September 2016 Staff Briefing Resource Page
Posted on September 14, 2016
The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) successfully concluded another empowering day on our trip to Washington, DC. ADAO’s 10th Congressional Staff Luncheon Briefing “TSCA Implementation: Prioritizing Asbestos to Protect Public Health and the Environment,” was a crucial success. Over 50 staffers, representing states from nearly half the nation, attended the luncheon briefing.
An incredibly strong panel of speakers presented at this briefing, illustrating the widespread consensus supporting asbestos prioritization and regulatory included:
- Barry Castleman, ScD, Environmental Consultant
- Mark Catlin, American Public Health Association (APHA)
- Andy Igrejas, Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families (SCHF)
- Brent Kynoch, Executive Director, Environmental Information Association (EIA)
- Mike Mattmuller, Mesothelioma Patient
- Daniel Rosenberg, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
- Linda Reinstein, Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization President/CEO/Co-Founder
The EPA’s failure to ban asbestos and the related court decision made asbestos the poster child during these past 6 years of legislative efforts.
Andy Igrejas, Daniel Rosenberg, Mike Mattmuller, Linda Reinstein, Marlyn Landin, Brent Kynoch, Castleman, and Mark Catlin. Photo Credit: Earl Dotter
We owe a HUGE thank you to our all of our incredible speakers who took time out of their busy schedules to travel into DC to share their expertise and heartfelt stories!
In addition to hearing from these distinguished experts and patients, staffers also received “Share Your Story” submissions from their states, as well as several letters from U.S. Sens. Boxer, Tester, and Feinstein, as well as the Motor Equipment Manufacturers’ Association urging EPA to include asbestos among the top ten chemicals for risk evaluation under TSCA.
After the briefing, the ADAO team met with senior staff from the Committee of Environment and Public Works and EPA Assistant Administrator Jim Jones to continue our ongoing dialogue of preventing asbestos exposure in order to eliminate asbestos-related diseases. During these meetings, we solidified our position as a stakeholder in EPA’s rule-making and strengthened support on both sides of the aisle.
Mike Mattmuller and Marlyn Landin, two powerful Mesothelioma Warriors, did an incredible job sharing their stories showing staffers the personal impact asbestos has on their life.
ADAO is also very grateful to Senator Boxer, a long-standing supporter of asbestos victims, and her staffers for helping us coordinate the briefing, and also for her unyielding dedication to making America safer.
Last, but not least – thank you to Sara Tiano and Richa Patel, ADAO interns, for the countless hours they worked to ensure our briefing was successful.
Although we made incredible progress on this trip, there is so much more to do to educate Congress and the EPA:
- Share Your Story on our website or on social media – we share these with your Congressional Representatives.
- Share our September eNewsletter on social media
- Invite your elected representatives to ADAO’s Conference in April
- Share the Top 10 Asbestos Facts
- Be vocal in social media such as Facebook and Twitter.
We are being heard and together, we can make change happen.
In unity,
Linda