U.S. policies toward Iraq, Iran focus of forum

BURLINGTON — As part of a Northeast tour for a “just foreign policy in Iraq and Iran, the Peace and Justice Center and the Anthropology of Human Rights class at the University of Vermont is bringing several speakers and photojournalists to town to share stories about the current conflicts in the Middle East.

The first forum will take place Wednesday from 7-9 p.m. in 208 Lafayette Hall at the University of Vermont (UVM). The speakers will be at Castleton State College on Thursday.

The speakers include:

Raed Jarrar, an Iraqi-Palestinian blogger, activist and architect, will speak on the War in Iraq, from its streets to the Iraqi Parliament. Jarrar, director of the Iraq Project of Global Exchange, lived in Iraq during the 2003 invasion, and has since established humanitarian and political grassroots organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) based in Iraq.

Jarrar now works in the United States promoting the Iraq Reconciliation Plan and was part of the Global Exchange delegation that met with U.S. and Iraqi parliamentarians to discuss strategies for ending the war in Iraq.

Antonia Juhasz, author of The Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time, and scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies, will focus her speech on the oil time line‚ that motivated the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. She will also compare U.S. policy toward Iran and Iraq and share the implications of the Middle East Free Trade Area.

Rostam Pourzal, president of the U.S. branch of the Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran will speak about Washington’s past and present policy toward Iran. Pourzal claims that although the U.S. is losing its war in Iraq it is trying to plow ahead to war with Iran, which would further destabilize security in the Middle East and the United States.

A photo exhibition will feature photographers‚ work from Iran, Iraq and Lebanon. Award winning photojournalist Andrew Stern, acclaimed photojournalist Lynsey Addario, and Iranian photojournalists Ramin Talaie and Mohammad Kheirkhah, will have their work on display.

Additional information regarding the Just Foreign Policy Tour can be found at: www.justforeignpolicy.org/tour

A $5 suggested donation will be collected at the door.

Vermont health officials plan for IP tire burn

BURLINGTON – Vermont state agencies will keep a close watch for environmental and health effects should International Paper’s tire burn go forward at its Ticonderoga plant.

Despite its ongoing legal challenges to block the burn, the state departments of environmental conservation and health are prepared to monitor the burn as closely as possible, officials said Tuesday.

“We do not expect that Vermonters will need to take any special precautions, but we will be working closely with area hospitals, health care providers and the Department of Environmental Conservation and if we have any indication that there is a problem, we will alert the public,” said Sharon Moffatt, acting health commissioner.

The Department of Environmental Conservation will monitor the burn and the air quality at two stations in Vermont using measuring equipment. Monitoring will take place 24 hours a day during each day of the burn for particulates, sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxides, zinc and 13 other potentially toxic metals, officials said.

“Studies have shown a tire burn such as this could increase levels of particulate matter, including zinc oxide and other possibly harmful substances coming out of the stack,” said Jeffrey Wennberg, the state’s environmental commissioner.

The Department of Environmental Conservation will also have an observer on site at the plant to make daily reports of operations during the burn.

“Because it is not possible to accurately predict whether there will be an increase in air pollution that could cause illness, as a precaution the Health Department has set up a medical surveillance program to monitor for health effects in case the burn goes forward,” said Moffat.

The Vermont Department of Health has begun a six-week medical surveillance program in partnership with Fletcher Allen Health Care, Rutland Regional Medical Center, Porter Medical Center and outpatient clinics in Addison County to monitor for health effects. Medical surveillance began Oct. 23 — two weeks prior to the scheduled tire burn — and will continue during the two weeks of the burn, and for two weeks following the burn.

This medical surveillance program will use an existing syndromic surveillance system currently in place at Rutland Regional Medical Center and Fletcher Allen Health Care. This system — referred to as Vermont’s Early Aberration Reporting System (VT EARS) — tracks syndromes among patients presenting to emergency departments as well as among those with unplanned inpatient admissions. In addition, a new surveillance system modeled after VT EARS has been established at Porter Medical Center as well as in several outpatient clinics in Addison County.

Data from medical surveillance and environmental surveillance will take several weeks to analyze, but if there is a change in air quality or more people are having illness that can be linked to air pollution, this will provide compelling data to stop future tire burning.

The Vermont Department of Health always anyone who has health concerns to consult with their health care provider.

Additional information about health and environmental monitoring if the burn goes forward will be available on the environmental conservation’s website and at the health department’s website.

Posted October 31, 2006

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