PBC Environmental Coalition Supports the Prison Ecology Project... You should too!

Earlier this month a Lake Worth-based organization, the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC), submitted a public comment to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that provides input on the agency’s EJ 2020 Action Agenda Framework, highlighting the lack of consideration for environmental justice among the millions of prisoners in the United States. The comment was co-signed by the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition, along with 92 other social justice, environmental and prisoners’ rights organizations from across the country.

HRDC has also announced the beginning of its Prison Ecology Project, an effort to organize at the intersection of mass incarceration and environmental pollution, and has launched a fundraising campaign to build off the recent EJ 2020 comment and fight against a new federal prison on endangered species habitat in southern Appalachia.


Please share this video with your local activists and social media networks

“It’s encouraging to see the EPA attempting to increase the effectiveness of protecting vulnerable communities that have been overburdened by industrial pollution, but a significant component is missing when impacts on millions of prisoners and their families are ignored,” said Panagioti Tsolkas, coordinator of HRDC’s Prison Ecology Project.

HRDC’s comment elaborates on examples nationwide which illustrate a clear need to protect prisoners as a population that faces extreme environmental justice impacts. For example, prisons and jails built on or near landfills, toxic waste dumps, Superfund cleanup sites and coal mining sites, or that are vulnerable to natural disasters such as flooding and environmental hazards like contaminated water. The comment filed with the EPA can be found online here.

According to the comment submitted by HRDC, there is overwhelming evidence that the population of people in prison represents one of the most vulnerable and uniquely-overburdened demographics in our nation.

The Fight for Briger Forest Continues, Opponents Site Biolab Hazardous Waste as the Next Battleground

Heavily-Redacted Documents from Scripps Biotech Give Local Residents Cause for Alarm in New Construction Plan

Palm Beach Gardens, FL – Yesterday, the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition (PBCEC) filed an amended challenge to the South Florida Water Management District’s (SFWMD) first proposed construction permit intended specifically for the biotech facility on the Briger forest.

While a portion of the Briger has been under construction since November of last year, the development was limited to roads and clearing for the Alton residential area. This permit modification challenged by PBCEC is explicitly aimed at constructing in an 8-acre area for a road called Pasteur Boulevard which would be the access way for Scripps Phase II, a biotech laboratory facility handling high-level hazardous materials.

A recent series of reports by USA Today exposed heavily redacted documents regarding the materials used by Scripps Biotech’s existing Florida facility. PBCEC activists say they found this very troubling.

“They don’t want us to know what they’ll be handling, disposing, and transporting in our community. It’s a big red flag for those of us who live in the area, and anyone who uses the Intracoastal for recreation,” said Sandra Quirk, a resident of Palm Beach Gardens who joined PBCEC in asking for an Administrative Hearing on the issue. Over 200 other residents across the county also signed the initial PBCEC petition to SFWMD on the Pasteur Blvd permit.

Bird Walk and Next PBCEC Meeting

Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition invites you to our...

Bird & Nature Walk at Frenchman’s Forest Natural Area

All Welcome - Especially Children and Families
Saturday June 6th at 8 a.m.

Make sure to bring:
• water
• walking shoes
• a hat
• binoculars if you have them!
We will bring natural bug spray and snacks

Meet at Frenchman’s Forest 12201 Prosperity Farms Road, Palm Beach Gardens
Questions? Call 561-503-5743

Join the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition (PBCEC) in the fight to save the Briger Forest

The next PBCEC meeting is June 3rd, 2015

Its not too late to save the remaining 500 acres of the Briger Forest’s endangered species habitat from destruction.

When: 6:30 p.m. on the first Wednesday of the month
Where: the Gardens Branch Library,
11303 Campus Drive PBG, FL.

Text “BRIGER” TO 84576 to get notice of important upcoming meetings and public hearings at City Hall and the South Florida Water Management District.

You Can Take Action Today!

Call the Mayor and tell him to preserve the Briger Tract (located off Donald Ross and 95) as an educational resource for our children.

Mayor Eric Jablin (561) 799-4102 ejablin@pbgfl.com

Protest Against Private Prisons Tomorrow: GEO Group’s Gulags Grasping for Green Approval

Come out to the GEO Group Shareholders meeting protest in Boca Raton and bring an environmental message about the private prison industry's greenwashing. See below for some ideas.

From the EF! Newswire
 

All the LEED certifications in the world can’t cover up the constant flow of atrocities associated with prisons-for-profit, but that’s not going to stop them from trying.

Last month GEO Group garnered attention from the Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC) #GreenwashingTheGulags campaign for announcing that they had taken advantage of a publically-funded grant program to promote water conservation by installing a native landscape plan at the Desert View Modified Community Correctional which they run in drought-stricken Adelanto, California. Of course, the labor for the project was completed by prisoners, and now, where there was once just some dirt, there are well-arranged rocks. The landscape even includes rocks that were painted blue to spell out “GEO.”


Despite the new rocks, GEO still draws over 140,000 gallons every day to operate that 700-person facility alone. Never mind the nearby 1,300-bed Adelanto Detention Facility they also operate to house immigrant prisoners.

You can do the water math yourself, it’s not too complicated. The average prisoner requires about 200 gallons of water per day (well, a recent Environmental Impact Statement for a proposed federal prison actually put it at 214 gallons, but I’m trying to keep the calculations simple here.)
That’s more than double the average that someone uses outside of a prison, according to the scientists of the U.S. Geological Survey who says that a person uses about 80-100 gallons of water per day in their home.

Sat April 4th 8:00AM: BIRD WALK IN FRENCHMAN'S FOREST

Sat April 4th  8:00AM: BIRD WALK IN FRENCHMAN'S FOREST

12201 Prosperity Farms Road, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410, USA

8:00AM Saturday, April 11^th 12201 Prosperity Farms Rd., Palm Beach Gardens 33410

On the morning of April 11^th, Everglades Earth First! Will be leading a bird walk to highlight the biodiversity or Souther Florida and the destruction of the Briger Forest, which shares much of its ecology with Frenchman's Park.

Bring walking shoes, a hat, and binoculars, if you have them! There are 114 documented species of birds in the park. Questions: comtact Ruddy at (707) 902-3262(707) 902-3262 or evergladesearthfirst@riseup.net

You can visit our website at scrapscripps.info for more info on the campaign.

Suggested donation $5-10. Wheelchair accessible

 

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