For Immediate Release
April 27, 2020
** PRESS RELEASE**
200+ ORGANIZATIONS CALL
ON AG COMMISSIONER FRIED TO END PRE-HARVEST SUGAR FIELD BURNING
Florida
Council of Churches, Everglades Coalition, Miami Climate Alliance, and Florida
Clinicians for Climate Action join Glades’ institutions to demand change
Belle Glade, FL – Two letters were sent
to Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried today to urge her to begin the
phase-out of pre-harvest sugarcane field burning. The letters, one from the 60-plus member organizations in the Everglades Coalition, the other signed by businesses, non-profits
and religious institutions in and around the Glades, the Florida Council of
Churches, Florida Clinicians for Climate Action, and the Miami Climate Alliance
– representing well over
150 organizations, churches and businesses and over 100 doctors, nurses and public health experts, both identify the Covid-19
threat as an underscore to the urgency of the Stop the Burn Campaign’s cause.
……………………………………………………..........
April 27, 2020
Commissioner Nikki Fried
Florida Department of Agriculture
and Consumer Services
Plaza Level 10, The Capitol
400 S. Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0800
RE: Stop the Burn Now
Dear Commissioner Fried:
We, the below-signed organizations
and businesses, urge you to take action now to stop the toxic practice of
pre-harvest sugar field burning. You
already know the facts:
●
Over 400,000 acres of sugarcane is
grown in the EAA, where the pre-harvest field burning season lasts 6-8 months
(October-March/April/May).
●
Pre-harvest sugar field burning is
estimated to release over 3,000 tons of hazardous air pollutants a year
including carcinogenic pollutants like Formaldehyde, Benzene, and
Acenaphthylene.
●
Pre-harvest sugarcane burning also
releases greenhouse gas emissions, contributes to the pollution of nearby
waterways through atmospheric deposition, and increases rates of soil
subsidence that threaten the long term viability of agriculture within the EAA.
●
Medical research has linked exposure
to pre-harvest sugar field burning pollution to a wide variety of health issues
including respiratory disease, cancer, kidney disease, and poor infant health
outcomes; those most at risk are children and the elderly.
●
Current wind-based sugarcane burning
regulations deny burn permits if winds are projected to blow the toxic smoke
and ash plumes toward the more affluent Eastern Palm Beach County and Eastern
Martin County communities near the coast while burn permits are currently
approved with minimal/ineffective protections provided when the wind blows
toward the predominately African-American and Latinx residents of Western Palm
Beach County, Western Martin County, Hendry County, and Glades County.
●
The EPA’s Environmental Justice
Screening and Mapping Tool show the Glades communities rank on average in the
80–100 percentile risk range for both cancer and respiratory health impacts as
compared to the other EPA region, state, and national census block groups.
●
The Florida sugar industry already
“green harvests” small amounts of sugarcane each year when it is convenient for
them.
●
The Florida industry is behind the
times: Sugarcane growers in Louisiana,
Brazil, Australia, Zimbabwe and elsewhere in the world are already switching
from pre-harvest burning to modern, sustainable, green harvesting and
benefiting from the utilization of sugarcane trash (leaves and tops) as an
added resource and/or source of income.
●
A switch to green harvesting will
not only improve public health and protect the environment but will also
provide new economic opportunities for communities in and around the EAA and
the industry itself; this has been exemplified in every nation around the world
where the switch has been made.
We are appalled at the
discriminatory nature of the current burn permitting regulations and know that
you, as Commissioner of Agriculture, have the both the authority and the
responsibility to protect Floridians from this type of outdated agricultural
practice that so endangers the health and economic well-being of so many in and
around the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA).
In
a press conference on October 1, 2019 you said “keeping Florida’s residents,
communities, and environment safe is my number one priority.” But as of today Florida residents living in
and around the Glades remain unprotected.
In addition to the smoke and ash they endure, these residents are put at
further risk by Covid-19. As you and
your department consider and implement measures to protect Floridians from
Covid-19, you must not forget your stated priority.
Per
the Florida Forest Service’s active burn tracking tool, ash plumes often travel
well over 20 miles. The Covid-19 threat
is the perfect impetus for you to finally institute the first phase of the end
to pre-harvest sugar field burning right now, a 27-30 mile buffer around homes,
schools, streets, and churches.
A
27-30 mile buffer around Moore Haven, Clewiston, South Bay, Belle Glade,
Pahokee, Indiantown and other impacted communities will be a first step toward
providing those Florida citizens the protection to which they have a right but have
been denied for generations.
We
understand that the eventual complete ban of pre-harvest burning must be
effectuated in a series of phases; the Covid-19 threat requires that phase one
begins now.
The news is frightening:
●
“The corona virus is deadly enough.
But some experts suspect bad air makes it worse.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/03/15/smoking-air-pollution-coronavirus/
●
“Air pollution likely to increase
corona virus death rate, warn experts” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/17/air-pollution-likely-to-increase-coronavirus-death-rate-warn-experts
●
“Air pollution increases corona virus
vulnerability, experts say” https://www.foxnews.com/science/air-pollution-increases-coronavirus-vulnerability-experts-claim
To truly prioritize the health and
safety of Glades residents, you must take the steps to institute a 27-30-mile
buffer zone now; because Glades lives matter.
We expect bold leadership from you
Commissioner. We expect you to protect
the health, safety, and welfare of Florida’s most vulnerable communities
first. Institute the first phase of a
ban on pre-harvest sugar field burning and you will be true to your promise and
be the catalyst for a brand new, improved economic future for the Glades. Stand back and let the burning continue and
you will be remembered as yet another politician who pays lip service only to
your most vulnerable constituents.
Sincerely,
All Faiths Unitarian
Congregation, Fort Myers FL
Reverend C.J. McGregor, Minister
Aquatics
for Life
Susan
Steinhauser, President
Ascension
33, Inc.
Shanique
Scott, President
Balance
For Earth, Inc.
Dylan
Hansen, President
Climate
Reality Project, Boca Raton Chapter
Holly
Lichtenfeld, Co-Chair
Common
Ground Project Florida
Tess
Martin, State Director
Farmworkers
Association of Florida
Antonio
Tovar, Interim General Coordinator
Fitz
Productions LLC
Tom
Fitz, Owner
Florida
Council of Churches
The
Rev. Dr. Russell L. Meyer, Executive Director
Florida
Clinicians for Climate Action
Dr.
Cheryl Holder and Dr. Ankush Bansal, Co-Chairs
Florida
Poor People’s Campaign
Dan
Jones, Member, State Coordinating Committee
Glades
Community Organization, Inc.
Gloria
VanBrocklin, Office Manager
GreenFaith
FL
Rev.
Dr. Neddy Astudillo, Florida Organizer
Her
Queendom Ministry, Inc.
Kina
Phillips, President
Indianwood
Home Owners Association
Larry
Guariniello, President
Lee
County Chapter Climate Reality
Ariel
Hoover, MA, Chair
Emily
Gorman, Steering Committee Chair
Peace
Justice Sustainability Florida
David
Gibson, Organizing Coordinator
People
for Protecting Peace River, Inc.
Brooks
Armstrong, President
Sisters
of The Blessed Sacrament, Belle Glade, FL
Sister
Laura Cavanaugh and Sister Anne Meehan
The Connection
Partners, Inc.
Sharon
Joy Kleitsch, Founding Partner
####