In 1978, I discovered my child was attending an elementary school built on top of a 20,000 ton, toxic-chemical dump in Niagara Falls, New York.  As a mom, I was outraged!  That shocking discovery spurred me and my neighbors to lead a three-year struggle to protect our children and families from the hazardous waste buried in our backyards.

When we bought our homes, none of us knew that Hooker Chemical Corporation, a division of Occidental Petroleum, had dumped 200 tons of a toxic, dioxin-laden chemical and 21,600 tons of various other chemicals into Love Canal.  We just knew we were getting sick.  We knew there were too many miscarriages, too many birth defects, too many central nervous systems problems, too many urinary tract disorders, and too much asthma and other respiratory problems among us.

Hooker and Occidental knew the chemicals they had buried in the canal could damage the health of the people who lived in the surrounding neighborhood.  When the company sold the land to the town school board for only $1.00, the deal contained a stipulation that if anyone was harmed by the buried waste, Hooker and Occidental would not be responsible.

After we organized and won evacuation from Love Canal in 1980, I moved to Virginia to give my children a home safe from dioxin and other toxic contamination, and to start an organization that would help people fighting toxics in their neighborhoods.

Soon after, I realized that Love Canal was not the only dioxin problem. There were sites all across the country contaminated with Dioxin.  Dioxin poses a serious health risk to both children and adults. In response, more than 100 countries have signed a treaty that calls for a global phase out of dioxin. Dioxin is a powerful cancer causing agent and human carcinogen.

You don’t have to live next to Love Canal in New York or Dow Chemical in Midland, Michigan, to suffer the effects of dioxin.  The average boy, girl, woman, or man in the U.S. has enough or almost enough dioxin in their bodies to damage their health.

The only way we can save our families from further exposure is to eliminate the sources of dioxin in everyone’s backyard.

We now have an opportunity to do that.

The EPA is soliciting comments on their proposed cleanup guidelines for dioxin.

EPA is proposing an interim preliminary remediation goal (PRG) for residential soil at 72 ppt TEQ and commercial/industrial soil at 950 ppt TEQ which are based on non-cancer effects.

What’s shocking is that if cancer effects were used to determine the cleanup goals, the levels would go down to 3.7 ppt and 17 ppt respectively at the generally accepted one-in-a-million cancer risk. EPA did not fully use cancer effects to determine the cleanup goals, despite dioxin’s classification as a “known carcinogen.”

Take action by joining parents and families across America in telling EPA you want stronger cleanup guidelines for Dioxin.

At the request of Dow Chemical and the American Chemistry Council, the EPA has extended the public comment period on their proposed cleanup guidelines for Dioxin to Friday April 2nd. Now more than ever, we need your help to counteract lobbying by Dow Chemical and the chemical industry. Join thousands of Americans by telling EPA that more stringent guidelines must be developed for Dioxin cleanup.

Here's some other ways you can help protect American families from Dioxin:

• On Twitter? Tweet this!  RT@chej Protect American Families from Dioxin - Take Action Today http://bit.ly/ac6r5H Please RT!
• On Facebook? Post this to your friends - Protect American Families from Dioxin - Take Action Today http://bit.ly/ac6r5H
• Tell your friends and family using CHEJ's tell-a-friend form.

Remember, there is still time to take action and let your voice be heard!

Lois Marie Gibbs is the Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ) located in the metropolitan Washington Area.  In 1978, Lois founded the Love Canal Homeowners' Association, and CHEJ in 1981, an organization that has assisted over 10,000 grassroots groups with organizing, technical and general information nationwide.  Her vision has guided CHEJ’s efforts to provide critical organizing and technical assistance to communities engaged in their own environmental struggles.

Lois has been recognized extensively for her critical role in the grassroots environmental justice movement.  She has spoken at numerous conferences and has been featured on many television and radio shows including 60 Minutes, 20/20, Oprah Winfrey, Good Morning America, and the Today Show.