Earth Democracy Joins Rally at the EPA on September 20th

by Nancy Price
Co-chair, Earth Democracy Issue Committee

September 2022

Please plan now to join me and the many women, children, families, firefighters and supporters from near and far who come together on Tuesday, September 20 to rally in front of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Washington, DC. The organization S.A.F.E “Scientists, Activists, and Families for SAFE Environments is organizing the rally and spearheading a grassroots movement to hold the EPA accountable for environmental contamination.

S.A.F.E is a natural ally for WILPF. As stated on their website: “Most of us are women and we share similar, dreadful stories. We’ve organized ourselves as “Scientists, Activists, and Families for SAFE Environments” or simply ‘S.A.F.E.’ We are determined to return to Washington every year in greater numbers. We demand accountability for environmental contamination that has sickened our children, families, wildlife and the environment.”   

In early September, check back to www.safeprotestepa.org for more information and also check and learn more at SAFE Protest EPA facebook page.

The S.A.F.E organizers are pleased to have the support of the General President Edward Kelly of the International Association of Firefighters for this important protest and movement.

Join thousands of SAFE protestors outside the EPA headquarters. Meet at Freedom Plaza – 1301 Pennsylvania Avenue NW at 9:00 am (Archives Metro Station on the Green and Yellow Lines) and we will march to the EPA Headquarters at Federal Triangle. It’s only a little less than ½ mile or 8 minute walk.

This first annual event demands EPA accountability for environmental contamination that for decades has sickened our families, polluted our land, and poisoned sources of drinking water. The list of harmful chemicals is long and now includes the large family of PFAS “forever chemicals.”

Click on The Advocates to read the many heartbreaking stories of mothers whose children, husbands, and family members suffered cancers and other diseases. In many cases, these women have formed advocacy groups and went to work to document, advocate, educate and mobilize for action and accountability.

Most alarming, but not unexpected, is that even when local neighborhood cancer clusters were documented by these mothers, they received very little help or response from the agencies that should be protecting them and their communities. Some children have suffered through devastating rare cancers for their age group and repeated cancer operations, and tragically many children and adults succumbed to their disease.

Read stories at Sick School Across the Country about how biological agents, toxic poisons and nuclear radiation threaten our children in school.

As we know from the 2019 thriller Dark Waters, a film that tells the story of the corporation DuPont’s contamination of Parkersburg, West Virginia, they knew.

Over 60-70 years, chemical and manufacturing corporations, the FDA, EPA and the Department of Defense knew, and looked the other way. On September 20th, all eyes will be on the EPA.

Photos from https://www.safeprotestepa.org