by Adrian Drake
Senior Environmental Aide

Group for the South Fork has joined forces with more than 30 environmental, ethical and health organizations to form The Community Alliance for Lab Accountability (CALA). CALA arose from a common concern regarding environmental contamination emanating from Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). CALA will serve as a focal point and primary organization for residents and community groups to get information, recommend policies and register health, environmental and moral concerns about BNL operations.

CALA's goal is to assure that there will be accountability and responsibility for all operations carried out at BNL. The idea for a unified approach to BNL contamination issues presented itself immediately following the discovery of a tritium leak from the high flux beam reactor on BNL Property. There was so much information coming out of the lab that individual organizations were having trouble keeping up.

By unifying the positions of diverse groups, CALA has become an environmental, health and ethical organization that is recognized by BNL and the Department of Energy (DOE). It represents more than 50,000 Long Island residents. CALA's mission is to act as an information clearinghouse for member organizations and the public, initiate community education and outreach and establish a direct line of communication with BNL and DOE for the purpose of gaining information and demanding accountability.

CALA has demanded environmental representation on BNL's new board of directors, and has established a means of consistent and direct communication between CALA and lab management through monthly meetings. CALA's member organizations work together and separately to develop comments and recommendations on lab operations.

What You Can Do:

1. If you are a member of an organization that is concerned about the health and environmental consequences of the contamination found at Brookhaven National Laboratory, please contact Adrian Drake at The Group for the South Fork for more information. Her phone number is (516) 537-1400, extension 3014.
2. Call or write Congressman Michael Forbes and Senator Alfonse D'Amato to thank them for their efforts to keep Brookhaven National Labs accountable to the public. Also tell them to keep the pressure on BNL so that the environmental contamination will be cleaned up.