Group’s bills target toxins Alliance plans legislative push

AUGUSTA – Doctors, labor organizers, scientists and activists have come together to form Maine’s first permanent coalition for preventing exposure to toxic chemicals.

Eight environmental and public health groups joined together in Augusta Thursday morning to announce the creation of the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine.

Never has Maine seen cooperation between environmentalists and health organizations on this scale, said Michael Belliveau, executive director of the Environmental Health Strategy Center in Bangor.

“Somebody is releasing these chemicals into our air, our water, our homes and our workplaces,” he said.

Saskia Bopp, executive director for the Maine Public Health Association, called the group a vision of how “environmental knowledge and public health concerns can merge into a powerful force for change.”

This legislative session, the group will promote three bills, all aimed at reducing the presence of toxic materials in the environment.

“One thing we know for sure : If you can prevent pollution in the first place, you won’t have to clean it up later,” said Brownie Carson, executive director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine.

The first bill, sponsored by Sen. John Martin, D-Eagle Lake, would continue efforts to remove mercury from the marketplace. Mercury thermometers were addressed last session. This bill would phase out the sale of other common devices, such as barometers, blood pressure monitors and many types of switches.

The second, sponsored by Rep. Scott Cowger, D-Hallowell, would address arsenic, a carcinogenic substance that is used to create pressure-treated lumber, a common material in the construction of decks and children’s playground equipment. Both the sale and disposal of such lumber would be restricted.

“They’ve found that simply wiping your hand across the surface of the wood can release the arsenic,” Belliveau said.

Cowger’s bill also addresses arsenic in Maine’s groundwater, some of which is naturally occurring and some which comes from the use of pesticides. The bill would require that the presence of arsenic, either in wood or in groundwater, must be disclosed to home buyers and renters. Similar disclosure rules already exist for lead paint and radon.

Finally, the alliance is supporting a bill that prescribes a combination of regulations and incentives to encourage the safe disposal of electronic waste, such as computers. These machines can contain a number of toxic chemicals, from heavy metals to PCB plastic, which releases dioxin when incinerated. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Judd Thompson, D-South China.

Founding alliance organizations, with a combined membership of more than 25,000, are the Toxics Action Center, Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Natural Resources Council of Maine, the Maine Public Health Association, the Maine People’s Alliance, the Maine Labor Group on Health, the Learning Disabilities Association of Maine and the Environmental Health Strategy Center.