"We want positive alternatives in our community," emphasized Watson. The prospect of young children being impaired by cognitive development due to toxins, and others suffering from a range of cardiovascular diseases, was a motivating impetus.
The Maryland Department of the Environment has since pulled the permit that Energy Answers International had secured. It turned out that they were out of compliance with the state rule that demanded construction on a project had to begin during the eighteen months before the air quality permit expired.
Watford is now a student at Towson University. She pronounced to the audience during her acceptance speech, "It isn't the fate of our community our our planet to be a dumping ground."
Calling for a mobilization of the grassroots with the impassioned declaration, "We have to take the lead," Watford told the crowd to thunderous applause, "This is a matter of survival. All life is sacred."
Photo: Courtesy of The Goldman Environmental Prize
This article originally appeared on the website Moms Clean Air Force
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