a Community Right to Know Act. They must tell the Environment Agency that the proposals they have cooked up with industry are unacceptable. "

A recent FOE case study has revealed that in just one location - Avonmouth in Bristol -industry is producing thousands of tonnes of waste, much of it carcinogenic [5]. Recently two academic research papers that link air pollution and cancer have been published [6].

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] The Environment Agency are launching their proposals at a seminar at the Jarvis Grand Hotel in Leicester on Wednesday 25th June.

[2]Michael Meacher, now Minister for the Environment, said, in a speech to a SERA conference on the 25th January 1997, " Without free access to information, any talks of rights is meaningless. Local authorities will therefore be responsible for a comprehensive Local Pollution Inventory detailing emissions of pollutants into air, water and ground in their area. This will be closely modelled on Toxic Releases Inventory, which has operated successfully in USA since 1986."

[3] Opinion Poll carried out by Robertson Bell Associates for Friends of the Earth and RSPB and published on Friday 20th June. Robertson Bell Associated interviewed 2,847 interviews in 4 locations on May 1st.

[4] In the USA the Toxic Release Inventory, which requires industry to report on emissions of over 600 substances, led President Bill Clinton to say " ...since the Community Right to Know Act has been on the books, reported reductions in toxic emissions are about 43 per cent for the whole country. Now that's a law worth passing. No new bureaucracy; just power to the people through basic knowledge."

[5] Toxics in your Backyard, your Right to Know about industrial pollution - a case study at Avonmouth, Friends of the Earth, March 1997.

[6] Knox, E G; Gilman, E A; Hazard proximities of childhood cancers in Great Britain from 1953-80; Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 51, p151-159, 1997. Cislaghi,C; Nimis, P L; Lichens, air pollution and lung cancer; Nature, 387, p463-464, 1997.

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