POPs Webinar
NTTC delivered their first webinar, "POPs Treaty and Its Relevance to Tribes" on Jan 16, 2014.
You may download Pamela Miller’s, Biologist and Executive Director of Alaska Community Action on Toxics, presentation here:
International Actions to Protect Health and Future Generations: The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants ("POPs Treaty") and Its Relevance to Tribes
Due to some issues with sound, we are providing the transcribed Question/Answer/Comment portion of the call. Text may not be word-for-word and you may listen to the webinar linked below.
Webinar Question/Answer/Comments Transcribed [pdf]
Pamela Miller’s, Biologist and Executive Director of Alaska Community Action on Toxics, suggestions for how tribes can engage in the Stockholm Convention Process:
International Actions to Protect Health and Future Generations: The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants ("POPs Treaty") and Its Relevance to Tribes
Details:
Pamela Miller, Biologist and Executive Director of Alaska Community Action on Toxics, will discuss the history and importance of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. The Stockholm Convention is a global legally-binding treaty under the auspices of the United Nations to protect human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants (POPs). POPs are chemicals that remain intact in the environment for long periods, become widely distributed geographically, accumulate in the fatty tissue of living organisms and are toxic to humans and wildlife. POPs circulate globally and can cause damage wherever they travel. The United States has not yet ratified the treaty. The Preamble of the Stockholm Convention acknowledges that: "Arctic ecosystems and Indigenous communities are particularly at risk because of the biomagnification of persistent organic pollutants and that contamination of their traditional foods is a public health issue." This presentation will discuss the chemicals included under the treaty, provisions for adding new chemicals, and how individuals and tribes can become engaged to ensure that the Convention is implemented in order to protect the health of tribal communities.
Presenter:
Pamela Miller founded Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT) in 1997. Pam serves as a Principal Investigator for community-based research supported through a 5-year grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) that include faculty from universities in Alaska and New York. These research projects rely on collaborative efforts with tribes in Alaska to address environmental health and justice issues. In 2012, she was elected to the Steering Committee for the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) in recognition of her work on the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). She participates as part of an IPEN technical team in the deliberations of the international scientific committee of the Stockholm Convention. Pam is known for her work to prompt state, national, and international chemicals policy reform to protect environmental and human health in the Arctic. She was selected as a fellow for the Reach the Decision Makers program from the University of California San Francisco, Reproductive Health and Environment Program (2011) and to serve as a mentor (2013). In 2012, she received the Meritorious Service Award from the Board of Regents of the University of Alaska for her service to the community. She holds a master’s degree in environmental science from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.
Pamela Miller, Executive Director, Alaska Community Action on Toxics:
www.akaction.org
EPA staff discussed EPA’s role and involvement with the Stockholm Convention. EPA staff present for the webinar are identified with contact information here:
Webinar Information
You may view the recorded presentation HERE: