NEW ORLEANS, LA, Sunday, March 19, 2006 – The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) at Dillard University and the United Steelworkers (USW) will hold a joint press conference to announce the kick-off of A Safe Way Back Home project, an environmental neighborhood clean up initiative and an environmental community outreach campaign. The press conference will be held on Thursday, March 23, 2006 at 10:30 a.m., in the 8100 block of Aberdeen Road, New Orleans, Louisiana.

A Safe Way Back Home is the product of an unusual partnership between labor, environmental and community organizations. It offers neighborhood residents whose homes were flooded by Hurricane Katrina an opportunity to join forces with local Steelworkers and environmentalists to take a proactive approach to cleaning up their neighborhoods. At the event, contaminated sediment, soil, grass and other tainted items will be removed from yards, streets, and sidewalks located on the block.

Several inches of grass and top soil will be removed from each yard and staged in a vacant lot for removal by FEMA. Sidewalks, curbs, and streets will be pressure washed until all accumulated sediment is removed. Each lot will be re-landscaped with graded river sand and fresh sod. This week's clean-up activity will take place from Thursday, March 23 - Sunday, March 26, 2006.

“This demonstration project serves as a catalyst for a series of activities that will attempt to reclaim the New Orleans East community following the devastation caused by hurricane Katrina. Ultimately, it is the government’s responsibility to provide the resources required to address areas of environmental concern and to assure that the workforce is protected,” says Dr. Beverly Wright, DSCEJ’s executive director.

“FEMA should replicate this demonstration project on thousands of blocks in hundreds of neighborhoods across the City of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region,” adds United Steelworkers President Leo W. Gerard. “Only the federal government has the resources and authority to lead such a massive undertaking. But it has to be done. The human dignity and economic security of the people of the Gulf Coast depends on it.”

To accomplish this, FEMA – The Federal Emergency Management Agency -- should allocate a portion of the billions of dollars recently appropriated by Congress to clean up environmental contaminants in the region. The agency should provide the work force and materials necessary to complete the remediation. And it should sponsor and fund the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Hazardous Waste Worker Training Program and Minority Worker Training Program as models for educating cleanup workers about how to identify, control and prevent numerous potential health hazards.

Health and Safety training and equipment will be provided to all volunteers before starting the Safe Way Back Home project. The training is supported by grants from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) to Dillard University, home of DSCEJ, and to the Steelworkers’ Tony Mazzocchi Center for Safety, Health & Environmental Education.

Last week, DSCEJ and USW announced an effort in which they are teaming together to provide free remediation training classes from March 20, 2006 through March 23, 2006, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at St Maria Goretti Catholic Church, located at 7300 Crowder Blvd., New Orleans, 70127. Future collaborative training will focus on Hazardous Materials. The program will offer small and disadvantaged businesses and contractors involved in demolition, debris removal, mold remediation, and clean-up in the city of New Orleans the opportunity to obtain certification in hazardous materials remediation.

The remediation training programs are funded by funded by NIEHS. Under the direction of Dr. David A. Schwartz, NIEHS is one of 27 Institutes and Centers of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is a component of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice was developed in 1992, in collaboration with community environmental groups and area universities within the Gulf Coast Region. The DSCEJ provides opportunities for communities, scientific researchers, and decision makers to collaborate on programs and projects that promote the rights of all people to be free from environmental harm as it impacts health, jobs, housing, education, and a general quality of life.

The United Steelworkers is a union organization with 1.4 million working and retired members throughout the United States and Canada, working together to improve jobs; to build a better future for families; and to promote fairness, justice and equality both on the job and in our society.

Volunteer partners for the clean-up effort includes the Common Ground, Moving Forward Gulf Coast, Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, the National Resource Defense Council, Clark Atlanta University Environmental Justice Resource Center, Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice, National Black Environmental Justice Network, and Rebuild Hope Now. Corporate support comes from contributions made by four USW employers: McWane, Inc.; Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company; BF Goodrich; and Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc.

The Parish of St Maria Goretta Catholic Church has generously made available the use of their facility. Other professional services are being donated by R & P Landscaping and House Call Home Care Associates. These organizations, along with college students from across the country, will provided countless hours of volunteer time and other resources to help make this initiative a success.

A Safe Way Back Home is funded in part by the Ford Foundation, the Public Health Institute, the Public Welfare Foundation, the Gulf Coast Ecological Health & Community Renewal Fund, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Media Visuals: Workers and residents in personal protective equipment; Bobcats and heavy machinery used for the project.

 The broader goal of A Safe Way Back Home is to provide a sustained effort over the next several months as hundreds of thousands of survivors of this disaster-- many of whom are poor, disenfranchised and African American -- begin the long, painful task of rebuilding their lives. Much of the work of this project will focus on the research, policy, and community outreach and assistance and education of the displaced minority population of New Orleans.

DSCEJ, through its vast array of partners, has identified a large number of displaced New Orleans citizens who have temporally relocated to the cities of Birmingham, Jackson, Baton Rouge, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Memphis, Nashville and Little Rock. These cities will serve as the initial target base for A Safe Way Back Home community outreach initiatives.

For more information, please contact Mary Williams, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, (225) 201-1662 or Jim Young, The Public Health Institute, (917) 597-9129.

DSCEJ

The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) like many other programs at colleges and universities in New Orleans, Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, while physically destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, recognize an even greater need for their services. It is imperative that our current programs are continued, but it is also necessary that we shift our major attention to the destruction caused by this devastating hurricane. The DSCEJ has set up a temporary office at 440 N. Foster Drive in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

United Steelworkers

The United Steelworkers is a union organization with 1.4 million working and retired members throughout the United States and Canada, working together to improve jobs; to build a better future for families; and to promote fairness, justice and equality both on the job and in our society.