Georgia nonprofit selected to testify before international human rights commission; Elevates quality of Georgia's water to international audience
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, April 5, 2016--
This week a Georgia resident from Burke County, GA, and Field Coordinator at Georgia Women's Action for New Directions (Georgia WAND), Ms. Bernice Johnson-Howard, gave testimony in Washington, DC before the Organization of American States' (OAS) Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) hearing regarding water and sanitation, especially as it relates to women and children. Georgia WAND was one of 10 nonprofit organizations selected to testify before the commission to talk about shared experiences of people's denial of the basic human rights to water and sanitation in the U.S.
The IACHR hearing was called following the tragic events in Flint, MI, where the community has been affected by lead in their drinking water.
Communities right here in Georgia are also struggling with water contamination.
Shell Bluff, GA, a predominately Black, working class community, is plagued by radioactive contaminants and potentially other toxins in their environment.
In her testimony, Ms. Johnson-Howard shared her concerns about radiological contaminants.
"Shell Bluff can be hazardous to health. It has an aging nuclear weapons plant, and a nuclear power plant; existing in close proximity to this rural, mostly Black, community. Both nuclear facilities' contaminants invade our environment. Radiological poisons enter our bodies through air we must breathe, water we drink, homegrown vegetables, by fish, deer, and other animals consumed," Ms. Johnson-Howard stated.
She also shared "a partial list of nuclear contaminants in our water or environment," which included the following:
- "Tritium- especially damaging to women; it's known to cause miscarriages and birth defects;
- Plutonium- stays in the body for decades damaging bodily organs; plutonium's half-life is 24,000 years; and
- Iodine-129- thyroid damage, thyroid cancer; its half-life is 15 million years."
Ms Johnson-Howard addressed the safety of the drinking water in her community.
"Most nuclear poisons cannot be cleaned from air, rivers, or land. Radiological poisons in our environment will stay in our environment for many thousands of years," Ms. Johnson-Howard warned. "Ungodly elements that strip health, and livelihoods, from thousands of generations."
She testified about the potential health effects of exposure to radiation on women.
"Women and girls are most particularly harmed. The National Academy of Sciences research shows women have a 40-60% greater chance of getting cancer than men when exposed to same radiation levels," Ms Johnson-Howard stated. "Children's risks are greater; girls are six times more likely to develop cancer than boys receiving same dose of radiation. These are our grandmothers, mothers, daughters, and children."
Ms. Johnson-Howard spoke about the legal dose limit used to calculate "acceptable" doses of radiation to the public and the undue burden on bodies of color and other vulnerable people.
"'Acceptable dose limit calculations'," Ms. Johnson-Howard stated, "used by some nuclear industries, often do not calculate how people of color or the elderly absorb radiation. 'One safe radiation dose fits all', is laughable and deadly. The National Academy of Sciences states there are no safe doses of radiation, and every dose of radiation increases cancer risks."
U.S government officials are bound to attend and provide response testimony to the IACHR.
A bill to further protect Georgia's groundwater was defeated in the legislature this session. Currently, there are no adequate state requirements for monitoring, testing, or reporting the volume or extent of contaminated waters that reach an aquifer by any means.
"It's going to take a concerted effort across industry, agency, and cultural tradition to get a sense of how bad the environmental contamination is in Shell Bluff, what it is, where it's coming from, and what we can collectively do to stop the problem before it gets worse," Becky Rafter, executive director of Georgia WAND stated. "In order to address the community's concerns, we are developing relationships and projects with the partners necessary to make a difference, such as government agencies, Georgia universities, and grassroots coalitions."
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Georgia WAND participated in this hearing as a member of the US Human Rights Network (USHRN)-convened National Human Rights to Water and Sanitation Coalition. This coalition is comprised of over 130 groups and individuals from around the country. The coalition includes national, local, grassroots, and faith-based organizations, as well as educational institutions and law schools, as well as experts on water policy, utilities, legislation, and human rights. The members of the coalition and the issues they represent span across urban, rural, and indigenous communities from California to Baltimore and everywhere in between. The coalition came together in response to the fact that communities of color, low-income communities, and indigenous peoples across the U.S. lack equal access to safe, affordable, adequate water and sanitation, and works to elevate solutions from the people and communities most directly affected, facilitate joint organizing and advocacy, and share knowledge to create change. Learn more at:
bit.ly/USHRNWaterSanitation
