Grant Program Environment

To conduct educational mailings on dioxin discharges issues in Merrymeeting Bay.

To eliminate chlorine bleaching in Maine’s paper industry, a practice that produces dioxin, by promoting the use of alternative paper products among small businesses and consumers.

To provide legal representation to the Penobscot Indian Nation in its attempt to force the Lincoln Pulp and Paper Company to stop emitting dioxin into the Penobscot River.

To reduce pesticide use in Massachusetts by creating and implementing a model Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program in a public school district, and by promoting a similar IPM program for state-owned property.

To create a revolving loan fund accessible to grassroots environmental organizations for the purpose of stabilizing, diversifying or increasing their funding base with improved development programs.

To conduct a public information campaign about the health hazards to humans and wildlife from the dioxin being emitted into Maine’s rivers and lakes by pulp and paper mills.

To provide general support.

To build a national network of environmental activists by recruiting from within the EDF membership, by forming partnerships with regional organizations with large memberships, and by enlisting college students via campus organizing and the Internet.

To build the supply of, and demand for, apples that are certifiably grown by Northeastern producers using environmentally responsible methods, including a minimum of pesticides.

To document the levels of dioxin in milk produced on a sampling of Vermont dairy farms and to correlate those levels with short- and long-range emission sources, primarily incinerators.