As part of Environmental Health Coalition’s efforts to promote military environmental accountability, Clean Bay Campaign Organizer Nohelia Ramos traveled to Vieques, Puerto Rico to participate in the Fourth International Delegation for Demilitarization and Cleanup on Aug. 9. Ramos, EHC’s representative on the Military Toxics Project Youth Delegation, was one of 16 individuals representing communities that are suffering health and safety impacts from polluting military operations. MTP is a coalition of more than 400 community organizations, Native American tribes, veterans groups and individuals with the common purpose of promoting cleanup, compliance and pollution prevention by U.S. Military bases and contractor facilities.
Organized by John Lindsay Poland of the Carribean Project for Justice and Peace, the delegation visited Vieques to show solidarity with protestors and to raise awareness about community impacts from military operations in San Diego and other areas of the country.
The U.S. Navy for decades has occupied most of the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, using it for live bombing practices and other activities. But Vieques is not an abandoned island; it is home to more than 9,000 of Puerto Rico’s poorest residents. Years of military exercises, including the recently discovered use of depleted uranium ordnance, have caused serious negative effects on the health and quality of life of the people of Vieques. After a Navy bomb killed a civilian worker last year, the movement to end the U.S. Military presence on the island intensified. Officials arrested 216 demonstrators on the bombing range in May. Protestors have reentered the bombing range numerous times since then, resulting in almost 1,000 more arrests.
"Communities across the nation are impacted by military toxics. Vieques is the most current example of a community effectively speaking out and fighting for its health and safety," Ramos said in delivering a letter of support from Congressman Bob Filner and messages from local residents in support of the struggle to end Navy bombing of the island. Ramos also received support from Vieques leaders and activists for H.R. 2154, the Military Environmental Responsibility Act (MERA). Introduced by Filner in June, MERA seeks to remove all military exemptions from environmental health and safety laws.
The campaign for support of the MERA legislation and the fight against military toxics continued during the Environmental Justice Conference on Military Toxics, Sept. 7 and 8 in San Antonio, Texas. Hosted by Southwest Workers Union, an environmental and economic justice organization, the conference featured representatives from impacted communities across the nation sharing information on the struggle against military toxics. Ramos and Clean Bay Campaign Director Laura Hunter facilitated a panel on MERA and gathered 36 endorsements for the legislation from conference participants.
Show Your Support for MERA
Show your support for military accountability by endorsing the Military
Environmental Responsibility Act. Contact Laura Hunter at (619) 235-0281
or email LauraH@environmentalhealth.org for more information.
EHC also recently completed a video on MERA with development and
production assistance from Mark Freeman and students from San Diego State
University. To arrange a viewing or to obtain a copy of the video, contact
EHC at (619) 235-0281.