Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Amazon Releases Pre-Order Of Marsha Coleman-Adebayo Memoir

Marsha Cole-Adebayo
"No Fear: A Whistleblower's Triumph Over Corruption and Retaliation at the EPA"

Publisher: Lawrence Hill Books/Chicago Review

Pages: 480

Price ( Hardcover ): $27.95

Amazon Price: $18.75

Publication Date: September 1, 2011

ISBN ( Hardcover ): 978-1-55652-818-7

Category: Nonfiction

Coleman-Adebayo’s memoir recounts the legal battle culminating in the 2002 No FEAR Act, “the first civil-rights and whistleblower act of the 21st century.”

Steeped in the history of the civil-rights and women’s movements and blessed with a keen intellect, the author earned degrees from Barnard College, Columbia University and MIT. In 1990, she was on track toward a promising career with the EPA, considered one of the most progressive federal agencies. However, Coleman-Adebayo soon sensed that all was not well. Pay discrepancies ran along racial and gender lines, and white men dominated the ranks of the executives. During a trip to South Africa as a member of the Gore-Mbeki Commission, the author witnessed the “systematic, verifiable, environmentally devastating” effects of vanadium mining, a metal considered strategic by the CIA. She was quickly stymied by her superiors in her efforts at solving the South African environmental issues.

Once she reported her belief that “the EPA [was] covering up crimes…being committed by an American multinational corporation against the people of South Africa,” to the Washington Post, she became a whistleblower. Workplace retaliation was swift, resulting in her filing a complaint against the EPA. Weaving together her personal records with the transcript of the federal civil trial, in which she prevailed, the author provides an insider view of the legal tactics used at the highest level of government. Coleman-Adebayo also recounts the shenanigans surrounding the subsequent hearings and the strenuous political process involved in the unanimous passage in both houses of Congress of the No FEAR Act. (Amazon)

Thursday, June 09, 2011

Dr. Devon Payne-Sturges Wins Science Award

Dr. Devon Payne-Sturges
 EPA employee Dr. Devon Payne-Sturges has won the Environmental Science & Technology’s Editor Choice Award for Best Paper, 2nd Runner-up in the Science Category. Devon’s award winning paper was titled "Evaluating Cumulative Organophoshorous Pesticide Body Burden of Children: A National Case Study."

This unique paper is the “first step toward assessing the importance of multiple exposures of organophosphates (OP) pesticide exposure for children.” Organophosphate chemicals are the most widely used insecticides available today. They are used in agriculture, to kill pests in people’s homes, and by veterinarians. Organophosphate pesticides affect acetylcholinesterase, which is essential to nerve function in insects, humans, and many other animals, and this could present a major problem for children’s health.

From 1999-2002, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES) collected data on a variety of chemicals, including organophosphates, to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. By using this information, Devon determined that about 40% of children in the U.S., aged 6 -11, had cumulative exposures to OP pesticides at levels of concern for health impacts. In other words, the combined exposures of organophosphate insecticides that young children receive are enough to put them at risk. (EPA, photo courtesy EPA)

Payne-Sturges. D et al. Evaluating Cumulative Organophoshorous Pesticide Body Burden of Children: A National Case Study. Environmental Science and Technology, 2009, 43(20), 7924-30

Saturday, June 04, 2011

Featuring: John Rosenthall

John Rosenthall
John Rosenthall provides environmental counsel to the government agencies, municipalities and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He supports two non-profit organizations, the National Small Town Alliance (NSTA) and EJ Conference, Inc. (EJCI). NSTA represents the interests of small towns and rural communities before Congress and Federal agencies, establishes community technology centers and provides excess and surplus government computers to small towns and community groups across the country.

Since 1999, in partnership with the Department of Energy and Tennessee State University, NSTA has donated more than 5000 computers to needy communities. EJCI plans and conducts a national conference on environmental justice each year in Washington, DC.

Education and Prior Experiences:

Graduated from Tougaloo College with a degree in mathematics

Served two years in the United States Army working in the Office of the secretary of Defense in the Pentagon

Graduated from George Washington University school of Law with a Juris Doctorate Degree

Handled Environmental matters for Mobil Oil Corporation

Practiced Criminal and Environmental Law in the Law offices of John Rosenthall

Served as Director of Environmental Justice for the National Office of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

Served as Washington Counsel for the National Conference of Black Mayors

(Washington Government Relations Group)