FIFTH WARD CHAPTER OF MOTHERS FOR CLEAN AIR RELEASES 2001 CALENDAR, "PLEASE STOP POLLUTING"

For more information contact:
Jane Laping
Mothers for Clean Air
Tel: 713/526-0110
Fax: 713/526-0550

Embargoed for release:

Until October 21, 2000

Members of the Fifth Ward Chapter of Mothers for Clean Air released a 2001 calendar featuring photographs of pollution sources taken by Fifth Ward students in their community at Council Member Carol Mims Galloway's Environmental Awareness Forum at the George R. Brown Convention Center today. The calendar, titled  "Please Stop Polluting," contains fifteen photographs taken by second through fifth graders on a field trip that was part of the Mothers for Clean Air Children's Photography Workshop in the spring. The photos are examples of pollution sources the students found within their community: vehicles, trains, a hazardous waste site, and piles of trash.  The students' comments about what they saw appear on the page with their photographs.  The last page of the calendar lists contact information for people who can help solve the problems identified through this project.  Pamela Berger, Director of Environmental Policy for the City of Houston called it a wonderful Fifth Ward calendar and said, "It's great!"

The calendar that resulted from the Children's Photography Workshop was one of several educational projects conducted in the Fifth Ward by Mothers for Clean Air in 2000 with assistance from an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Environmental Justice grant. The other projects were:

ü      A bus tour of the five Superfund (hazardous waste) sites in the Fifth Ward and several of the 100 polluting industries on the Houston Ship Channel.

ü      An environmental Justice Workshop where representatives from the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission and the Texas Department of Health spoke about environmental health hazards in the Fifth Ward. 

ü      Internet Training to access information about environmental contamination in the Fifth Ward and the Houston area.

ü      Ozone warnings and information about the health effects of ozone to Fifth Ward schools and day care centers. 

Community organizer, Jane Laping, worked with residents and stakeholders in the community to form the Fifth Ward Chapter and to train leaders to take on the environmental problems in the Fifth Ward.  The group consisting of six to ten regular attendees has met twice a month since January.  The Chapter has identified two priorities for the upcoming year: 1) to assure the MDI/Tesco Superfund site next to Bruce Elementary is cleaned up satisfactorily and 2) to stop illegal dumping in the community.   Work on these projects as well as others takes place at the Chapter meetings on the first and third Tuesday of the month at 5:30 PM at the Lyons Avenue Health Clinic on Lyons and Lockwood.

Mothers for Clean Air has received a second $20,000 grant from the EPA Office of Environmental Justice and $25,000 from the North American Fund for Environmental Cooperation (NAFEC) to establish a similar Chapter in Southeast Houston.  This project will focus on the proximity of four industrial plants and a Superfund site to schools and residences.  Linda Block, community organizer for the Southeast Houston chapter, began working on that project October 2, 2000.

Mothers for Clean Air (MfCA) is a 501(c)(3) local, environmental organization concerned with protecting children's health from the risks associated with air pollution. Our mission is to educate ourselves and the public about Houston-Galveston air quality and its effects on children's health, to encourage the participation of children in learning about air quality, and to do what we can as individuals to prevent air pollution and reduce children's exposure. MfCA advocates for clean air on behalf of children and organizes residents in communities heavily impacted by air pollution. MfCA holds quarterly meetings that are open to the public and publishes a newsletter four times a year. Membership is not limited to mothers, it is open to males as well as females.