Health & Fitness
West LA Council Calls to Ban Soon-to-Be Carcinogen: Polystyrene (aka, Styrofoam™)
The West Los Angeles Neighborhood Council calls on the City of Los Angeles to reduce the city waste clean-up budget by supporting a state-wide ban on polystyrene.
Statewide Ordinance Also Protects Property Values
June 2, 2011 – Los Angeles, CA – Advocating keeping property values up and marine debris down, last week the West Los Angeles Neighborhood Council (WLANC) unanimously passed a resolution calling on the City of Los Angeles to support Long Beach State Senator Alan Lowenthal’s SB-568, a state-wide ban on food containers made from expanded polystyrene (EPS), more commonly known by the Dow Chemical brand-name, Styrofoam™.
The WLANC stakeholder who introduced the resolution, former Mar Vista Councilman, Andy Shrader, says, “It’s a social justice issue as well as an environmental issue. The federal National Toxicology Program (NTP) is right now considering labeling styrene a ‘likely carcinogen’ to human beings, citing studies showing that ‘food can be a major contributor to styrene exposure for the general population.’ Lower income people who use foam products and are exposed to styrene the most are the least able to afford health care. And, if you walk on our beaches, you understand the environmental cost: little white bits of polystyrene everywhere you look.” To show community support for a ban, Shrader presented the council with petitions bearing two hundred and fifty signatures from Los Angeles area residents.
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Gail Bateson, Executive Director of Worksafe, an Oakland-based social justice organization dedicated to eliminating all types of workplace hazards, elaborates in her own letter of support for SB-568, “U.S. EPA scientists found Styrene in 100% of all human tissue samples in a 1986 study. As is so often the case, these dangers to the general population are even more acute for the workers who must deal with the substance most directly and most often. Workers exposed to styrene may suffer increased risk of leukemia and lymphoma and neurological problems such as loss of hearing, balance, and spatial orientation.”
The WLANC letter of support says SB-568 will save cities millions, “The costs incurred to deal with polystyrene litter and waste clean-up are significant. This is especially true of Southern California communities with impaired waterways... cities have spent in excess of $1.7 billion removing trash from our storm drain systems.”
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“In addition to the obvious environmental justice concerns,” bill author Senator Lowenthal says, “we want to protect property values up and down the coast by doing everything in our power to clean up our beaches.” Cities around California who already have polystyrene bans or restrictions in place include Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, Palo Alto, San Francisco, and WLANC neighbor, Santa Monica.
“Frankly, in the current economy, I’m surprised home owners associations in places like Newport Beach and Huntington Beach aren’t rioting in the streets to support a bill that helps protect their home values,” Shrader says. “The mayors of both cities told me that, although they have city polystyrene restrictions in place, they don’t support SB-568. They must not fully understand that trash from other places also washes up on Orange County beaches.” The Hermosa Beach City Council also rejected a local ban on polystyrene earlier this month.Despite being handed petitions signed by over 300 Mar Vista constituents (including our LA Councilmember Bill Rosendahl) and support from the WLANC, which represents over 30,000 constituents, our local state senator, Ted Lieu, has not yet signed on in support of SB-568. In addition to Mar Vista, Senator Lieu represents such high-property value coastal areas Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Marina Del Rey, and Venice.
Addressing employment concerns for SB 568, Miriam Gordon, State Director of Clean Water Action, says, “This bill will add jobs in the sustainable packaging business in California. Many California companies that make foam containers also make comparably-priced alternatives. This bill will increase jobs for manufacturing non-foam alternatives and at the same time reduce worker exposure to styrene..”
Bateson’s letter agrees, “Of the 47 California jurisdictions that have enacted bans on polystyrene food ware, none have reported that any local businesses have closed up shop as a result. Most local ordinances have options for local businesses to make a claim of economic hardship, and none have exercised this option.”
To contact Senator Ted Lieu (or another senator), please click here for Clean Water Action's action alert. A phone call is even more effective. Senator Lieu's Sacramento office number is: (916) 651-4028. Every phone call makes a difference.
The Mar Vista Green Committee last week approved a letter of support for SB-568, which will be brought before the full Mar Vista Board on June 14th.
The West LA Neighborhood Council represents 30,873 stakeholders in L.A.
**Photos courtesy Clean Water Action and Sherri Akers.