LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Pollution: Environment
built 195 days ago
Nongovernmental citizen groups have formed at the local, national, and international level to combat pollution problems worldwide. Many of these organizations provide information and support for people or organizations traditionally not involved in the decision-making process. The Pesticide Action Network provides technical information about the effects of pesticides on farmworkers. The Citizen’s Clearinghouse for Hazardous Waste, established by veterans of the Love Canal controversy, provides support for communities targeted for hazardous waste installations. A well-organized, grassroots, environmental justice movement has arisen to advocate equitable environmental protections. Greenpeace is an activist organization that focuses international attention on industries and governments known to contaminate land, sea, or atmosphere with toxic or solid wastes.
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The purpose of the NVMSRP is to prevent mercury pollution by removing mercury switches from automobiles and trucks before the vehicles are shredded and recycled into new steel. U. S. Steel supports the program and is participating fully in it as a member of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). Other parties to the agreement include the AISI, the Steel Manufacturers Association, auto manufacturers, vehicle dismantlers and shredders, environmental organizations and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
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Primary effects of pollution occur immediately after contamination occurs, such as the death of marine plants and wildlife after an oil spill at sea. Secondary effects may be delayed or may persist in the environment into the future, perhaps going unnoticed for many years. DDT, a nondegradable compound, seldom poisons birds immediately, but gradually accumulates in their bodies. Birds with high concentrations of this pesticide lay thin-shelled eggs that fail to hatch or produce deformed offspring. These secondary effects, publicized by Rachel Carson in her 1962 book, Silent Spring, threatened the survival of species such as the bald eagle and peregrine falcon, and aroused public concern over the hidden effects of nondegradable chemical compounds.
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Program participants will carry portable digital video cameras to document their experiences and the local causes of pollution. All videos and summary data will be posted to the Environmental Countdown website (http://www.environmentalcountdown.com/) giving access to people from across the nation and around the world. Organizers believe this new effort will help Americans to better understand the connection between health and the environment.
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Hazardous chemicals and nutrient pollution find their way into the marine environment via effluents, dumps, storm runoff, sewage, and wind-blown dust. These cause environmental insults to inshore estuarine and marine environments. This is especially damaging to coastal marine nursery areas like sea grass beds, coral reefs, and mangrove forests. While many of these effluents cause local environmental insults, siltation, oil pollution, poisons and plastic trash contribute to extensive, damage to inshore marine environments.
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In addition to its effects on the economy, health, and natural resources, pollution has social implications. Research has shown that low-income populations and minorities do not receive the same protection from environmental contamination as do higher-income communities. Toxic waste incinerators, chemical plants, and solid waste dumps are often located in low-income communities because of a lack of organized, informed community involvement in municipal decision-making processes.
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