FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 29 August 2007
CONTACT: Josh Dorner, 202.675.2384
Sierra Club, Teamsters, & Public Citizen Call for Emergency Stay
to Halt Entry of Mexican Trucks Beyond Border Zone
Pilot Program Does Not Satisfy Congressional Mandates
(San Francisco, CA)--Sierra Club today joined with Public Citizen, the
International Brother of Teamsters and others seeking an emergency stay
against a pilot cross-border trucking program that fails to follows
Congressional mandates for evaluating its impact on health and safety.
The Bush administration's pilot program, which would open the US-Mexico
border for up to 100 carriers -- with multiple trucks per carrier-would
begin this weekend.
"We are proud to stand up with Public Citizen and the Teamsters against
this attempt to circumvent health and safety protections," said Carl Pope,
Executive Director of Sierra Club. "Before providing unconditional access
throughout the country to tens of thousands of big rigs we know little to
nothing about, we must insure they meet safety and environmental
standards."
According to the request for stay, the pilot program breaks laws requiring
the Department of Transportation to:
* create a program that yields statistically valid findings;
* show that U.S. trucks have the same right to travel in Mexico that
Mexico-domiciled trucks have to travel
here;
* reveal the inspection results for all motor carriers allowed to drive
beyond the border zone before the
program starts.
Allowing these long-distance hauling companies to operate in the U.S.
could result in increased traffic congestion and air pollution. These
trucks spew high levels of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter -
pollutants that contribute to respiratory illnesses such as asthma and
bronchitis. The exhaust fumes also contain chemicals that are likely
carcinogenic. The government has never analyzed how all of these new trucks
will cumulatively impact air quality and health.
"Until we know much more about these trucks, and until we've got a program
that would properly and legally evaluate their impact, this effort cannot
move forward," continued Pope.
The lawsuit was filed in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
# # #