Our bodies are intimately linked to the environment through the use of water. For the health of all people and communities, we must have access to safe, sufficient and affordable water for domestic and personal needs. Yet our water is saturated with toxic chemicals and heavy metals that put our health at risk. This workshop will focus on raising awareness about "chemical body burden" and introduce specific strategies for claiming our right to safe water in the face of corporations that profit from polluting our bodies.
Scientific research is expanding in new directions to show that trace amounts of chemicals and heavy metals can cause life-threatening diseases and disrupt our normal cognitive and neurological development from cradle to grave. We will discuss how this “body burden” creates a “precondition” for disease at any time in life, even many years after exposure.
Industry, agriculture, and the military are the worst offenders. They lobby government for lower regulations and exemptions, and vigorously endorse free trade agreements that erode drinking water standards and contaminate ground water.
Panelists will present scientific findings and testimonies about the community health impacts of corporate toxic trespass. U.S. Corporations, given the rights of persons in the 19th century, have no right to harm the bodies of natural persons and We, the People, must assert our fundamental and inalienable right to be free from involuntary invasion of our bodies by corporate and military pollution.
Clear steps for community action will be recommended for claiming our right to safe water and health:
The first is the Precautionary Principle Ordinance adopted in 2003 by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors which states that the City may act with “precaution” to prevent harms to the environment and protect public health even when full scientific evidence about cause and effect is lacking.
The second is the “Chemical Trespass Ordinance” prohibiting chemical bodily trespass within Liberty Township of Pennsylvania and establishing strict liability and burden of proof standards for chemical trespass; and subordinating chemical corporations to the people of Liberty Township.
The panel will be presented as follows:

* Agrochemical impacts on water in California’s Central Valley (Susana de Anda, Community Water Center, Central Valley, CA)
* Toxic Packaging: Health Risks from Plastic Bottles – a Precautionary Approach (Tim Montague, Rachel’s Democracy and Health News)
* Coal-fired Power and Mercury in Our Water (Jeff Conant, Peoples Health Movement)
* Military Toxics and Groundwater Pollution (Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice)
* Mountain-top Removal and Watershed Destruction (TBA)
* Taking Back Our Rights to Water and Health (Nancy Price, Alliance for Democracy)