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In the News Archive 2008-2012

It Was Twenty Years Ago Today

  (Op-ed by MASSPIRG, Metro International) "With apologies to the Beatles, it was actually twenty years ago this month, in July of 1989, when Massachusetts' landmark Toxics Use Reduction Act (TURA) was passed into law and signed by Governor Michael Dukakis. After the disastrous Love Canal episode in upstate New York in the late 1970's, where thousands lost their homes and health as a result of the wanton use and disposal of toxics by a company called Hooker Chemical, a major national effort began to identify and clean up toxic waste and to reduce the use of toxic chemicals. ..."

URL:  http://www.metro.us/us/article/2009/07/10/03/0336-72/index.xml

TURI Leading U.N. Environment Programme Chemicals Project

  Rachel Massey of the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) convened a two-day meeting in Geneva, Switzerland in June to kick off a project for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The study will help guide international chemical policies and programs.

URL:  http://www.uml.edu/Media/eNews/United_Nations_Massey.html

When Haste Makes Toxic Waste, Boston Globe

  (Op-ed by Ken Geiser and Joel Tickner, The Boston Globe, July 14, 2009) "The same week that US Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts hailed House passage of the most sweeping environmental legislation since the 1970s, the Commonwealth cut one of the most effective state environmental laws in the country by virtually eliminating the Toxics Use Reduction Institute at UMass-Lowell. ..."

URL:  http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/07/14/when_haste_makes_toxic_waste/

Broken promise in toxic times, Boston Globe

  (Editorial, The Boston Globe, August 7, 2009) "Layoff notices went out recently to employees at the state's Toxics Use Reduction Institute at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. They are among many victims of the state's fiscal meltdown, but at a time when recycling workers in New Bedford are stricken by noxious fumes - to cite just one crisis involving chemicals - the state should think twice before lowering its guard against toxic industrial materials. ..."

URL:  http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2009/08/07/broken_promise_in_toxic_times/

Guest View: Reduce Use of Toxics

  (Op-ed by State Rep. Antonio F.D. Cabral, South Coast Today, August 8, 2009) Two events Monday highlight the critical need to reduce the use of toxic chemicals in the commonwealth. Ironically, at a time when we should be investing in safer technologies, funding has been eliminated for the successful Toxics Use Reduction Institute.

URL:  http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090808/OPINION/908080319/-1/NEWS06

Twenty Years of Reducing Toxics Celebrated

  (UMass Lowell E-News article), November 2009, article about the Toxics Use Reduction Act 20th anniversary symposium.

URL:  http://www.uml.edu/Media/eNews/TURI_Symposium.html

Safety Award

  3/14/10 Boston Globe, Newburyport power company Ferraz Shawmut Inc. is among 17 companies statewide to be recognized by state environmental agencies, the Toxics Use Reduction Institute, and the Officer of Technical Assistance for performance and leadership in reducing use, waste, and emissions of toxic chemicals.

URL:  http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2010/03/14/in_andover_bancroft_stays_close/?page=2

Does priming and painting OBS help prevent offgassing?

  3/12/10 Green Home Guide, "There are some companies out there such as the Architectural Coatings + Design Center based out of Los Angeles, who sell sealants specifically to stop off gassing from OSB and protect indoor air quality."

URL:  http://greenhomeguide.com/askapro/question/does-priming-and-painting-osb-help-prevent-offgassing

State honoring companies that detoxify manufacturing

  3/17/10 Boston Globe, a maker of green cleaning products, M.D. Stetson was the first company that was honored as a TURA 20th Anniversary Leader.

URL:  http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/03/17/state_honoring_companies_that_detoxify_manufacturing/

Stetson Earns Green Award

  3/21/10 Boston Globe, article about M.D. Stetson receiving the TURA 20th Anniversary Leader award.

URL:  http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2010/03/21/playing_for_haiti_in_abington/?page=4

Medford dry cleaner cuts out a chemical

  (Boston Globe, Dec. 11, 2009) The owner of Best Neighborhood Drycleaner switched to wet cleaning with the help of a grant from TURI.

URL:  http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/medford/2009/12/medford_dry_cleaner_cuts_out_a.html

It may be green but does it clean?

  March 2010, Cleaning & Maintenance Management, bylined article by Jason Marshall, director of the TURI Laboratory.

URL:  http://www.cmmagazine-digital.com/cmmagazine/201003#pg23