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Dymally toxic towel bill staggers opponents in
round one
“If we can't arrive at a solution to clean this mess
up," said Dymally, "I will also ask Attorney General Bill Lockyer
to examine this issue to determine whether environmental laws have been broken." CalNews.com News Service
April 14, 2004
AB 2732, which
requires the suppliers of contaminated cloth shop towels to affix a warning
label alerting users that the towel may have been in contact with hazardous
materials, met with token industry opposition by surrogates of the shop towel
manufacturers in the bill’s first legislative hearing. When he
introduced the bill, Dymally told the press that he had planned to amend it
to require additional sanctions, and possibly to ban the use of all
re-laundered industrial cloth shop towels altogether. At yesterday’s
hearing he made good on that promise, sending opponents scurrying at the last
minute to try and cut a deal with the veteran legislator. Dymally is also
considering calling in Attorney General Bill Lockyer to investigate the use
of the towels in the workplace if legislative efforts to increase workers
safety fail during this legislative session. “If we
can't arrive at a solution to clean this mess up," said Dymally, "I
will also ask Attorney General Bill Lockyer to examine this issue to
determine whether environmental laws have been broken." Assembly member
Dymally joins a growing chorus of environmental and labor organizations who
have joined forces to address the hidden problem of "toxic
towels." These are the re-laundered cloth shop towels used by
maintenance and factory workers, mechanics and other industry service people
to clean up chemical and other spills, and remain high in toxic chemical
contaminants even after laundering. "Toxic
towels are exposing workers to dangerous levels of metals and other
contaminants in the workplace. We need the Legislature to fix this
problem," said Willie Pelote, the Political
and Legislative Director of AFSCME, a major labor union and legislative
co-sponsor. After being
returned by a commercial laundry service, toxic towels contain contaminants,
and sometimes metal shavings, that remain on the towels with the potential to
create physical harm to the user. A recently
released study conducted by the Gradient Corporation found that employees who
utilize 2.5 reusable shop towels per day could be exposed to lead at levels
that exceed Proposition 65 limits by a factor of 26. These towels are
repeatedly re-contaminated, re-laundered, and placed back in the shops where
they are used by unsuspecting workers who believe they are using clean towels
when wiping their hands, arms and faces. "Simply put,
if shop owners use commercially laundered cloth shop towels, they may be
exposing their workforce to toxic contaminants placed on the towels by other users,
with no indication of that danger on the packaging. And just
imagine the polluted water going down the drain. This issue has
nationwide implications", said Dymally. " |
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