The Northwest Toxic Communities Coalition (NWTCC) is composed of independent community organizations in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington working on local hazardous waste and environmental issues. The members communicate regularly and meet face to face at annual Coalition Summits that began in 2005.
Center Updates
Professor Joel Baker is the Port of Tacoma Chair in Environmental Science at the University of Washington-Tacoma. In addition, Dr. Baker is director of the Puget Sound Institute, which is a product of a coordinated effort between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Puget Sound Partnership and the University of Washington. The intention of the Institute is to bridge the gap between the scientific community and those charged with the restoration and protection of the Puget Sound.
n 1987, University of Washington (UW) scientists were among the original grantees of the new interdisciplinary Superfund Research Program (SRP) funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). The federal program is designed to build collaborations between scientific disciplines and promote partnerships with agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as with other stakeholders who are invested in issues surrounding waste site remediation and environmental health concerns. The UW-SRP is one of three universities in the country to celebrate a quarter century of ongoing research.
Beyond Toxics in Eugene, Oregon has a long history of improving public health in their region. The organization’s founders shepherded the model “Community Toxics Right to Know” law in the city of Eugene in 1990 and later created Beyond Toxics with a goal to guarantee environmental protections and health for all communities and residents in Oregon.
The UW-SRP Research Translation Core (the Core) has been part of a collaborative partnership with EPA Region 10 and the Northwest Toxic Communities Coalition (NWTCC) since the fall of 2010. The Northwest Regional Outdoor Air Workshop for Communities held in May 2012 was one of the outcomes of this three-way partnership.
n May, Dr. David Ehrenfeld from Rutgers University was the invited speaker at the UW-SRP Agency Seminar at EPA Region 10. His presentation was entitled, “Predicting the Effects of Technology: When Risk Assessment is Risky.” Dr. Ehrenfeld is well recognized for his writing and expertise in sustainability, globalization and energy conservation; he is founding editor of Conservation Biology and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Parkinsonism, the term for a movement disorder syndrome that includes Parkinson’s Disease, is clinically characterized by slow movement, rest tremors and rigidity. The syndrome is estimated to affect up to 40 percent of the population over sixty years of age. Manganese, an essential element, can cause nervous system damage and contribute to parkinsonism risk as a result of long-term occupational exposure.
The Olympic Environmental Council (OEC) is a non-profit organization whose work focuses on environmental issues important to North Olympic Peninsula communities in Washington State. In 1997 the OEC worked with thirteen other non-profit organizations and concerned citizens to petition the US EPA to determine if the Rayonier Mill and three associated landfills based in residential neighborhoods in Port Angeles were candidates for Superfund cleanups.
EPA Region 10, the Northwest Toxic Communities Coalition and the UW-SRP held a successful, collaboratively developed workshop with over 50 community participants in April this year. The outdoor air quality workshop was free to attendees and designed to provide a clearer path for community members to effectively engage with agencies on important outdoor air quality concerns.
Dr. Andrew Maynard from the University of Michigan was the invited speaker at the UW-SRP Agency Seminar at EPA Region 10 in November. Dr. Maynard is a leading authority on the responsible development and use of emerging technologies. Our federal and state agency partners who work within a regulatory framework were interested in an opportunity to discuss what Dr. Maynard refers to as a 'nanoscale science and engineering.'
As recently as fifteen years ago, it was common to think of our genetic sequence as the ultimate authority on heritable characteristics such as obesity, life span and disease susceptibility. Today we understand that environmental stressors, such as toxicants in the food we eat and the air we breathe, can impact not only our own gene expression, but potentially that of our children and even our grandchildren.
The Reaserch Translation Core (RTC) has been developing a new partnership with the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council. The Council is a steadfast and old friend of the University of Washington's Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS).