SPRING 2024 ISSUE Focus on Health and Environment MISSION Our food, water, and climate are under constant assault by corporations who put profit over the survival of humanity. They have seized control of the very institutions that were built to protect us. We mobilize people to reclaim their political power, hold our elected officials accountable, and resist corporate control — ensuring we all have the essential resources we need to thrive. This is a fight we must win because this planet is the only one we get.
Thank You For Fighting Like You Live Here!
PLASTIC POLLUTION HURTS PEOPLE AND PLANET. WHAT YOU CAN DO.
SPRING 2024 ISSUE New Shell Plant Brings Pollution and Plastic. You’re Fighting Back.
Lynne Azarchi Donates to Get More Planet- Protectors Involved
Plastic In Your Veggies?!
A MESSAGE FOR YOU Spring has sprung! For me, this season signals a fresh start, a chance to shake off stale feelings and move forward with renewed energy. Does it for you, too? This sense of renewal is so valuable because our fight for sustainable food, clean water, and a livable climate requires a heroic amount of stick-to-itiveness. ( Something you have shown time and again by never giving up on our planet. Thank you! ) Each legal and legislative victory we win together often comes after months — and even more often, years — of hard work and persistence. Each is a testament to your heroic stick-to-itiveness! And this is precisely the type of tenacity we need to tackle the plastic pollu- tion crisis. This issue of Livable Future NOW focuses on plastic. It harms people and our planet during its production, use, and disposal. It’s a wicked problem that requires our collective stubborn optimism and willingness to roll up our sleeves and get to work. So, as you welcome spring and find renewed energy, I’m so grateful to you for sticking with Food & Water Watch and caring for our planet. Thank you!
NEW SHELL PLANT BRINGS POLLUTION AND PLASTIC. YOU’RE FIGHTING BACK.
Tamara Tripp Managing Director of Philanthropy
Shell Polymers Monaca is a massive plastic-producing cracker plant in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. This flaring event in September of 2022 is one of many that have alarmed nearby communities. Flaring emits toxins, exposing them to dangerous pollutants. Photo by Mark Dixon / Blue Lens.
Cover: Hilary Flint sits on a park bench along the Ohio River with a clear and ominous view of the Shell Polymers Monaca cracker plant. She is fighting to protect the health of her community in Western Pennsylvania. Photo by Mark Dixon / Blue Lens.
1 | SPRING 2024
There’s a beast on the banks of the Ohio River in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. It spews fire, smoke, and steam, emits foul smells, and sends toxins into the sky.
Above left: Impacted residents and allies gather at downtown Beaver's Irvine Park for a rally and press conference on the first anniversary of Shell Polymers Monaca's opening. Photo by Erin Ninehouser / Rustbeltmayberry.com. Above right: Hilary Flint speaks at the press conference. Photo by Maren Cooke.
Shell is polluting an already-burdened community at alarming levels Beaver County already
This beast is Shell Polymers Monaca, a plastic-producing ethane cracker plant. Since opening in the fall of 2022, it has become notorious for malfunctions, permit violations, and dangerous pollution. A huge column of fire is never a good sign In February 2022, Shell Poly- mers sent a towering blaze into the air for hours on end. It was flaring, which burns off chemicals and emits toxins into the air, often in response to a malfunction. At Shell, regulations require that flaring be kept under five minutes, every two hours. Yet the community has seen many prolonged flaring events, exposing them to dangerous amounts of particulate matter, cancer-causing benzene, and other toxic pollutants.
510.89 tons in September 2022 alone — before it even started operations . With every following month, it flew by its 12-month permit limits. Moreover, from November 2022 to May 2023, the plant racked up over a dozen air permit violations and blasted through its allowed limits for carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and other hazardous pollutants. Shell worsens plastic pollution and the climate crises Shell Polymers Monaca will produce up to 3.5 billion tons
struggles with bad air quality. Residents here face a higher risk for cancers, heart disease, and respiratory disease — all of which can be caused or wors- ened by pollution from this new Shell plant. Shell Polymers Monaca is allowed to emit up to 516.2 tons of ozone-causing volatile organ- ic compounds (VOCs) for any 12-month period, which is bad enough. However, it spewed
VOCs are No Joke Volatile Organic Compounds or VOCs cause eye, nose, and throat irritation, headaches, and nausea. Long-term exposure can damage the liver, kidneys, and nervous system, worsen asthma, and cause cancer.
New Shell Plant - continue on Page 3 >
FOOD & WATER WATCH / ACTION — LIVABLE FUTURE NOW | 2
Left: To mark Shell Polymers Monaca's anniversary, or "birthday," lifelong activist Dianne Peterson talked to local residents about Shell's pollution while handing out “birthday” cupcakes. Photo by Maren Cooke. Right: Last summer, commu- nity members gathered for a rally before delivering a petition to Shell with over 70,000 signatures calling for transparency and accountability. Photo by Mark Dixon / Blue Lens.
>New Shell Plant - continued from Page 2
You are holding Shell accountable! — but the fight continues Because of you, Food & Water Watch and our allies have been able to fight against Shell and hold them accountable for their pollution. Last spring, Shell agreed to pay $10 million for its permit violations. Half of that will pay for environmental projects in Beaver County through the Environmental Mitigation Community Fund. This fund is one of the largest in state history. Thank you for making this possible! But this isn’t the end. Shell Polymers and other plastic- producing plants continue to
pollute our planet and sacrifice people’s health for profit. Together, we can and must stop plastic at the source, by stopping the production of so much plastic in the first place.
of plastic pellets yearly. Much of them will become single-use plastics, feeding into our already crisis-level
Not-So-Fun Fact 90% of plastics produced worldwide come from fossil fuels.
You can take action against plastic pollution
We all deserve freedom from harmful pollution.
plastic pollution problem. Additionally, this plant will drive more drilling and fracking because these pellets are made from natural gas. Duquesne University’s Center for Envi- ronmental Research estimates that a plant this size would need 1,000 natural gas wells to supply it.
Scan this QR code and tell your Congressperson to support the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act.
fwwat.ch/no-plasticpollution
ON THE GROUND
An Awful Anniversary You Can’t Forget
This February marked the one-year anniversary of Norfolk Southern’s toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. This crash sparked the region’s ongoing environmental nightmare because of its dangerous cargo — vinyl chloride, a petrochemical ingredient of a common plastic called PVC (polyvinyl chloride).
Food & Water Watch’s Pennsylvania State Director, Megan McDonough, says,
Because of you, we can continue to demand justice alongside all the people Norfolk Southern has harmed.
Megan McDonough Thank you for fighting so all of us can have a safe, clean environment to call home.
3 | SPRING 2024
Plastic In Your Veggies?!
I know plastic weed block is popular, but I use several layers of newspaper or even card- board covered in leaf mulch. This makes an effective barrier that also feeds the soil. And, because it natural- ly breaks down, there’s no cleanup when the season is over. — Amanda What can we do to use less plastic in one of our most favorite activities — gardening? We asked our Food & Water Watch team who love gardening, for ideas.
“I’ve been growing as many veggies as I can from seed. Last year, I didn’t bring home any plastic pots from the nursery.” — Miho
Growing up, many of us were taught to cut the plastic rings around soda cans so they wouldn’t entangle fish or turtles. But the modern plastic pollution crisis has expanded beyond worry- ing about harming sea creatures or overwhelming our landfills — it’s entered a new phase in the form of microplastics . Microplastics are so widespread now that they’ve even gotten into our fruits and vegetables. How did this happen? One of the main ways is through sewage sludge used as fertilizer. Plastic can get very, very tiny As plastic degrades, it fragments into tiny pieces called microplastics. Countless microplastics flow into wastewater treatment facilities through various sources. It can be from every time we do our laundry since about two-thirds of our clothing is now made of plastics such as polyester and nylon. It can be from every time rain washes tire fragments off roads into sewer drains. About 90% of microplastics that enter waste treatment facili- ties get trapped in a byproduct called sludge. And this sludge is widely used as crop fertilizer. The microplastics in sludge are so tiny that plants absorb them through their roots. When we eat a carrot grown in a field fertilized with plastic-laden sludge, we unknowingly eat plastic — and that’s not healthy. You can lessen plastic pollution in what we grow at home Together, we’re doing the necessary work to combat plastic pollution systemically. We’re building support for legislation like the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act and fighting the fossil fuel industry, which supplies the feedstock for most plastics. But in thinking about how plastic can make its way into the things we grow in our soil, Livable Future NOW got curious...
I compost my food scraps, compostable packaging, and yard waste to avoid purchasing bagged compost. I also recycle old Food & Water Watch posters to smother invasive plants in my yard. — Brooke
I order mulch in bulk from a
local nursery, and while it takes us a
few weeks to redistribute "mulch mountain" to areas in my yard, it’s definitely cheaper, avoids plastic, and does wonders for keeping the weeds at bay! — Kate
FOOD & WATER WATCH / ACTION — LIVABLE FUTURE NOW | 4
A HEARTFELT FAREWELL In Loving Memory of Lane Brooks
Lane was infinitely generous, optimistic, and unflappable. Even in times of change and uncertainty, he remained a beacon of sage advice, kind words, and new ideas. We will miss him dearly. If you wish to make a gift in honor of Lane and treasure all he did to make the world a better place,
For every bill passed, rally gath- ered, and dollar donated, there’s a behind-the-scenes team that keeps it all moving. From 2007 to 2019, Lane Brooks led that team at Food & Water Watch and Food & Water Action. In many organizations, the job of operations is to manage risk and create stability. That can often mean saying “No” to gutsy ideas. But Lane was a staunch supporter of bold actions that could create real change — and he worked to ensure we had the resources to make it happen.
Food & Water Watch remembers a dear friend and colleague who helped shape the organization with boundless determination, empathy, and positivity.
you may scan this QR code.
fwwat.ch/memory-lane
YOUR FOOD & WATER WATCH AT WORK ACTION SHOT!
Your Generosity Strengthens Our Volunteer Network This past December, Food & Water Action volun- teers from across the country came together for the National Volunteer Convergence . Volunteers are at the heart of our on-the-ground fights for sustainable food, clean and affordable water, and a livable climate for all. Your investment provided opportunities for training, skill-building, and community-build- ing and made sure their incredible work and dedication was recognized and celebrated. Thank you!
See More of Your Generosity at Work!
Scan this QR code to read your spring quarterly victories update and see more of your impact.
fwwat.ch/spring24wins
5 | SPRING 2024
DONOR SPOTLIGHT Lynne Azarchi Donates to Get More Planet-Protectors Involved Please introduce yourself to our readers. I’m Lynne Azarchi. I’m the Executive Director of Kidsbridge Youth Center outside of Trenton, New Jersey. It’s an organization that fosters bullying prevention, diversity appreciation, empathy, anti-bias, and empowerment for youth. I’m also the author of “ The Empathy Advantage: Coaching Kids to be Kind, Respect- ful, and Successful .” How long have you been interested in environmental causes? I became interested in environmental issues while in college. I joined the lettuce and grape boycotts led by Caesar Chavez — I was horrified when I learned that farm workers were being sprayed with harmful insecticides. How did you hear about Food & Water Watch / Food & Water Action, and what motivated you to make your first gift? I learned about Food & Water Watch more than 15 years ago through one of your emails or mailings. It led me to attend a local meeting in New Jersey, where I met nice people who were activists. They had empathy and cared for others. What do you think about Food & Water Watch / Food & Water Action’s work and impact on the world? As a youth educator, one of the things I love about Food & Water Watch is that it uses the same strategies I teach to kids to generate social-emotional skills — like empathy and respect for others, and empathetic action to help others who have less. What do you hope to accomplish through your philanthropy? I hope that Food & Water Watch grows larger, attracting more people to the movement.
Lynne walks her local beach. She says, “I love picking up plastic from the beach. It’s so satisfying.”
I hope my giving inspires more supporters to get involved because everyone deserves clean air and water, and healthy food. If you were talking to someone about giving to and getting involved with Food & Water Watch / Food & Water Action, what would you tell them? What do you wish everyone knew about our mission? Food & Water Watch is an extraordinary group of people…It’s so rare to have an oppor- tunity to work alongside folks who truly care about others. I wish more people knew of Food & Water Watch’s impressive outcomes, such as winning bans on fracking in several states, getting stronger factory farm regulations, fight- ing off water polluters, and raising awareness of plastic pollution. What gives you hope for the future? Young people give me hope. I see so many younger people who accept diversity, appreci- ate difference, and are more empathetic to care about others’ health and our precious Earth — and they are standing up and speaking out. Food & Water Watch is an extraordinary group of people… It’s so rare to have an oppor- tunity to work alongside folks who truly care about others.
FOOD & WATER WATCH / ACTION — LIVABLE FUTURE NOW | 6
UPCOMING EVENTS
Special Early Access to Our Earth Day Match!
Special Electoral Launch Event MARCH 27, 7 - 8 PM ET Our Climate & Democracy are at Stake: How We’ll Win the 2024 Election RSVP: fwaction.us/election-launch environmental news and sharing what y ou can do to protect our food, water, and climate. JOIN US FOR Livable Future LIVE! Livable Future LIVE! is our monthly virtual education series featuring the latest
As a thank you for being a Livable Future NOW reader, we’re opening our Earth Day match early — JUST FOR YOU!
R
APRIL 24 Planet vs. Plastics JUNE 12 We Can Solve the Climate Crisis
You don’t have to wait for Earth Day to increase your impact in our fight for a livable future. Show our planet some love today, and your generosity will be matched $3-to-$1 — that’s 4X the impact to build a brighter future. To donate online, visit fwaction.us/Spring24LFN OR scan this QR code
Save Your Seat Visit fwwat.ch/live or scan this QR code
Watch past events at fwwat.ch/LFL
foodandwaterwatch.org Food & Water Watch is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that educates and advocates for safe food, clean water, and a livable climate. Gifts to Food & Water Watch are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Combined Federal Campaign #17460 foodandwateraction.org Food & Water Action is our affiliated 501(c)4 nonprofit that mobilizes people to win campaigns that builds political power. Gifts to Food & Water Action Fund are not tax deductible.
MISSION Our food, water, and climate are under constant assault by corporations who put profit over the survival of humanity. They have seized control of the very institutions that were built to protect us. We mobilize people to reclaim their political power, hold our elected officials accountable, and resist corporate control — ensuring we all have the essential resources we need to thrive. This is a fight we must win because this planet is the only one we get.
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