In 1985, “We are the World” won song of the year, The Goonies and Back to the Future lit up the silver screen, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it would assess the health risks of dioxins.
“We are the World” hasn’t hit the airwaves in years, and you’d be
hard-pressed to find a child today who is familiar with beloved 1980s
flicks. Yet 27 years later, Americans are still waiting for the EPA to fulfill its promise on examining dioxins.
The federal agency has missed self-imposed deadline after deadline to release its study of
dioxins, toxic chemicals that have been linked to cancer and other
health problems. The agency seemed like it was going to come through
this year, pinky-swearing that officials would release the long-awaited
study by the end of January. Environmentalists, scientists, policy
makers, parents, war veterans, and concerned citizens were hopeful that
this would finally be the year for some clear, safe guidelines on
dioxins.
It’s now February 7th, and there’s still no dioxin
assessment. The EPA claims it will release its study “as expeditiously
as possible.” Folks are beginning to wonder whether we’ll ever see it in
this lifetime.
