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| Parents and students decorate a coal-tar-free parking lot in Grand Rapids, MI. |
While many may debate whether the old adage that “all politics is local” is true or not, one cannot argue with the influence that everyday citizens and local decision-makers can have in their own communities with coal tar sealant use and pollution. I have highlighted many of those citizens here in the past like a retiree in Florida (“Wanted: A Few More Sam Sisiskys Please“) to a riverkeeper in North Carolina (“Tar Heal Town Tackles Toxic Sealant“) to a former councilmember in Missouri (“Can the Coal Tar Issue Mar and Community’s Reputation?“) and not to mention the 9,000 or so that signed a petition for a national ban (“Note to Congress: Signatures and Comments Pour in on Coal Tar Sealant Ban Petition“).
There are many more who have read the articles and have persistently expressed their concerns to their local decision-makers. Individual citizens have been involved in coal tar sealant efforts in Minnesota, New York, Michigan, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, North Carolina, Illinois, and Ohio.
It is with this local perspective that the last of the currently scheduled webinars will take place this Thursday, December 12th. The Agenda includes a diverse group with an affected parent from a school that switched from using coal tar sealants, a scientist with a watershed group in suburban Chicago that has found prolific and high concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and an industrial engineer who is currently working on a local environmental committee to garner political support to reduce coal tar usage.
DRAFT Agenda (Register)
1. Intro (10:30 Eastern)
2. Brief recap of previous webinars (10:35)
Survey of various local efforts
– Al Innes, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
3. North Park Elementary School, Grand Rapids, Michigan (10:45)
– Thomas Bell, school parent (at the time)
4. DuPage River Salt Creek Workgroup (DRSCW), Illinois: public property ban and watershed outreach (10:55)
– Stephen McCracken, DRSCW/The Conservation Foundation
5. Citizens Environmental Advisory Committee, San Antonio, TX (11:05)
– Stephen Kale, Committee member
6. Project tools available to local groups and partners (11:15)
7. Wrap-up/Questions and answers (11:20)
End of formal program (11:30) – presenters will be available for further Q&A until 12:00 Eastern
Webinar presentations are available through the project page at http://www.pca.state.mn.us/h8udqd6
or directly at https://sites.google.com/site/greatlakespahreduction/home/fall-2013-webinar-materials