Organizations
United for the Environment (OUE) is a grassroots organization now
in its fourth decade of activity. It is made up of many people from
the Central Susquehanna Valley in Pennsylvania, an area in the middle
of the state between Williamsport to the north and Harrisburg, the
state capitol, to the south. This Valley has since the 1940s been
a favorite site for various federal institutions because it is rural,
centrally located, and because it lies at the juncture of two major
highways.
During the past
few decades, like most Americans, Central Pennsylvanians have faced
growing environmental threats to their communities. Events at Love
Canal and Three Mile Island are only the most prominent environmental
disasters in a nation seemingly hell-bent to foul its own nest permanently.
When people in the Valley have fought back against the spreading tide
of poisons in the air and water, OUE has been central to their efforts.
The pages on this site briefly review OUE's history, share current
and previous issues of our bi-annual newsletter, OUE Update,
and contain related kinds of material. In the history recounted herein,
we have paid particular attention to the years 1990-94, during which
OUE fought a protracted battle with a subsidiary of Union Pacific
Corporation, and its allies in the State government, to site a mammoth
hazardous waste facility in the Valley. OUE members learned many things
from that experience which we believe might helpfully be shared with
others trying to keep their own communities healthy for living.
We invite all
responses to our pages, and we especially encourage responses from
those seeking to forge alliances in the struggle against environmental
degradation and the attending loss of democratic rights in our society.