News Release
T – 09 – 15
Barbara A. Lee, Director
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 20, 2015
Contact: Jorge Moreno
(916) 327-4383
Jorge.Moreno@dtsc.ca.gov
Launch of the Bayview Hunters Point
Environmental Justice Response Task Force
SACRAMENTO – Department of Toxic Substances Control Director Barbara A. Lee will help launch the Bayview Hunters Point Environmental Justice Response Task Force on Wednesday, July 22, in San Francisco.
The task force is one of the newest members of the Identifying Violations Affecting Neighborhoods (IVAN) program and the first member in Northern California. The task force, initiated by Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice, will launch a new website and mobile application that will enable residents to file pollution complaints online and track responses on their computers and smart phones.
“The Department is proud to be part of this task force,” Director Lee said. “Using the latest technology and collaborating with local community members is essential to reporting environmental hazards quickly and connecting with real people who can resolve those issues.”
The task force brings together local residents, environmental justice groups, industry representatives and local, regional, state, and federal environmental regulatory agencies in an effort to help reduce pollution as well as improve government and industry response to community complaints.
Along with Director Lee, California EPA Assistant Secretary for Environmental Justice and Tribal Affairs, Arsenio Mataka, will participate in the launching of the task force as well as representatives from U.S EPA, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, San Francisco Department of the Environment, San Francisco Department of Public Health, and the Regional Water Board.
IVAN is an Environmental Monitoring System that connects the community with real people that can help solve local environmental problems. The IVAN network began in the Imperial Valley in 2009 and has spread to Coachella, Wilmington, Fresno, Kern and Kings counties.
Bayview Hunters Point Environmental Justice Response Task Force
2 p.m. Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Southeast Community College
1800 Oakdale, San Francisco, CA
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FOR GENERAL INQUIRIES: Contact the Department of Toxic Substances Control by phone at (800) 728-6942 or visit www.dtsc.ca.gov. To report illegal handling, discharge, or disposal of hazardous waste, call the Waste Alert Hotline at (800) 698-6942.
The mission of DTSC is to protect California’s people and environment from harmful effects of toxic substances by restoring contaminated properties, enforcing hazardous waste law, reducing hazardous waste generation, and encouraging the manufacture of chemically safer products.