My Green Background 1971-1980

Because of my age...I was green before green was green. To create a sense of content.  When i was young they sprayed DDT in the neighborhoods to kill mosquitos.

My first job was for the AFL-CIO in the Industrial Union Department,. the old CIO. I was given the title of intern and assigned to Sheldon Samuels, a legend in the field of occupational safety and health.  i learned plenty from Shelly as he taught me about enviornmental hazards in the workforce.  I created and directed a national education program for executives of international unions.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was only a few months old and we were all learning about what was and what was not good.  Up to that time, corporation data was trusted as the standard. What was and what was not toxic was never put into a form that could be identified and a standard enforced in the work place.  It was new...everyone was feeling their way around and I was at the forefront of a new movement. It ended up today to be the Green Movement.  Back in college I had green sticker on my 67 Camero that said ECOLOGY NOW, but I really did not do much except talk about it.

Much of my work was staying on top environmental regulations which were promulgated in the Federal Register.  I read the Register everyday and identified an inconsistency in the list when the Threshold Limit Values (TLV's) of Toxic Substances were published.  This is a list of toxic substances which had never before been listed and identified as toxic in the work place.  This was at the advent of environmental regulations and before that it was more of "anything goes".

What I found initially was that the list that was previously printed in the Federal Register which was the preliminary listings differed from the second list.  When the final list came out it was larger than the first list.  I thought it would be good to check what the new toxins were and report to Shelly.  What I found was that there were new substances on the list but there were also some left off the list.  I identified 20 or so benzene compounds that were not on the second list but on the first list.  I told Shelly.

Next thing you know I am a hero.  I got to have lunch with Shelly and the Assistant Secretary at EPA at Trader Vic's.  He told me when he was made aware of the problem he wanted to meet the conscientious young man who made this discovery.  I got a $10 dollar a week raise.

In the late 70's I directed the Weatherization Program in Washington County Pennsylvania.  through the program we provided weatherization assistance including energy saving devices, insulation and storm windows to low income people at 150% of poverty.