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November 26, 1999 1) Mississippi Triples Alabama in Environmental Protection
Spending ******************************************************************** 1. Mississippi Triples Alabama in Environmental Protection Spending - In last week's November 19th edition of the Bama Environmental News (BEN), we reported on the Alabama Legislature's lack of funding for the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM). Over the past 10 years the agency has seen it's budget decreased approximately 20%. Remember, we only reported the contribution that was being made by the state of Alabama, not the federal government or fees and fines collected by ADEM. According to ADEM sources, here is a breakdown of ADEM's Fiscal Year (FY)1999 budget. Alabama's General Fund (Alabama's Contribution) - $ 4,285,502 Compare Alabama's contribution toward environmental protection
to our less affluent and smaller western neighbor - Mississippi.
According to written articles and sources from the Clarion Ledger
in Jackson, Mississippi, the Mississippi Department of Environmental
Quality (DEQ) increased it's 1999 general fund share from $13.5
million in FY 1999 to $17.4 million in FY 2000. Several years ago the DEQ's funding was curtailed to the point where federal officials had to temporarily assume certain water pollution enforcement duties. Since then, the agency has taken back their authority and the legislature has responded by steadily increasing their financial support. Will EPA takeover some of ADEM's programs because of lack of funding? Maybe that is the wakeup call needed to increase Alabama's environmental funding crisis. 2. Alabama State Legislature Passes Anti-Hog Factory Bill
- Imagine if someone proposed in your community a 4 barn
hog factory that would hold 4000 hogs, provide a new shipment
of pigs every 100 days, beefed them up to about 250 pounds, and
would create an acre sized 12 foot deep pond that would hold
and help process the estimated 1.5 million gallons of waste generated
a year. This week during the special session, Rep. John Robinson of Scottsboro, one of the few farmers in the Alabama legislature, along with Senator Lowell Barron of Fyffe navigated a local bill for Jackson County to help communities within the county protect their health, environment, quality of life, and property. The bill will provide a remedy for Jackson County citizens in reference to the nuisance of the odors, waste and pollution associated with large scale industrial hog farming. The bill was favored by local community groups and environmental organizations, and was opposed by the Alabama Farmers Federation Association (ALFA). To learn more about the hog proposals in Jackson County and the new local legislation visit Sand Mountain Concerned Citizen (SMCC) website at : http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/meadows/3222/ or call /e-mail AlaLeavs at 1-800 - ALA-LEAVS or joeturnham@aol.com 3. Homeless Shelter Fire Claims Life As Family Flees Lead
Poisoning Hazards - "On Thursday morning, November 18th, a fire in a Birmingham, AL. homeless shelter claimed the life of 19-month old Kewan Smalls. The tragedy and the pain of this child's death is compounded by the fact that Kewan's mother Latoya Smalls, had moved her four children into the shelter to protect them from lead poisoning. Smalls had vacated the home she had rented with a federal Section 8 housing assistance voucher because a health department inspector had identified serious hazards from peeling lead-based paint, among a host of other glaring deficiencies. Kewan had been diagnosed with low level lead poisoning; he was due for a follow up blood test at Birmingham's Children's Hospital today." Lynn Battle, Executive Director of Mothers Environmental Coalition of Alabama who had been helping the Smalls family navigate local health and housing agencies stated, "No family in America - no matter how poor, no matter what color - should have to choose between lead poisoning and a homeless shelter." Lead poisoning reduces children's intelligence and attention span, and causes learning difficulties and behavior problems. Most children are poisoned by lead hazards in their own homes, usually by ingesting toxic lead dust from lead-based paint that is deteriorated or disturbed. Children from low income families are at eight times greater risk to lead poisoning than children from upper income families. African American children are at five times higher risk than white children. If you would like to help the Smalls family and prevent this tragedy from ever happening again, please contact Lynn Battle at 205-254-8006 or e-mail desteny@bellsouth.net 4. LWCF Money Available For FY 2000 : Check Out Alabama's Share - For the first time in five years, Congress has appropriated Stateside monies for the Land Water and Conservation Fund (LWCF). This means there will be matching funds available for local and state governments to acquire and enhance parks, trails, nature preserves and recreational areas. Alabama's allocation from the stateside fund is approximately $663,830. This year's appropriation is an important step toward full and permanent funding of LWCF. Full funding of LWCF will provide $450 million in stateside funding, more than 10 times this year's allotment. For readers interested in seeing full and permanent funding of LWCF visit the Americans for Our Heritage website at : http://www.ahrinfo.org or contact Pat Byington at 205-226-7739. 5. Holiday Tip : How to Stop the Unwanted Holiday Catalog Rush - It is the day after Thanksgiving and you open your mailbox. Catalogs ... five ... six ... seven or more of them fill your box. It is a total waste. It may take a few months to see the results, but the best way to remove your home address from many catalog lists at once, is to register your name with the Direct Marketing Association's (DMA) Mail Preference Service (MPS). Send a written request, with your name as it appears on all catalog labels, to Direct Marketing Association, Mail Preference Service, P.O. Box 9008, Farmingdale, N.Y. 11735-9008. The MPS should remain in effect for 5 years, or until you place an order or request a catalog from a catalog company. For more information, call DMA at 212-768-7277. 6. Job Opening: Land Trust of Huntsville and North Alabama Marketing Position - This job announcement came to BEN from Jill Gardner, Director of the Land Trust of Huntsville and North Alabama. Marketing Coordinator Position open for Marketing Coordinator (part time - 32 hours/week) for a nonprofit environmental agency. Duties include marketing & special events and coordinating volunteers. Media experience required, desktop publishing helpful. Please send resume to : The land Trust of Huntsville and North Alabama, P.O. Box 43, Huntsville, Alabama 35804.
For more information on ecological footprints visit http://www.rprogress.org
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