January 22, 1998

Burning Issues/Clean Air Revival, Inc. Public Service Announcement Billboard Gets Covered Up With Auto Ad

Burning Issues/Clean Air Revival, Inc. a National non-profit organization based in California, unveiled the first public service announcement billboard concerning the dangers of fine particle pollution from wood smoke on January 12, 1998 in Mt. Penn, Berks County, Pennsylvania. (Reading area). Two local TV stations covered the event that evening. On Wed. January 21, 1998, the billboard was covered over with an automobile ad, even though a contract was signed for a 30 day posting. Burning Issues was alerted the afternoon of Jan. 21, 1998, by the editor of "The News of Southern Berks", a local newspaper who was doing a story about the new billboard. Burning Issues had not been contacted by the advertising company of the change. That same afternoon, Burning Issues President Mary Rozenberg spoke with Jack Llouellen, of Lamar Advertising of Reading who revealed that the company had been pressured by a local woodstove distributor/client in Quakertown, Pa. to remove the sign.

"We are trying to carry the message about the dangers of woodsmoke with all of its health effects by bringing awareness and education to our communities. This billboard was the first to be posted, with many more to follow, initiating awareness of the problem and to invite the public to visit our educational website at http://Burningissues.org", said Rozenberg.

"With several national scientific conferences coming up this year with wood smoke on the agenda, we felt this would be a perfect time frame for the billboards to be posted. The Society of Toxicology will hold a conference in March 1998, in Seattle , Washington having 5 authors with the subject being the Toxicity of Wood Smoke, the American Lung Association will be holding a conference in April 1998, in Chicago, Illinois with one of the symposiums entitled "Lung Disease and Exposure to Wood Smoke", with six authors, and in June of 1998, Burning Issues will be making a presentation on wood smoke at the American Association for Aerosol Research Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio", Rozenberg added. "Burning Issues/Clean Air Revival, Inc. is a national group that is science, research and education based. Removing this billboard is an attempt to silence the research, the scientific studies and the critical information that the public needs to know."

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