Bob's Blog
Trouble at the Erie Coke Corporation Plant
Last month, after news about possible environmental and public health threats posed by the Erie Coke Corporation plant, I requested that the Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) conduct a public health assessment to determine if emissions from the Erie Coke Corp.’s coke-making facility has or will cause harm to the health of people living near the facility. Many Erie residents believe they have suffered a wide range of health problems, ranging from headaches to cancer, due to the plant’s emissions.
Earlier this month, ATSDR notified me that it plans to work other agencies to determine what information and monitoring data exist about the type and concentration of air contaminants that may be released from the facility or present in the air of the surrounding community. ATSDR will use this information to determine if a public health assessment is feasible and, if so, what type of assessment would provide the community with the most accurate and timely information possible to respond to its concerns.
Protecting the health of those who work at the Erie Coke plant and those who reside near the plant is a top priority. I believe all citizens are entitled to a clean, healthy environment and that any serious threats to this entitlement must be addressed.
Coaches Versus Cancer
Today I attended a rally for comprehensive health care reform with fellow Senators Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. We were joined by five college basketball coaches from around the country, including Coach Ed DeChellis from Penn State University. The coaches are visiting Washington with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network to emphasize that comprehensive health care reform giving all Americans access to adequate, affordable health care must be passed NOW, not later. The consumer protections included in our discussions of health care reform are critically important for cancer patients: removing annual or lifetime caps on coverage; prohibiting insurance companies from watering down or cancelling coverage when someone gets sick; and prohibiting insurers from discriminating against individuals with preexisting health conditions (such as a previous cancer diagnosis) by denying them coverage or charging them more.
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