Barb Wilkie's EHN Website
Last updated 2008

• Justice For All - jfa@jfanow.org

  Pat Wright: Republicans' ADA "Celebration"

  Marilyn Golden, mgolden@wli.net, writes:

  This is an urgent alert from Pat Wright, DREDF's Director of Governmental Affairs, about a significant potential crisis relating to amending the ADA. Please put this out on all e-mail lists and notify your own Congress members, the specific members listed, and all other advocates.

   

  From: PATAWRIGHT@cs.com

  Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 21:45:06 EDT

  Subject: Republican ADA Celebration Scheduled

  To: AAPD@aol.com

  HOUSE REPUBLICANS PREPARING FOR THEIR OWN SURPRISE ADA CELEBRATION

  What: By passing an amendment to the ADA

   

  When: Sometime SOON when we are not watching

  Where: House Floor

  How: BY Putting HR 3590 " ADA Notification Act" on the Suspension Calendar in the dead of night

  Action: TELL THEM NO Suspension, WE OPPOSE HR 3590

  [Want to find your representative? See EHN's Write Now!
  http://ehnca.org/www/ehnhompg/writenow.htm]

  Join us in letting the House of Representatives (DEMOCRATS and REPUBLICANS) know that they MUST NOT LET THIS HAPPEN! Let them know that if they vote for this bill WE WILL VOTE IN NOVEMBER! Email or call your Representative today and everyday to tell them not to be fooled by the "reasonableness" of this issue. It is nothing more that a political cover-up for stripping away the civil and legal rights of people with disabilities. Do not take away the rights or remedies given to people with disabilities under the ADA. Passing HR 3590 would return people with disabilities to second class citizenship by giving them a lesser legal standard than race or gender.

  SHAME What an ADA anniversary present from the Republican Leadership.
  SHAME
  SHAME SHAME!

  Please email or call your Representative and the following members of the House Leadership.
  Mr.Canady
  Mr Foley
  Mr Hyde
  Mr Hassert
  Mr Delay
  
  They will tell you that they know nothing about this. Do not be fooled they are trying to count their votes right now. They need 2/3 to bring it up on Suspension. Tell them when they see it to "JUST SAY NO."

   

  -- Marilyn Golden
  mgolden@wli.net
  Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund
  

   

• ADA and the state of California -- please get your letters into
  Governor Davis by May 10, 2000. Letters received after May 10 will still be helpful, so please don't let the fast approaching deadline deter you from writing to Gov. Davis.

  Contact information:
  Governor Gray Davis
  State Capitol Building
  Sacramento, CA 95814
  
  Phone (916) 445-2841
  Fax (916) 445-4633
  
  graydavis@governor.ca.gov
  
  The state requests: "To help us keep track of correspondence and to ensure
  that we are able to respond to California residents, please be sure to include your
  name and address when you communicate with the Governor's Office."
  
  
  Guy B. Wallace of the Legal Aid Society writes:
  
  April 27, 2000

  Dear Colleagues:

  As you may know, the state of California has decided to challenge the constitutionality of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) in the U.S. Supreme Court. The state of California has requested that the Supreme Court declare the ADA unconstitutional as applied to the state government as well as its departments and agencies. I am contacting you to enlist the support of your organization and its members in a letter writing campaign to encourage Governor Davis to withdraw this challenge, and instead show California's support for equality for persons with disabilities by submitting an amicus curiae brief in support of the ADA. [Emphasis added.]

  The Supreme Court has already agreed to address the issue of the constitutionality of the ADA as applied to the states this summer in a case brought to the Court by the state of Alabama. It is certain that the Court will rule on this issue in its fall term.

  It is hardly an exaggeration to say that the stakes could not be higher for our community. The ADA ensures that persons with disabilities have access to the many basic programs and services provided by the California State government, and prohibits state and local agencies from discriminating against persons with disabilities. Among many others, the following rights may be lost if the ADA is declared unconstitutional as applied to the states:
  

  ß The right to accessible state agency offices, including local offices that provide unemployment compensation and other subsistence benefits to persons with disabilities

  ß The right to auxiliary aids and services such as interpreters when using offices or programs that are operated by State or local government agencies, including the Department of Social Services

  ß The federal right to equal employment opportunity with state employers, including the right to be free from discrimination in hiring, promotions and firing

  ß The federal right to reasonable accommodations from State employers, including modified work schedule, accessible work sites, and leaves of absence

  ß The right to an accessible local city hall or town hall

  ß The right to reasonable accommodations while using the programs and services provided at or through the local city hall or town hall

  ß The right to accessible state courts, including the superior courts that are located in each county

  ß The right to reasonable accommodations such as large print or interpreters while using the state courts

  ß The right to accessible public schools

  ß The right to be free from discrimination in the determination of parental custody

  ß The right to accessible housing provided by the state or its agencies

  ß The right to accessible transportation services such as Bay Area Rapid Transit

  ß The right to access to programs such as disability insurance, MediCal, and vocational rehabilitation, as well as the right to receive reasonable accommodations while participating in such programs

  ß The right to access to state medical facilities such as hospitals, and the right to receive reasonable accommodations while using such facilities

  ß The right to access to higher education programs such as those provided at or through the California State University system, the community college system, and the University of California system

  ß The right to access to the California state parks, museums and libraries

  In short, if the Supreme Court declares that the ADA is unconstitutional as applied to the states, many of the important gains that have been achieved during the past ten years would be lost. It would be lawful for State agencies to exclude persons with disabilities from their programs, or to provide us with unequal and discriminatory services.

  This is a matter of great importance to the disability community and I urge you to join the effort to persuade Governor Davis to withdraw California's challenge to the constitutionality of the ADA. Enclosed you will find two form letters to Governor Davis, one from a person with a disability and one from a non-disabled person. We encourage you to use these as samples or to copy and circulate them to your members or clients to sign and send to the Governor. Of course, if your members wish to draft a personalized letter in which they describe why the rights provided by the ADA are so important to peoples with disabilities, they are free to do so.

   

  Unfortunately, because the Supreme Court only very recently agreed to hear the issue of whether Title II is unconstitutional, we have a very tight timeline for getting Governor Davis' support. For this reason, I must ask that the letter writing campaign begin immediately. Our goal is that at least 1,000 letters, messages or other communications reach the Governor's office by May 10, 2000. This gives us approximately two weeks. Of course, letters sent after May 10 will also be helpful, but the sooner we have the Governor's support the better because of the tight timeliness that have been established by the Supreme Court.

  The Americans with Disabilities Act showed a national commitment to the goal of equality for people with disabilities. We must demand that California make that commitment too. Thank you for joining us in this important effort.

  Please do not hesitate to call my assistant, Sara Tropea, or myself at the Legal Aid Society if you have any questions or concerns. We can be reached at 415/ 864-8848 (voice) or 415/ 864-3273 (TDD). My e-mail is gwallace@employmentlawcenter.org .

  Very truly yours,

  Guy B. Wallace
  

Get your letters, comments into the Access Board by May 15, 2000.
(A 60-day extension was granted)
Let the board know that the air is part of any building or transit conveyance and that you
want clean air! FRAGRANCE and PESTICIDE-FREE air. That as the current standards
read, your paths of travel are jeopardized, putting you in harm's way and denying you
equal access under the law.
http://www.access-board.gov/

To make your comments known, please contact the Access Board via email at enforce@access-board.gov,
or via fax 202-272-5447 or via mail to: Access Board, 1331 F St., NW, Suite 1000, Washington, D.C. 20004-1111

To view some of the letters/comments to the Access Board from individuals
living with MCS, please visit
http://ehnca.org/www/actnletr/acletin.htm

Access Board Meetings
http://www.access-board.gov/about/meetings.htm
• Public Meetings were held . . .
  
  
  1. January 31, 2000, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Los Angeles, CA
  Los Angeles Airport Marriott, 5855 West Century Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90045.
  
  2. March 13, 2000, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Arlington, VA
  Arlington - Sheraton Crystal City, 1800 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA 22202.
  
  
  

CPSC has not included deodorizers, air "fresheners," cleaning products, or fabric
softeners, so write to CPSC about them. As Julia Kendall had informed us: "Emphasize
central nervous system disorder symptoms. Allergic symptoms are not given
priority in Commission investigations." -- barb
http://www.cpsc.gov/talk.html

Consumer Product Incident Report
https://www.cpsc.gov/incident.html

OR -- You can also report an incident or unsafe product by calling toll-free at 1-800-638-2772.

Note from barb: Air fresheners -- what a misnomer that is! -- are harmful,
agrees, Edell. So when will he come to realize that perfumes and colognes are also
harmful? Harmful secondhand, just like air fresheners. They contain toxic chemicals, just
like air fresheners. Unlike air fresherners some people put these toxic chemicals
right on their skin as personal care fragrance products, which allows them to go into the
blood system to adipose (fatty) tissue and target organs. Of course, you can
accomplish much the same by inhaling air "fresheners"

As one encounters Multitudinous Chemical Substances, one suffers Many Chronic Symptoms.
Mainstream doctors treat with drugs, which of course are adding even More Chemical
Substances to the body. Hence, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity is not difficult
to fathom.

And now we read from Edell that we don't have MCS. As he tells it: "You've
just been mislabeled. You have diseases that we can treat pretty effectively, and you've
let someone label you with a disease that you don't have. I urge you to run from
people like that."

Edell goes on to state: "It's not that you're a hypochondriac. It's a confusing conglomerate
of malaise that we call somatization. It's related to phobias."

If you, like me, had SOMETHING long before anyone could put a name to it and give
you a clue as to what was going on with your body, write to Dean Edell and the
station in your area that carries his outmoded opinion on MCS. They are likely
to view that as increase ratings, but maybe if he hears often enough, he may learn --
especially now that there is information readily available about the toxic chemicals in
fragrance products -- personal care, as well as those for cleaning and maintenance.
(See EHN petitions the FDA to declare Eternity "misbranded" at:
http://ehnca.org/www/FDApetition/bkgrinfo.htm

For more of the Dean Edell statements adversely affecting those living with MCS, please
see EHN's "Stuff Happens!" at
http://ehnca.org/www/ehnhompg/stufhaps.htm#Dean

• Consumers Union's comments to the EPA
  (10 pages, PDF)
  http://www.ecologic-ipm.com/chlorpyrifos_comments.pdf
  
  
• The Food Quality Protection Act Discussion Group
  http://ace.orst.edu/info/nptn/fqpalist/fqpalist.htm
  
  
• Pesticide Manufacturer, Formulator, Producer, and Registrant Company Information
  "Pesticide manufacturers, formulators, producers, and registrants can provide you with valuable information about their pesticide products. You should contact the pesticide company if you need information regarding the following:
  
  -   Cleanup procedures for small spills
  -   Inert ingredients
  -   Shelf life of a product
  -   Product labels
  -   Material Safety Data Sheets
  http://ace.orst.edu/info/nptn/manuf.htm

Deadline: March 31, 2000

Escalante House, a nonprofit, non-religious organization, proposes
to build a housing community for people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.
The community will be virtually surrounded by the 1.7 million-acre Grand
Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah at nearly 6,000 feet
elevation. Individuals may build private, EI-safe homes on the property
(a total of 325 acres). In addition, we hope to build a central complex to
house apartments, a dining hall, a medical clinic, a meeting room, and
staff offices. Camping will be an option in summer and fall.

Two of our project directors have MCS. We have received a $20,000
start-up grant. We are now conducting a survey to see if there is
sufficient interest to warrant developing the community. Our questionnaire
asks potential applicants what type of housing and services they need, and
whether they need financial aid. If you would like to participate in our
survey, or need more information, please contact us as soon as possible.

Deadline: March 31, 2000.

Escalante House
P.O. Box 652
Escalante UT 84726
Phone/Fax: (435) 826-4778
E-mail: toripat@color-country.net

• Problem Reporting - including emergency and non-emergency reports
  http://www.fda.gov/opacom/backgrounders/problem.html

   

• Eternity by Calvin Klein: EHN petitions the FDA to have Eternity declared "misbranded" http://ehnca.org/www/FDApetition/bkgrinfo.htm
  
  
  • David Lawrence Dewey author/syndicated columnist
    
    • So You Smell Good Using Perfumes and Colognes
      However... You Could Be Giving Yourself Cancer and God Knows What Else! 7-24-99
      http://www.dldewey.com/chealth.htm
      
      
    • Also visit:Hydrogenated Oils-Silent Killers
      http://www.dldewey.com/hydroil.htm
      
      
  
  
  
• If your health is adversely affected by fragrance products
  used by you -- or others -- PLEASE inform:
  
  Mr. Lark Lambert (LZL@cfsan.fda.gov)
  HFS FDA
  Office of Cosmetics and Colors
  Cosmetic Adverse Reaction Monitoring Program
  200 C St. SW
  Washington, DC 20204
  or phone or fax to:
  
  ph: 202/205-4706
  fax: 202/205-5098
  
  AND
  
  Charles Haynes (CRH@cfsan.fda.gov)
  CFSAN
  HFS-105,
  200 C Street, S.W.
  Washington, DC 20204
  
  or phone or fax to:
  phone: 202-205-4061
  fax: 202-205-5098
  
  And contact your local FDA office, per the FDA's instruction.

  There is no deadline to this project. Just please take the time to click on the email addresses of Mr. Lambert and Mr. Haynes and tell him about the fragrance products you are adversely affected by. Name products if you know them. Tell him about your reactions. This MUST be a group effort to be effective. -- barb

  From FDA's site: "Consumers experiencing an adverse reaction from a cosmetic should call their nearest FDA office (listed under the US Government section in the white pages) or call our Cosmetic Adverse Reaction Monitor (CARM) coordinator at 202-205-4706. "
  
  

Contact info for:
CA (Northern), NV, HI
1431 Harbor Bay Parkway
Alameda, CA 94502
(510) 337-6700


• Stay on top of FDA happenings!
  http://www.fda.gov/opacom/hpnews.html

http://www.nara.gov/fedreg/


• Federal Register Daily Table of Contents
  http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPAFR-CONTENTS/

• STOP Big Brother
  http://www.StopBigBrother.org/
  
  

http://www.envirotrust.com/


• INDUSTRY-SPONSORED GROUP THAT SUPPORTS THE USE OF DDT WOULD
  ALLOW QUESTIONABLE CHEMICAL BACK IN U.S. TOYS
  http://data.envirotrust.com/envirotrust/pressrelease/pressarchive.qry?function=detail&tbl_pressrelease_uid1=111

"Please take 30 seconds from your day to send
a free e-postcard for the forests. Go to the web site
http://www.OurForests.org

"Heritage forests provide us with:

• Hiking, Camping and Fishing;
  
• Homes for Grizzly Bears & Bald Eagles;
  
• Clean Drinking Water;
  
• Most importantly, our forests are a priceless
  legacy we must protect for future generations.


"But our National Forest roadless areas are
threatened by logging, mining, and other
destructive activities.

"The Clinton-Gore Administration is deciding
RIGHT NOW whether or not to allow logging and
mining to continue in America's last
unprotected wild forests."

Letters supporting study of Iso E Super


• Betty Bridges, RN
  bb

   

• James Coleman, PhD
  jc

   

• Barbara Wilkie bw

   

California's Healthy Schools bill
Passed the Assembly and is headed to the Senate. (Link to come when I find it or think of it again... barb)

 

• "IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
  May 24, 1999
  "Mrs. Boxer [D, CA] (for herself and Mr. Lautenberg [D, NJ]) introduced the following
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment
  and Public Works"
  http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/useftp.cgi?IPaddress=162.140.64.21&filename=s1112is.txt&directory=/diskb/wais/data/106_cong_bills

Progress in Medicine Foundation

		Latest info to help Dr. Sinaiko Progress in Medicine Foundation (AKA: The Medical Defense Fund) http://www.treatmentchoice.com   Also visit EHN's page on Dr. Sinaiko for more information (http://ehnca.org/www/ehnhompg/sinaiko.htm
The CMA (Calif. Medical Association -- the good guys!) asks you to support Senate Bill 1045 (http://www.treatmentchoice.com/cma_concerns.html), which will help Dr. Robert Sinaiko. Continue sending your letters supporting SB 1045 (http://www.treatmentchoice.com/cma_concerns.html) to the senators listed at: http://ehnca.org/www/ehnhompg/sinaiko.htm Medical Board of California (Not the good guys!) http://www.medbd.ca.gov/ Union of American Physicians and Dentists http://www.treatmentchoice.com/uapd.html UAPD's home page http://www.uapd.com/ Dr. Sinaiko still needs our help! Keep those letters coming. E-mail addresses: http://www.legalfund.org/mailing.html#email Mailing addresses: http://www.legalfund.org/mailing.html#mail Get a beautiful ceramic orange Ribbon Lapel Pin http://www.legalfund.org/ribbonlinks.html#lapel

Scheduled for May 22, 1999
brought to you by The Olfactory Research Fund, Ltd.
http://www.olfactory.org/html/newsupd.html#Sense

http://Sustainable.Advocate.net/TownHall/agenda.html

• Consumer's Right to Know about Genetic engineering from Mothers for Natural Law
  "Consumer Right to Know—on to Washington in ’99 Campaign:"
  
  Sign the petition (http://www.safe-food.org/-campaign/petition.html) for
  mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods on the Mothers for Natural Law
  (http://www.safe-food.org/) website.

   

• EPA and Get the Lead Out
  has moved to: http://ehnca.org/www/#EPA

   

• EPA: Right to Know -- Public Comment 
  On January 5, 1999, the EPA issued a proposed rule to lower the
  reporting thresholds and to add certain persistent bioaccumulative
  toxic chemicals to the Toxics Release Inventory. This proposed
  action will potentially increase reporting about the public's
  Chemical Right-to-Know by 25 percent.
  
  In response to several requests, the EPA is extending the comment
  period on this proposed rule by 30 days. The EPA has determined
  that extending the comment period is appropriate and that it will
  not cause a significant delay in the evaluation of the proposed
  rule. The comment period was scheduled to close on March 8, 1999;
  it will now close on April 7, 1999. Written comments must be received by the EPA on or before April 7, 1999.
  
  Comments may be submitted by mail, electronically,
  or in person. For further information contact
  Daniel R. Bushman
  Petitions Coordinator
  202-260-3882
  e-mail: bushman.daniel@epamail.epa.gov.
  For specific information on the proposed rule or for
  more information Community Right-to-Know, contact the
  Environmental Protection Agency
  Mail Code 5101
  401 M St., SW.
  Washington, DC 20460.
  
  You may also call toll free: 1-800-535-0202
  and in Virginia and Alaska call: 703-412-9877 or
  call toll free TDD: 1-800-553-7672.
  
  Electronic copies of this document and the January 5, 1999,
  proposed rule can be obtained from the EPA Internet Home Page at
  http://www.epa.gov/. On the Home Page select "Laws and Regulations" and then look up the entry for this document under the "Federal Register - Environmental Documents." You can also go directly to the "Federal Register" listings at: http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/.
  
  
• EMR (ElectroMagnetic Radiation) -- email:Info@EMRNetwork.org
  Conference, All day 9-4, Saturday April 10, 1999 at Westminsiter Church in Tiburon.
  http://www.emrnetwork.org/
  
  
• Write by May 18, 1999!
  FDA: Irradiation in the Production, Processing, and Handling of Food
  
  http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/98fr/021799a.txt
  
  FDA Wants to Eliminate Labeling of Irradiated Foods
  from Pure Food Campaign
  http://www.purefood.org/irradlink.html
  
  http://www.purefood.org/Irrad/fdacomment.cfm
  
  Send email comment to keep Irradiation food label (prewriten letter, which you
  may edit to include your views -- FOLKS, this can't be made any easier for you to get
  involved!)
  http://www.purefood.org/Irrad/irradform.htm

   

• The Interagency Workgourp's MCS Report has moved
  http://ehnca.org/www/atsdr/atsdrmcs.htm

   

• Organic Watch Action Alert
  This link has been moved to:
  http://ehnca.org/www/ehnlinx/o.htm

  
  

  ---