Culminating Event
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Join us in a culminating rally to deliver a petition to WA Department of Ecology to ban toxic chemicals in our water! Featuring musician Dana Lyons, Mike the inflatable orca, interactive chalk mural with Gabrielle Wildheart, speakers from WA Department of Ecology, Toxic Free Future, and more!
Orca Action Month Rally Agenda
Thursday, June 27th, 12-2pm Pacific Time
What: Clean Water, Healthy Futures: Orca Action Month Rally
Registration: No registration needed!
Fee: Free.
Where: Westlake Park, downtown Seattle.
When: 12:00 - 2:00 pm PST with speakers at 12:30 pm.
Who: Orca Salmon Alliance is hosting the rally. Speakers include Daniel Parkhurst from Toxic Free Future, Paulina Lopez from Duwamish River Community Coalition, Cindy Hansen from Orca Network, and Heather Bartlett, Deputy Director of the WA Department of Ecology.
With great visuals including a huge inflatable Mike the Orca, 20’ Clean Water, Healthy Futures banner, a family of orca dorsal fins, and a beautiful chalk mural by artist Gabrielle Wildheart. Also featuring music by Dana Lyons.
Why: Toxic contaminants are one of the three primary threats to the critically endangered Southern Resident orcas, of whom only 74 remain today. Toxic chemicals present in everyday items from cosmetics to plastics to household cleaners contaminate waterways through stormwater runoff, wastewater treatment plants, industrial discharge, derelict structures, and other sources. These substances pose significant threats to orca, salmon, and human health. 6PPD quinone, for example, a substance created when 6PPD comes off of car tires in dust and breaks down, is lethal to coho salmon, which are consumed by the Southern Resident orcas.
Organizers of Orca Action Month will present a petition to the Washington Department of Ecology with thousands of signatures expressing public support for the Department’s efforts to regulate and ban harmful chemicals from consumer products through the Safer Products for Washington law. Petitioners are urging Ecology to prioritize PPDs, brominated and/or chlorinated substances, formaldehyde, BTEX substances, siloxanes, lead and cadmium for regulatory actions. Many of these chemicals are known to have toxic effects on aquatic life.
Contact: Rein Attemann at rein@waconservationaction.org, Kathleen Callaghy at KCallaghy@defenders.org, or John Rosapepe at jrosapepe@endangered.org