Thursday, April 25, 2002

Mike Schade, CEC, 716-885-6848

Laura Arney, Sierra Club, 716-334-8548

(Rochester, NY) As part of Earth Week events around New York State, concerned citizens in Rochester, Buffalo, Albany, Syracuse, New York City, Brockport, and the Adirondacks today participated in the first Statewide Day of Action for Clean Air at Kodak and called on Kodak’s CEO Daniel Carp to make a commitment to phasing out their dioxin-spewing hazardous waste incinerators.

“Today citizens from all across New York State are raising their voices to demand that Kodak become a world class leader in clean production,” said Mike Schade, Western New York Director of Citizens’ Environmental Coalition. “As NY’s number one manufacturing polluter and one of the largest emitters of cancer-causing chemicals in the country, Kodak needs to make a commitment to protecting the health and well being of New Yorkers by phasing out their hazardous waste incinerators.”

At today’s day of action for clean air, citizens organized press conferences in Rochester, Albany, Buffalo, and the Adirondacks. In addition concerned citizens in Buffalo, Rochester, Brockport, Syracuse, and New York City set up tables and handed out flyers on campuses and in front of stores that sell Kodak film, educating consumers about Kodak’s environmental record.

Eastman Kodak is NY’s #1 manufacturing polluter and the largest emitter of recognized carcinogens to the air and water in NYS. One of their two hazardous waste incinerators burns over 70 million pounds of chemicals a year, releasing cancer-causing chemicals like dioxin into the air. According to Kodak's 1992 trial burn, Building 218 (hazardous waste incinerator) releases over 544 million adult doses of dioxin yearly. If all the residents of the-three large counties of Western New York, Monroe, Erie and Niagara, were to receive an equal share of Kodak's dioxin, hypothetically, each person would receive an annual dose of approximately 72,817 pg/year or 285 times EPA's "acceptable" dose of dioxin, a known human carcinogen. While Kodak claims that the recent incinerator upgrade will reduce their dioxin emissions by 50%-80%, citizens are concerned that the dioxin emissions will instead be transferred through the water to Kings Landing and burned at their Building 95 hazardous waste incinerator.

Citizens are calling on the company to making a commitment to phasing out their hazardous waste incinerators by working for clean production and installing alternative technologies. Some of the viable alternative technologies that exist to incineration include AEA Silver II Technology and CerOx technology, which both involve a electrochemical oxidation process. These two technologies both operate at a fairly low temperature and pressure, and have a high destruction efficiency, reportedly producing no dioxin in the process.

“We can no longer put our children’s health at increased risk - we need to work for clean production at companies like Kodak,” said Alex McPherson, of the Clean Production Network. “Reducing the use and production of hazardous chemicals at Kodak Park will not only reduce Kodak’s toxic emissions, but will also save Kodak money in the long run. This is not only good for the community but is also a smart business practice.”

Rochester residents are concerned that Kodak’s decades of pollution may be taking a toll on the surrounding communities. In response, health studies have been conducted by state and federal health agencies over the years. According to the NYS Department of Health (DOH), “(W)omen living near Kodak Park had approximately an 80% greater risk of developing pancreatic cancer,” increasing to 96% for women living near Kodak for more than 20 years. The NYS DOH reported that between 1983 and 1995, 446 Monroe County children were diagnosed with cancer. In 1997 alone, 33 cases of childhood brain and spinal cord cancer were reported within a five-mile radius of Kodak Park. The families of five children with brain and spinal cord cancer have filed a $75 million lawsuit against Kodak.

“As a Rochester resident who once lived in the shadow of Kodak, I am concerned about the thousands of children who attend schools in Rochester near Kodak,” said Maureen Reynolds, of the Kandid Coalition. “If Kodak really cared about this community, they would install ambient air monitors to notify people when toxic emissions enter their neighborhoods, so that they can protect their children and families. Is that so much to ask?”

At today’s statewide day of action for clean air, citizens from all across New York State are calling on Kodak CEO Daniel Carp to make a commitment to protect the health and environment of the citizens of New York State. To ensure such a commitment, citizens are demanding that Kodak do the following:

1. Make a commitment to phasing out and shutting down their dioxin-spewing hazardous waste incinerators: Building 218 and Building 95. Kodak can utilize source reduction techniques and alternative technologies to eliminate the waste streams going into these incinerators;

2. Finance an independent investigation of the health effects to the Rochester community;

3. Install ambient air monitors to inform people when toxic emissions enter neighborhoods;

4. In conjunction with NYS, do a comprehensive risk assessment of Kodak’s toxic releases. This should be done with wind pattern analysis to identify whether Kodak’s dioxin emissions are reaching St. Lawrence County, a top dairy producer in NYS; and

5. Develop and implement a plan to reduce Kodak’s toxic emissions so Rochester can see a 75% reduction in cancer rates in accordance with the EPA’s “Policy on National Air Toxics Program: The Integrated Urban Strategy.”