The Pentagon:
Exposing the Hidden Polluter of Water, Air, and Soil in California
Exposing the Hidden Polluter of Water, Air, and Soil in California
March 21, Saturday in Berkeley
6:30 doors open, 7:00 - 9:00 Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Fellowship Hall 1924 Cedar St, Berkeley Free on-street parking; or short walk from Downtown or North Berkeley BART |
March 22, Sunday - World Water Day in San Francisco 12:30 doors open, 1:00- 4:00 Opening music and drama presentation: TBA The Women’s Building, Auditorium 3543 18th Street #8, San Francisco |
Edwards AFB detonates 3.75 pounds of C4 explosives for visiting JROTC students on Dec. 9, 2013. 90% of C4 is made of RDX, a kidney toxin in humans.
Panel 1 Exposing the Military's Impact
on the Environment and Health
Moderator: Nancy Price
Gar Smith is a Project Censored award-winning investigative journalist and editor emeritus of Earth Island Journal. He is the author of Nuclear Roulette, editor of The War and Environment Reader, a co-founder Environmentalists Against War and a board member of World BEYOND War.
Patricia Hynes is a retired Professor of Environmental Health from Boston University School of Public Health and author and editor of many books and articles on militarism, feminism and environmental justice. Currently she is Director of the Traprock Center for Peace and Justice in western Massachusetts.
Pat Elder is an investigative journalist with Civilian Exposure, an organization based in Camp Lejeune, NC that tracks how the military poisons people around the world and chronicles the stories of individuals who have been exposed to toxic contamination through their military service. Pat’s focus is on documenting contamination caused by the military’s use of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, (PFAS) in routine fire-fighting drills. Pat is a board member of World BEYOND War.
Many people have lived at George AFB over the years and a lot of them have died prematurely because they drank the water. Many others are sick.
Panel 2 -
The Toxic Legacy of George AFB
Moderator - Dr. Patricia Hynes
Lisa McCrea is an environmental and human rights activist and the mother of five. “I lived on the former George Air Force Base in California from 1987 to 1991. I found out 30 years after first stepping foot on the base that it is extremely contaminated with numerous toxic substances, including nuclear waste. I became partially disabled in 1990 and completely disabled in 2003, at the age of 35, as a direct result of my contamination exposure. In 2017, I switched my focus from corporate contamination to military contamination. Already a Veteran’s advocate, I
found out about the George AFB contamination through a Veteran from Camp Lejeune, NC. Since 2017, I have been fighting for Governmental and Department of Defense accountability and Justice for all affected by Military Contamination.”
Denise Torri is a small town farm girl from rural northern Illinois. She is a proud U.S. Air Force veteran. Denise was stationed at George Air Force Base in Victorville, California from 1985 to 1989. Denise is a fervent human rights activist and naturalist. She has been speaking out on how the contaminated water she drank while stationed at George AFB changed her life and likely resulted in cancer and miscarriages, like many other women who were stationed there. Denise will address the well-established ability of toxins found in drinking water to be genetically transferred from generation to generation. Her children have suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity and anxiety disorder. During her first pregnancy, Denise's daughter who was born on George AFB, suffered through the uncertainty of having a baby with a two-vessel umbilical cord - while most babies have a three-vessel umbilical cord. Denise's granddaughter has suffered from pyloric stenosis, and kidney stones. The child was recently diagnosed with anovulation, or lifelong infertility.
Lauren Coletrain is Denise Torri's daughter. Lauren is a military brat, born on George Air Force Base in Victorville California in 1988 to two young active duty airmen stationed at the base. Lauren is a wife and stay at home mother of three. She will share her perspective on how 2nd and 3rd generation groundwater contamination affects her middle class American family.
Liz Rosenbaum is the founder and organizer of the Fountain Valley Clean Water Coalition in El Paso County, Colorado, an area contaminated by aqueous film-forming foam, (AFFF) / toxic firefighting foam. Last year she worked with many other organizations and individuals to pass state legislation that will phase out the use and sale of AFFF. You can follow this community on Facebook to learn more about this region, which has one of the largest and most contaminated populations in the country. Liz is a former high school history teacher and small business owner. She is also involved in local politics.
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Gary Ghirardi runs outreach projects for the National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth, NNOMY, a network of groups across the United States that take part in some form of youth demilitarization programming and/or counter military recruitment activism in public schools. Gary is providing his expertise in videography and social media outreach throughout this campaign.
The Toxic Legacy of George AFB
Moderator - Dr. Patricia Hynes
Lisa McCrea is an environmental and human rights activist and the mother of five. “I lived on the former George Air Force Base in California from 1987 to 1991. I found out 30 years after first stepping foot on the base that it is extremely contaminated with numerous toxic substances, including nuclear waste. I became partially disabled in 1990 and completely disabled in 2003, at the age of 35, as a direct result of my contamination exposure. In 2017, I switched my focus from corporate contamination to military contamination. Already a Veteran’s advocate, I
found out about the George AFB contamination through a Veteran from Camp Lejeune, NC. Since 2017, I have been fighting for Governmental and Department of Defense accountability and Justice for all affected by Military Contamination.”
Denise Torri is a small town farm girl from rural northern Illinois. She is a proud U.S. Air Force veteran. Denise was stationed at George Air Force Base in Victorville, California from 1985 to 1989. Denise is a fervent human rights activist and naturalist. She has been speaking out on how the contaminated water she drank while stationed at George AFB changed her life and likely resulted in cancer and miscarriages, like many other women who were stationed there. Denise will address the well-established ability of toxins found in drinking water to be genetically transferred from generation to generation. Her children have suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity and anxiety disorder. During her first pregnancy, Denise's daughter who was born on George AFB, suffered through the uncertainty of having a baby with a two-vessel umbilical cord - while most babies have a three-vessel umbilical cord. Denise's granddaughter has suffered from pyloric stenosis, and kidney stones. The child was recently diagnosed with anovulation, or lifelong infertility.
Lauren Coletrain is Denise Torri's daughter. Lauren is a military brat, born on George Air Force Base in Victorville California in 1988 to two young active duty airmen stationed at the base. Lauren is a wife and stay at home mother of three. She will share her perspective on how 2nd and 3rd generation groundwater contamination affects her middle class American family.
Liz Rosenbaum is the founder and organizer of the Fountain Valley Clean Water Coalition in El Paso County, Colorado, an area contaminated by aqueous film-forming foam, (AFFF) / toxic firefighting foam. Last year she worked with many other organizations and individuals to pass state legislation that will phase out the use and sale of AFFF. You can follow this community on Facebook to learn more about this region, which has one of the largest and most contaminated populations in the country. Liz is a former high school history teacher and small business owner. She is also involved in local politics.
==============
Gary Ghirardi runs outreach projects for the National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth, NNOMY, a network of groups across the United States that take part in some form of youth demilitarization programming and/or counter military recruitment activism in public schools. Gary is providing his expertise in videography and social media outreach throughout this campaign.
