a note from Greenpeace - Katrina | rotten fishing practices

I'm sure you've heard about the damage hurricane Katrina has caused
to the New Orleans area. But did you know about the dangerous toxic
chemicals that have been released? Check out this message I recently
received from Greenpeace:

Hurricane Katrina, one of the largest and strongest storms on record,
roared onto shore this week, causing massive devastation in
Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and other states. But another danger
to the region is still brewing. With storm surges of up to 20 feet in
some areas, huge petro-chemical plants, gas stations and waste pits
have unleashed a toxic cocktail of chemicals ranging from vinyl
chloride to gasoline.

Take Action! Natural disaster or terrorist attack - Tell Congress to
act NOW to prevent more tragedy:
usactions.greenpeace.org/action/start.php?action_id=63

Already nicknamed "Cancer Alley," polluted flood waters of up to 20
feet can also contaminate homes, drinking water and surrounding
waterways. In New Orleans, the city's levee system is now serving
only to hold water in the city, creating a temporary lake of toxic
chemicals, gas, oil and storm debris.

Deputy director of the Louisiana State University's Hurricane Center,
Ivor van Heerden, warns, "We're talking about an incredible
environmental disaster? a bowl full of highly contaminated water with
contaminated air flowing around and, literally, very few places for
anybody to go where they'll be safe."

I've been working for Greenpeace for more than 14 years to prevent
just this sort of tragedy. No one could stop Katrina, but chemical
plants like those found in Cancer Alley and around the nation can be
converted to safer technologies. Natural disasters, chemical spills
during transport and the threat of chemical terrorist attacks are
reason enough. The good news is that toxic chemicals such as
chlorine, which are used to make these pollutants, have many safer
alternatives - it's time to make the switch.

Sincerely,
Rick Hind
Legislative Director

P.S. I can't think of a more critical issue to act on, so please, be
sure to pass this message on to your friends and loved ones.

~~~~~
Fishing for Trouble

For weeks, I've been telling you about a big fight over a little fish
called the menhaden. Nearly 16,000 of you wrote to the Atlantic
States Marine Fisheries Commission to protect the menhaden from
factory fishing giant Omega Protein - that's more than 30 times the
number of comments the commission has ever received about an issue.
And your letters worked! Last week, the commission decided to limit
factory fishing of menhaden for the first time in history.

There's no question that this couldn't have happened without you, and
I want to thank you for your support for an important little fish.

But the fight is far from over, and we're not letting Omega off the hook.

Take Action! Tell Omega to stop its rotten fishing practices!
usactions.greenpeace.org/action/start.php?action_id=61

Thank you,
John Hocevar
Ocean Campaigner
~~~~~
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~~~~~
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