Pat Elder, left, and Marguerite Adelman, right, are working on extending the PFAS and the Military Project to New England states.
By Marguerite Adelman
WILPF Burlington and Earth Democracy Committee
July 2020
WILPF members Pat Elder and Marguerite Adelman are working on a continuation of the California PFAS and the military tour from spring 2020. The new project will be focused on New England PFAS and will look at contamination at military sites in Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire.
For a fuller picture of the many ways the military has polluted the environment and threatened public health, read an impressive series of ProPublica articles by Abrahm Lustgarten and other reporters on the topic: Bombs in Our Backyard: Investigating One of America’s Greatest Polluters. You can also find an explanation of the initial project in California and why it is important under the subhead “WILPF asks – What’s in Our Drinking Water? Why This Public Health Crisis?” at the Earth Democracy page.
The project would take place in the spring. summer, or fall of 2021, depending on when we’ve raised sufficient funding through grants. We have started to convene teams for each state to help us set up community forums and programs on PFAS near military sites. And already Pat Elder has begun work on separate websites for bases and contamination in these four states (see militarypoisons.org). We realize that each state will need a slightly different focus for the advocacy and actions that we are hoping will take place.
Above: Firefighters at Peterson Air Force Base conduct live training with AFFF. Photo by Michael Golembesky / US Air Force.
We know from initial Zoom calls with PFAS and peace activists in each state that we have interest and commitment. We are hoping to get more WILPF members involved in each state. You don’t need to belong to a branch to become a part of one of these state teams.
If you are interested, we’d be happy to share with you a state information sheet/plan, a wish list of possible PFAS legislation, and an initial project budget (currently estimated at $75,000 for this four-state project). We hope to begin sending out grant proposals soon in order to start securing the necessary funding.
If you would like us to send you the materials or if you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact Pat or me via email or phone:
Marguerite at 518-561-3939; madel51353@aol.com
Pat Elder at 301-997-3963; pat.elder@civilianexposure.org
