(Corpus Christi, Texas) Environmental Justice (EJ) activist Suzie Canales has accepted an invitation to attend the White House Forum on Environmental Justice on Wednesday December 15, 2010.

The White House EJ forum is a result of President Obama’s commitment to environmental justice.

On September 22, 2010, the White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson reconvened the Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice with members of the Cabinet and other senior officials. During that meeting, one of the immediate next steps was to hold a White House forum for EJ leaders and stakeholders on environmental justice.

Although Canales is honored to be included, she has voiced concerns that this Administration is not doing enough for environmental justice communities, and recently released a report titled, “Risk Assessment or Risk Acceptance: Why the EPA’s attempts to Achieve Environmental Justice have failed and what they can do about it.”

“I hope this White House EJ forum will be more than just “window dressing,” said Suzie Canales, Executive Director of Citizens for Environmental Justice. “My report outlines some very serious issues. This administration is going down the wrong path and not truly addressing our issues. I’m taking time out of my busy schedule to attend this forum and try to impress on them the need for drastic change and a major overhaul on their environmental justice policies and efforts.”

Suzie Canales is the recipient of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Award for Outstanding Achievements in Environmental Justice and the HERO award for outstanding services in environmental health and justice advocacy from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) National Institute for Environmental Health and Sciences (NIEHS). Additionally she has authored the report: “SEPs Supplemental Environmental Projects: The Most Affected Communities Are Not Receiving Satisfactory Benefits,” and “Criminal Injustice in an All American City: Toxic Crimes, Race Zoning and Oil Refinery Pollution Cover-up.”

For more information, please contact:

Suzie Canales, CFEJ, Executive Director: 361-334-6764