The communities that host facilities like the Lafarge Cement Plant, whether willingly or not, need the protection of the government to ensure that they are not poisoned.
I've been concerned about air quality and air pollution since 1998 when I first became aware of power plant and cement plant permitting in upstate New York. In the broader community in which Friends of Hudson operates and has members, the cement industry has been of serious concern. The Lafarge Cement plant in Ravena, NY has been operating for almost 50 years. Over those years the plant has emitted significant amounts of pollutants and toxics, the effects of which have been visually apparent. But in the past decade we have become aware of the possible serious health effects as well.
The communities that host facilities like the Lafarge Cement Plant, whether willingly or not, need the protection of the government to ensure that they are not poisoned. Decision-makers in Washington, D.C. should create laws that are more protective of public health and the environment than of corporate profits. And they should ensure that these laws are enforceable and that industrial operations are monitored.
It is possible for industrial polluters such as the cement industry to produce far less pollution than they are permitted to do. Investments in newer pollution control technologies and in research and development will yield better air quality results than current operations do. It is imperative that the federal government require these companies to make such investments in order to have the privilege of extracting and using our natural resources.
We desperately need folks like you - people who are rational and committed to policies that protect our natural environment, as well as the common person. Thank you.
Thank you for your help.
Thank you for fighting for the very air we breathe.
Thank you very much!! Please never stop fighting for what's right.
You have all my support. Thank you for all you are doing. Phil
Thank you very much,susan i would like to give you a hug; fewer and fewer people are willing to step up and speak out; for a variety of reasons.
Thanks, we all have been way to complacent! It is time to let our government know that things are not how we want them. We want clean air and clean water and we are willing to make the necessary adjustments and sacrifices. The big businesses must also do the same.
Bless you, Susan. Good luck--for all our sakes.
Thank you! In the day and age when some are insisting that mercury is not dangerous it is refreshing to see someone speak the truth!
Thank you for bringing the concerns of responsible citizens to our legislators. At age 78 I worry about the affect of our air quality on my adult children and my little grandsons. My husband had asthma, and polluted air could cause them to have this nasty disease. Please tell our legislators that there are many of us who will not vote for ANYONE, regardless of party, who does not support our environment. It is time they listen to the voters!
You have my support to help get big business and their lobbyists to stop telling the EPA what to do. Shortly I will start to experience my annual problems with the yearly summer high ozone in the air which results from air pollution. Each yer it seems to get worse.
Thanks for working to protect the air we breathe.
Government needs to get out of the pockets of big business and do what is right for the people they serve.
best wishes. without clean air, we are lost.
Thank you for representing me and the rest of the citizens of New York in supporting the EPA as it strives to do what it was created to do....protect our environment for us, our children and our grandchildren.
Best wishes to you in your endeavors!
Thank you for helping keep our air breathable -- we can't let polluters destroy the air quality in the name of profits. Nothing could be more precious than pure air and water.
We need to keep the standards of a descent air quality from polluters.....and we have to keep a good air for the next generation too!
People decades ago never had to worry about the air not being clean, not since recently, where more people are susceptable to asthma and other types of respiratory problems, we all share this world together I dont understand how or why people have to fight for cleaner air and to fight for an end to polluting the environment, all i see from elected officials who are able to create laws and bills, is that they only see dollar signs, they do not see the importance of respect, respecting the environment, respecting the animals that share this world with us, and respecting the people as well. It all comes down to money! and it is very sad. I stand up for cleaner air!!!
We have to do everything we can to protect our air from polluters. It is crazy to think we breathe polluted air without suffering from it. Stop the polluters.
We have the technology and we've had it for a while. It's implementation to protect the integrity of the air we all breathe is long overdue.
This is just a no-brainer. Who on earth wants our air (not to mention, land, water, etc...) to be polluted and filthy. No one.
Except, of course, big business and thier republican cronies. This is just insane.
We all breath the same air, and we all need it to be clean.
While driving on the NYS Thruway I see the stack at Ravena blownig across the Hudson River towards Hudson NY. I'm glad it's not blowing toward me. I don't need a degree to know this can't be good for the people who live in it's prevailing path.
I am a grad student pursuing my M.S., in Environmental Management. I am acutely aware of the importance of clean air, and its necessity for the health of society, agriculture & the environment. We need to continue improving our air quality, and bring it to legislated quality levels -- which are not enforced.
We all need clean air to breathe. Who wants to be unhealthy. For all Americans and others, it is important to keep the air as clean as possible so sicknesses are not a big issue.
Cut the particulates back and get out the mercury! Pristine looking waters throughout New York State are producing fish that come with health advisories that they should only be eaten in small quantities due to mercury. (See New York State Department of Health bulletin "Chemical in Sportfish and Game 2009 - 2010 Health Advisories.")
The average adult breathes 13,000 liters of air per day; children breathe 50 percent more air per pound of body weight than adults. When thinking about the impact of air pollution on our communities, politicians must be aware of how acutely their decisions affect the most vulnerable among us. Our communities' futures are in their hands.
Thank you for fighting for people, not profit margins!
If I open my window(s) in Brooklyn NY, I have soot particles coming through the screen in no time. The landlords of the four-family houses and larger apartment houses must be using some blend of #4 and #6 with the supposed #2 fuel oil they get from discount oil delivery trucks. I'll bet that the avaricious owners of these places will find a way to circumvent any law.
And the west wind brings dirty stuff from New Jersey and beyond.
Grateful for your efforts.
NYC is in the process of eliminating the dirtiest boiler fuels (#4 and #6) from home heating.
Now, it's time to address the black smoke from diesel trucks. If their engines are tuned, no black stinky smoke. However, since a diesel engine will run without tune-ups, they rarely get them.
Time to make that part of the inspection process! Get those diesel engines tuned, and we won't be choking and gasping.
I NEED clean air! I have both Heart and Lung Disease, and severe Sleep Apnea. I am very sensetive to anything in the air. Please help.
When a home is built, construction must procede with certain requirements, otherwise NO CO.
Car exhaust must follow certain EPA standards.
Why do factories get built without similar stipulations??? Why should they be allowed to pollute our envorionment?
If we could eliminate greed, we would have clean air to breathe. Clean air would contribute to much less illness and money spent on illness. clean air.is everyone's right.
I remember Susan while being part of the fight against the proposed SLC cement plant on the Hudson. She is a fighter, a great lady. With more people like her, clean air will someday be a reality.
Please keep our air clean.
Corporations won't do the right thing to control air pollution unless forced to do so by the government. I support your efforts to make that happen.
Corporations won't do the right thing to control air pollution unless forced to do so by the government. I support your efforts to make that happen.
What is there without breath? Keep our air clean!
Corporations won't do the right thing to control air pollution unless forced to do so by the government. I support your efforts to make that happen.
Corporations won't do the right thing to control air pollution unless forced to do so by the government. I support your efforts to make that happen.
Thank you for fighting. We are 100% behind you!!!
Don't ever stop fighting for a clean environment. If leaders like you stop we all lose.
we agree and support you!
Clean air and water are essential for our well being. Thank you for fighting for these essentials.
Much the same sort of fine particulates sift down onto to Americans driving the main highways and there seems to be no concern. Clean air, clear air, should be something our governments, federal, state and local, care about.
Thank you for fighting for clean air and the health of our people.
At 85, I'm frail, susceptible to noxious air pollutants such as cement dust particles -
which can and must be minimized for the many oldsters like me. Plants such as the LaFarge in Batavia, NY can well afford to cut such cement pollution - but won't spend the money to protect our health...so they must be forced to do so.
Thank you for your efforts and dedication to this cause. It is amazing to me that at this point in our nation's development that we are still having to fight intensely to protect something as basic as the air we breathe.
We must protect our citizens, communitees and enviornment.
Susan -- Thank you so much for battling for our very lives and the lives of our children. On behalf of my son and daughter, our deepest thanks to you and our continued support!
Thank you.
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