PRESS RELEASES
June 23, 2010
Press Release from WEC and the BlueGreen Alliance
Workers to Help EPA Prevent Chemical Accidents
New EPA Policy Enlists Workers to Identify Hazards During Inspections of Dangerous Facilities
A landmark policy issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will for the first time engage employees and their union representatives during environmental inspections of the nation's most dangerous industrial facilities. Front-line workers will assist EPA inspectors by pointing out hazards that could threaten the safety and health of workers, surrounding communities, and the environment.
Read EPA's press release and policy.
Read the December 2009 letter to EPA Administrator Jackson.
June 9, 2010
Press Release from Save Our Sensible Safeguards
New Campaign Aims to Defeat Regulatory Rollbacks of NJ's Landmark Environmental, Health, and Worker Protections
Seventy-five labor, environmental, emergency response, and other organizations today announced at a State House news conference a new public campaign to defeat bipartisan attacks on decades of New Jersey's worker, environmental, health, and other protections.
Letter to Senate President Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Oliver
Statement from Senate Majority Leader Buono
How S1986 and/or A2486 Would Harm New Jersey
April 20. 2010
Labor Environmental Coalition Blasts Christie Red Tape Report
Governor Christie's Red Tape Review Group is a blueprint for endangering workers and community members who suffer from deadly toxic exposures.
April 16, 2010
WEC Applauds Introduction of Safe Chemicals Act
Yesterday, Senator Lautenberg introduced the Safe Chemicals Act of 2010 moving one step closer to protecting workers and the public from toxic chemcials.
December 3, 2009
WEC-BGA Letter to EPA Administrator Jackson
The Blue Green Alliance and the New Jersey Work Environment Council, along with more than 100 prominent labor and environmental organizations, are asking U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson to enforce an existing law encouraging worker and union participation during EPA inspections of facilities using extremely hazardous substances. This letter sent to Jackson said allowing workers and their union representatives to point out dangers during agency inspections would help protect both communities and the public.
View the Letter to EPA Administrator Jackson
June 5, 2009
New Jersey Work Environment Council Joins Blue Green Alliance
The Blue Green Alliance announced today that the New Jersey Work Environment Council (WEC) will join the national labor-environmental partnership as a New Jersey affiliate. Formed in 1986 as a result of efforts to pass the state's "Right to Know" laws about hazardous chemicals in workplaces and communities, WEC is the nation's oldest state-based labor-environmental coalition and works to link workers, communities and environmentalists throughout the state of New Jersey.
January 15, 2009
Governor Corzine Proposes Roll Back on Chemical Security Policy - Groups Demand Safety Not Secrecy
Twenty-seven labor, environmental, and community groups today called on Governor Jon Corzine to strike language from a proposed NJ Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) rule that could hide information about potential toxic disasters at industrial facilities from communities across the state.
Sign-On Letter of Support from 27 Labor, Environmental and Community Organizations.
January 6, 2009
National Worker Safety Advocates Urge Quick Action by Obama Administration
The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health and the Occupational Health and Safety Section of the American Public Health Association released today Protecting Workers on the Job: Seven Priorities for Federal
action in 2009, a platform of recommendations aimed at reversing the erosion of the worker safety protections that
has put the nation's workers at a heightened risk of injury, illness and death.
Protecting Workers on the Job: Seven Priorities for Federal Action in 2009
December 15, 2008
Statement of WEC on Appointment of Lisa Jackson as EPA Administrator by the President-Elect
According to John Pajak, President of the New Jersey Work Environment Council, "While we have differences with some of Governor Corzine's environmental policies, Lisa Jackson has proven an able DEP Commissioner and has helped make New Jersey safer and more secure by adopting new and precedent-setting policies pushing chemical plants to adopt safer processing methods and by engaging workers and their unions during environmental inspections.
December 4, 2008
New Dangers Found at Nation's Most Potentially Hazardous Chemical Plant
Kuehne Chemical, in South Kearny, New Jersey, has been cited and fined by the U.S.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for 33 worker safety and health
violations, including lapses that could lead to a toxic chlorine release into surrounding
communities.
October 7, 2008
Millions of New Jerseyans Still at Risk from Toxic Accidents or Attacks
Report finds despite positive steps by Corzine Administration, more
regulation of chemical industry needed.
Seven years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, nearly 100 New Jersey industrial facilities can still pose potential catastrophic risks to workers and/or the public if there was a major toxic release caused by an accident or deliberate attack. Read more
Still at Risk: Protecting New Jersey Jobs, Families, and Hometowns From Toxic Chemical Disasters Report