SWU brings EJ demands to City Hall

As City Council prepares to vote on whether or not to allow more industrial contamination in East Side neighborhoods, community leaders gather in front of City Hall to advocate environmental justice and healthy communities. Members of the Southwest Workers Union, Youth Leadership Organization and Committee for Environmental Justice Action will be present to demand land use plans that do not situate polluting facilities near families, schools and playgrounds, but rather promote libraries, grocery stores and people-centered economic revitalization.

For decades the East Side has served as a dumping ground for industrial toxics, dangerous maintenance yards, petroleum infrastructure and truck stops. 60% of all city fuel storage tanks are located on the East Side releasing benzene, xylene and toulene into residential neighborhoods. Children suffer disproportionately from asthma, central nervous system disorders and respiratory problems. In order to take the lead to protect future generation, it is necessary to amend current zoning laws to move industry away from places of work, play, school and prayer in order to ensure clean air, water and soil in all communities. In spite of the best promises, our communities know that very little regulation or oversight occur, that even the best technologies fail and that it is always the residents who pay the price.

Redifuel Meeting Produces Termoil

Michelle Mondo
San Antonio Express-News Staff Writer
A raucous final public meeting to discuss a rezoning case involving two, million-gallon fuel tanks drew a crowd of about 150 people to Sam Houston High School on Jan. 23.

That crowd included some high school students who donned white T-shirts emblazoned with red letters that stated: "Stop Environmental Racism: No More Fuel Storage Tanks."

District 2 City Councilwoman Sheila McNeil scheduled the meeting to hear more opinions on the rezoning requested by Redifuel. City Council is scheduled to consider the change at Thursday's meeting. McNeil asked for a 30-day continuance at the council's Jan. 4 meeting.

Redifuel wants to build its corporate headquarters and two fuel-storage tanks on property on Corner Parkway along Loop 410 between the Interstate 35 and Interstate 10 corridors. The rezoning request is to change the property from Industrial 1 to Industrial 2, which would allow the construction of tanks.

The Zoning Commission approved the request in November.

Redifuel, a San Antonio-based company, currently is located on Binz-Engleman Road, tucked away among fuel giants such as ExxonMobil, Valero and Citgo, all owners of existing pipelines. It has fewer than 20 employees and provides emergency diesel fuel to generators at hospitals, dialysis centers and other facilities in the city.

The two-hour meeting began with a statement from McNeil and a presentation from Redifuel consultant Tommy Calvert Jr.

The outcry from the opposition at the meeting was simple — no more fuel storage tanks on the East Side. Individuals and groups expressed the opinion that it did not matter that Redifuel already has been on the East Side for three years or that they plan to build a "green" building.

"You can say it's going to be safe, but people make mistakes," said Wray Hood, president of the Coliseum/Willow Park Neighborhood Association.

James L. Grant, chairman of an East Side unit of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, said the East Side is tired of being seen as a location only good enough for industrial development.

"The East Side is tired of being dumped on," Grant said.

But it wasn't all bad for John Sheesley, owner of Redifuel, who also had supporters at the meeting, including T.C. Calvert, the president of the Neighborhoods First Alliance; a handful of Redifuel employees; and Ray Martin, the mayor of Kirby. Martin, who mentioned his 20 years in the fire service, always has voiced support for the project.

"A lot of people are wondering why I'm here," Martin said. "It's in the backyard of Kirby."

"So take them to Kirby," someone shouted, trying to heckle Martin.

"I would if I could," Martin replied.

He also asked people in the audience if they knew the current location of Redifuel and the location of the proposed 8-acre site where Sheesley hopes to build his corporate office and install the new tanks. People shook their heads.

"I bet some of you couldn't even drive to it," Martin said.

Sheesley and Redifuel supporters often have said that the opposition does not want to be educated on the topic and simply is opposing it because it has to do with fuel tanks. In previous meetings, Sheesley has explained that the red diesel fuel he transports is not as flammable as the gasoline and other fuels transported by the global conglomerates that surround his business.

As for the Redifuel office building, Calvert Jr. pointed out that the architects are designing a state-of-the-art building certified to meet the standards of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental DesignGreen Building Rating System, also known as LEED.

Sheesley's main point has been that the tanks also are state-of-the-art. The fuel would be encased in concrete, surrounded by 600,000 gallons of water and then by a 12-foot protective concrete wall, he said.

Victor Villarreal, president of the East Village Neighborhood Association, said his organization supports the project.

"We're close to the current location," he said. "They came and brought this to the people affected."

T.C. Calvert said he was pleased that Sheesley was willing to put a foam-dispensing fire truck on his property to deal with spills if they occur.

Still, vocal opposition came from individuals as well as two organized environmental groups — the Southwest Workers' Union, or SWU, and Residents Organized for a Safe Environment.

Jill Johnston environmental justice organizer for SWU, asked the council to rezone the East Side to completely get rid of industrial zones.

"The community has the right to decide," she said. "The pipelines don't have to mean more storage tanks."

David Arevalo, leader of Residents Organized for a Safe Environment, supplied the T-shirts and placards featuring the "Stop Environmental Racism" slogan.

Arevalo repeatedly has said that the East Side does not need any more tanks — no exceptions. When he spoke at the podium, several Sam Houston High School students, wearing the T-shirts, stood behind him waving the placards.

Two of those students, freshman Julius Holloway, 14, and junior Josh Lewis, 17, said later that they didn't want "explosives" near the school. When asked what they meant by explosives, they said gasoline. The boys admitted they did not know what Redifuel was, where the business is located now or where the new site would be. They did say they were told that the site was "right here at Sam Houston."

The proposed site is approximately four or five miles north of the high school.

At the end of the meeting, Rosa Wilsonan East Side resident, said she did not feel any questions were answered.

"I came here in order to get a clear understanding of the issue," she said. "This meeting was to answer questions. But I didn't get those answers. People were just belligerent."

In the end, the final decision will be made by McNeil and her City Council colleagues. If the rezoning request is denied, Sheesley must wait another year before reapplying. Redifuel's current location already is zoned to allow fuel-storage tanks. Sheesley has said if the company does not get the zoning change soon, he may have to put the new tanks at his current location.

African Struggles, Global Struggles

Social Movements Assembly at the World Social Forum
Nairobi, 24 January 2007

We, social movements from across Africa and across the world, have come together here in Nairobi at the 2007 World Social Forum to highlight and celebrate Africa and her social movements; Africa and her unbroken history
of struggle against foreign domination, colonialism and neo-colonialism; Africa and her contributions to humanity; Africa and her role in the quest for another world.

We are here to celebrate and reaffirm the spirit of the World Social Forum as a space of struggle and solidarity which is open to all people and social movements regardless of their ability to pay.

We denounce tendencies towards commercialisation, privatisation and militarisation of the WSF space. Hundreds of our sisters and brothers who welcomed us to Nairobi have been excluded because of high costs of
participation.

We are also deeply concerned about the presence of organisations working against the rights of women, marginalised people, and against sexual rights and diversity, in contradiction to the WSF Charter of Principles.

The social movements assembly has created a platform for Kenyans and other Africans from different backgrounds and communities to present their struggles, alternatives, cultures, talents and skills. It is also a space for civil society organisations and social movements to interact and share the issues and problems affecting them.

Since the first assembly in 2001, we have contributed to building and strengthening successful international networks of civil societies and social movements and reinforced our spirit of solidarity and our struggles against all forms of oppression and domination.

We recognise that the diversity of movements and popular initiatives against neo-liberalism, world hegemony of capitalism and imperial wars, is an expression of a world resistance.

We have now to move towards a phase of effective alternatives. Many local initiatives are already existing and should be expanded: what is happening in Latin America and other parts of the world -- thanks to the joint action of social movements -- shows the way to establish concrete alternatives to world capitalist domination.

As social movements from all five continents gathering in Nairobi, we express our solidarity with the social movements in Latin America whose persistent and continuing struggle has led to electoral victories for the Left in several countries.

ACTIONS

We are calling for a broad international mobilisation against the G8 in Rostock and Heiligendamm (Germany) 2-8 June 2007.

We will mobilise in our communities and movements for an International Day of Action in 2008.

Notes from Nairobi:

Habari,

The experience in Africa has been wonderful!

There are many accomplishments to report back. The most important is the local connections we have built in Kenya. The youth that we visited in Korogocho have continued to visit and participated throughout the WSF. Their work is very impressive and have been a motivation throughout our stay here.

At this WSF we have built strong relationships with the immigrants rights movement. We participated and presented on several panels and workshops related to migrants. Our presence in these spaces was felt and the reality of the US and the border were key.

During the Forum the folks from Korogocho protested the main food court that was owned by the former Minister of the Economy, owner of a country club and is personally responsible for many people being jailed. They were able to shut it down and eat a free meal. This was very important due to the presence of corporations at the WSF, like the cell phone company.

The days have been very long. A new addition to the Forum this year was the fourth day activities, organized by the Social Movements Assembly. The fouth day served as a space to develop common actions on each tematic area, finishing with a series of reports backs. This has been a great addition and a calendar of actions was developed.

During our time here we visited the United Nations Environmental Program on the impacts of military toxics. They are now moving a process to collect information form organizations and governments on military impacts around April of this year. This will culminate with a global conference on military pollution in 2008.

We have distributed thousands of pieces of information from SWU and the buttons were a great hit. Many of the days have been intense work.

We were also able to attend the International Council meeting of the WSF. There were over a hundred people participating and the participants shared great information on evaluation the WSF in Nairobi. The meeting is quiet long.

The experiences are numerous and the trip has been a great success. It has been very cool (poa sana) using and practicing swahili. People tend to be very surprised when they hear it.

Willie is on his way back and should be getting in today. I told him to swing by the staff meeting and share some of his experiences with you. I pretty tired and excited. I will traveling with Emery and a couple of friends to Tanzania today. We will go to Arusha which is at the base of mount kilimanjaro? and then down to Dar es Salam. It should be quiet an trip!

Genaro

San Antonio calls for End to War

reflections from the national day of action:

Over 50 people met in front of the Federal Building to rally against the War. Many of then were youth that were excited and full of energy. A few local news stations were there and Che gave a few soundbites.We began marching and the youth lead it. As we marched through downtown our drums and chants sounded strong and full. Although many people did have a few opposing words, many more supported us and some even joined. Even though the tempo of the march did get slower, that didn't keep us from forgetting why we were there. The march ended with a moment of silence and some words of peace at the Veterans Memorial. Then we all walked over to the Ruta Maya, relaxed and had a cup of coffee. Since we had the djembe drums and a guitar we decide to celebrate that all around the nation people were coming together for the same cause: to end the war.

picture from Austin Statesman

SWU in style at the MLK march

A crew of dedicated SWU leaders, marched with over 50,000 others on a freezing, stormy day for the MLK march.

"If you oppose toxic fuel storage tanks, you are stupid"

This was the message repeated again and again by Redifuel, a company proposing to build two more million gallon fuel storage tanks, to over 100 eastside residents gathered at a public hearing last night. Redifuel charged residents opposed to adding to the already existing 20 fuel storage tanks with 'willful ignorance.' 20 local youth demanding an end to environmental racism were called 'puppets' and told they shouldn't be there since they can't vote. However, the best quote of the night came from the Mayor of Kirby, Ray Martin, who claimed 'racism is a card you play when you're uneducated.'

The voice and power of the people was resoundingly clear. The spirited audience spoke for over an hour denouncing the use of the east side as a 'dumping ground,' recalling decades long struggles for justice and equality, citing abuses against the community and families and calling for protection of health and safety of this neighborhood. The community needs sidewalks, parks, libraries, hospitals and supermarkets, not toxic facilities that will continue to poison already sick residents.

Redifuel is requesting that its newly purchased land is changed from Industrial 1 zoning to Industrial 2, which would open even more land for building dangerous fuel storage tanks. This however requires approval from the San Antonio City Council. Redifuel employs only 16 people and has no jobs to offer, but has big dreams of expansion, meaning more fuel tanks for the east side. Fuel storage tanks are toxic, they leak and poisonous gas escapes through even concrete barriers. They cause asthma, respiratory disorders, nausea and central nervous system problems.

Southwest Workers Union applauds City Councilwomen Sheila McNeil for supporting community voices and opposing more fuel tanks.

Show your support for environmental justice, send letters to city council, see sample

News Coverage:
KSAT 12 - Fuel Tanks Expansion Plan Opposed by East Side Residents
Kens 5 - Neighbors United Against Redifuel

March for Peace: End the War

San Antonio supports the international day of action to end the war in Iraq & bring our troops home

Rally & Press Conference @ 10:30am

Federal Building 727 Durango

March begins 11:00 am

End Rally: Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Intersection of Jefferson & Martin

Karibu Kenya: SWU leaders at World Social Forum

Genaro Rendon and Willie Stamps are representing SWU at the 7th World Social Forum in Nairobi, Kenya as part of the Grassroots Global Justice delegation. They have been their a week now staying busy visiting communities, making presentations and networking with other organizations. Here are some of their impressions:

It is the early morning on the 3rd day of the WSF. We have the workshop on Military Toxics at 11:30am followed by a large panel on migration at 1:30pm that we are presenting on and finally the Border workshop at 5:30pm. A very full day!

Day 1 at the WSF was an opening marcha and ceremonies. Unfortunately we missed the march due to misinformation. The opening ceremonies were great with many great performers from around Africa.

Day 2 the first day of workshops was hectic. The programs were a hot item and barely got one late yesterday. I ran into many folks that we know from around the world. Many people sends hello's.

The site visit to Korogocho, the 2nd largest slum in Nairobi was very impacting. People live on less than a dollar a day. The population in over 200,000 people living in extreme conditions. Many youth groups have developed in this slum like developing their own schools, sports leagues, recycling programs and cultural activities. Own new friends in Korogocho were great, they have almost nothing, but their spirit and commitment to change is unbreakable. We were welcomed with open hearts and big smiles. This was quiet an experience.

We also visited the daughters of Mumbi in a community outside of Nairobi. The place was beautiful.

The drivers and streets are crazy! You have to be very careful in crossing the streets, plus the cars drive on the opposite side.

We are well and in good spirits.

Stop Polluting the Eastside

Open Letter to Members of City Council

Opposition to Permitting Eastside Fuel Storage Tanks

Southwest Workers Union calls on City Leaders and the community to protect the health and families of east side residents and uphold environmental justice. The proposal to build two new million gallon tanks for fuel furthering jeopardizes the health and safety of a community already burdened by toxic pipelines, fuel storage tank farms, diesel trucks, deadly Union Pacific tracks and numerous industrial sites.

Environmental Racism describes the reality that hazardous waste dumps, polluting industries and military installations are disproportionately sited in low-income and people of color communities. The cumulative effects of multiple sources of contamination in these neighborhoods continue to damage our environment and health. The east side residents not only suffers from the disproportionate citing of 60% of the fuel storage tanks in the City of San Antonio, but also is burdened by: 4 major 18 wheeler truck stops, CPS maintenance yard, SAWS maintenance yard, Industrial iron works centers, BFI solid waste dump, coal-burning power plant and Aztec ceramic tile facility.

The unfortunately reality across San Antonio and the state of Texas is that there are few regulations of fuel storage tanks despite the hazards they pose to community health. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that nearly one out of every four fuel storage tanks leak, releasing dangerous carcinogens like benzene, toluene and xylene into the water and soil, causing headaches, nausea, respiratory problems and various cancer. Toxic fumes from tank are associated with chronic respiratory problems. In the zip code 78219, the proposed Redifuel storage tank site area, there are already (according to industry reported EPA data) over 400,000 lbs per year of toxic stationary air emissions (not including releases from vehicles or trucks from the 3 nearby highways) and over 733,000 pound per year of waste managed chemicals. If these chemicals were colored, a huge opaque cloud would permeate through the eastside community.

Southwest Workers Union demands:

• City Council deny the re-zoning permit from the I1 to the I2 designation
• An Emergency Evacuation Plan & Emergency Notification System for the communities and schools to be designed and implemented immediately to insure the health and safety of our families.
• Public disclosure of hazardous waste and pollution at public meetings.
• Zoning laws that allow polluting industries to be located across the street from homes and schools need to be addressed and amended to protect the safety of the communities first.
• Strict enforcement of environmental standards and safety regulations
• Establish a fund to support community improvement projects and landscape areas adjacent to industrial sites
• Adopt the Principles of Environmental Justice

Toxins (and citizens) Falling Through the Cracks

from San Antonio Current -- a review of 2006
12/26/2006
by Gilbert Garcia

For residents of the Toxic Triangle, the Southside neighborhood surrounded by the former Kelly Air Force Base, 2006 brought some measure of vindication. For years, residents have contended that cancer rates in the area are abnormally high and can only be explained by the plume of toxins under their houses, caused by long-term secret dumping by Kelly employees.

The anecdotal evidence is highly persuasive, particularly if you drive along Hollenbeck Avenue and observe the sea of purple crosses in front of homes that have been touched by cancer. But this year, anecdotal evidence was supported by a National Research Council Report which found that Trichloroethene (TCE), an industrial solvent used at Kelly to clean equipment, is a dangerous carcinogen. Environmental activists hope that the study results will spur the Environmental Protection Agency, which has stalled in addressing TCE’s risks, to strengthen its TCE regulations.

The national activity on this issue, coupled with the fifth anniversary of Kelly’s closing, rallied local activists who’ve long been frustrated about the slow pace of the Air Force’s cleanup effort. In fact, they accurately contend that Kelly is simply containing the damage, not cleaning it up, in the hopes that natural attenuation will eventually solve the problem.

In July, the Southwest Workers Union organized a community march to the gates of Kelly; 2006 also brought some highly contentious public meetings between residents and Kelly employees.

Emotions ran equally high over the planned transformation of the old Big Tex Grain Co. site into a mixed-used residential and retail complex. In July, the EPA revealed that it found elevated levels of asbestos near Big Tex, and neighboring residents worried that construction work on the nearby Eagleland Hike-and-Bike trail could kick up dangerous amounts of contaminated soil. Work on the project continued, despite calls for further research along the trail.

District 5 Councilwoman Patti Radle spoke for many residents when she told the Current: “The EPA should have taken care of this a long time ago. For whatever reason, it just fell through the cracks.”