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Jonathan Campbell

Helping people take charge of their health

Testimony of Jonathan L. Campbell

Environmental Consultant

1 Minot Ave., Littleton, MA 01460

June 18, 1997

Dear Honorable Committee Members,

With your permission, I wish to address you today regarding revision of the Toxic Use Reduction Act (TURA) now before you. This landmark legislation has become a national model for reducing unnecessary use of toxic chemicals. Its provisions, you might recall, merely call for reporting of use of toxic materials in commerce and industry, and voluntary reductions based on that analysis.

By its nature, TURA has enabled businesses in Massachusetts to reduce their use of toxic chemicals by 20% and reduce toxic emissions of those chemicals by over 60%! In other words, once businesses looked carefully at their use of toxic chemicals, they discovered that they could make their operations cleaner, safer, and less expensive to operate by reducing their use of these chemicals. Thus we enjoy and cleaner environment and those businesses are more competitive and profitable! It is truly a WIN-WIN-WIN situation.

Naturally, the proponents of TURA, including myself, would like to extend the law, by adding pesticide use, energy consumption, and solid waste production to the reporting structure. Once businesses look carefully at the costs of these items, it will enable them to reduce waste and to become even cleaner and more competitive and profitable. It will enable them to rationally look at energy conservation, safer and cheaper pesticides, and reduce, reuse, or recycle much of their solid waste. In other words, this proposed act, H. 3094, enables businesses in the commonwealth to become models of efficiency and profitability while reducing dramatically their environmental impact.

So what could be wrong with such legislation, which merely calls for rational use of toxic chemicals? Well, from the point of the chemical manufacturers, plenty. Its success means that they are selling a smaller quantity of toxic chemicals to Massachusetts businesses. These same chemical manufacturers, rather than finding ways to produce non-toxic alternatives, want to gut TURA, and substitute their own legislation. H. 1553/S. 1046, incorrectly called "An Act to Further Encourage Pollution Prevention in the Commonwealth," is actually an act that eliminates TURA. It should therefore really be referred to as "An Act to Further Encourage Pollution in the Commonwealth" because it eliminates the most important provisions of TURA, discouraging users of these chemicals from looking carefully at unnecessary waste and safer, cheaper alternatives.

I urge you to lend your support and endorsement to H. 3094, "An Act to Further Encourage Pollution Prevention Through Environmental Stewardship." Please do not give the Commonwealth’s environment away to Dow, Monsanto, and the Chemical Manufacturers Association.