We are now 542 people strong, and that number is growing every day.

We are now 542 people strong, and that number is growing every day.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read and sign the petition.

The petition is a way of raising our hands. It asks for safety, transparency, and clean waterways and air from the Port Townsend Paper Company and its owners, Atlas Holdings.

To be successful, the petition needs to be the beginning of community organizing. We need to get to know each other and develop the strategy and tactics that will bring about the change that must happen.

We should not have air that is making us sick. We should not have our waterways carrying billions of gallons of toxic, carcinogenic treated wastewater. We should not have an industrial facility on our shores with deteriorating buildings and equipment, tanks that handle vast quantities of dangerous chemicals and wastewater, without real oversight.

We are asking Port Townsend Paper Company for complete transparency. We want to see real-time public reporting on emissions and discharge, independent inspections of aging tanks and equipment, and a clear plan and timeline for upgrading pollution controls. This is not a call to close the mill or cost anyone their job. It is a call for the mill to meet the same standard of safety and environmental practice that the best mills around the world have already achieved. Hopefully one day we can point to Port Townsend Paper Company as that example.

We are asking the City of Port Townsend to use its voice. The city provides the mill more than 3.5 billion gallons of water every year, water the mill discharges into our bay with toxic chemicals. It is Port Townsend that receives the horrible smelling toxic air pollution. Even if the city's own legal authority over the mill is limited, it can call on those agencies and officials who do have that authority to push for real progress on compliance and transparency.

We are asking the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners to do the same. It is the County who has jurisdiction over the mill. The mill sits in unincorporated county land outside city limits, and the county has its own relationship with state and federal regulators. We want the county to use that relationship to call on the agencies with real authority to insist on independent safety inspections and modern safety and environmental standards.

We want local, state, and federal elected officials, along with safety and regulatory agencies, to hear from us directly. The more of us who speak up, the harder this is to ignore.

Here is specifically what I am asking of you:

1. Talk to your neighbors and friends today. Ask them to join us by signing and sharing the petition. https://www.change.org/safe-water-and-air
2. Volunteer. Email me at davidbginsberg@gmail.com with your contact info. Put the word "volunteer" in the subject line.
3. This movement grows faster face to face. Get together with your friends and neighbors. This is a grass roots movement. The small groups will come together as one large group later, but start now with those around you. Invite people you know and don't know to join you.
4. Speak up publicly. Comment, post, and share on Facebook, Nextdoor, and wherever this is being discussed. When appropriate, post "sign and share https://www.change.org/safe-water-and-air"
5. Search social media for posts about the smell, mill pollution, or related topics. Anyone who has commented with concern, or even just liked such a post, is a natural ask. Direct message them, and ask them to sign and share the petition link: https://www.change.org/safe-water-and-air
6. Help us reach elected officials. We will be asking supporters to send letters and make calls in the weeks ahead.
7. If the smell is bothering you, contact Mady Lyon at mady.lyon@ecy.wa.gov at the Washington State Department of Ecology. They log every complaint, so use "Complaint about air quality in Port Townsend, WA" in the subject line of your email.
8. We are in need of a simple website so people can learn about our movement, read and download our research, hear the latest news on our progress, and more. If you can help build one, or know someone who can, please reach out.

This is just the beginning. Together we can make real progress.

David Ginsberg
davidbginsberg@gmail.com