More than 1,300 Chandler Residents Sign Statements of Opposition to Covance Animal-Testing Facility
Signatures Collected by Doctors’ Organization in Neighborhoods Surrounding Proposed Site Reveal Enough Opposition to Trigger Referendum on Covance Proposal
CHANDLER, Ariz.—More
than 1,300 Chandler residents
in neighborhoods surrounding
the site of a proposed Covance
animal-testing facility on
Price Road have signed statements
of opposition to the project.
The statements of opposition,
which are being circulated
by the Physicians Committee
for Responsible Medicine (PCRM),
highlight the animal cruelty
issues and public health concerns
raised by the proposed 591,000-square-foot
Covance facility, which may
include an incinerator to dispose
of toxic animal carcasses.
All signatures were collected
within three miles of the Price
Road location.
The number of signatures indicates
enough local opposition to
trigger a referendum after
a formal petition process.
Covance, a New Jersey-based
company that tests cosmetic
ingredients, food additives,
pesticides, and drugs on monkeys,
dogs, cats, and other animals,
is seeking approval from the
city council for a zoning change
that would allow the company
to build on a 38-acre site
on Price Road. Under Arizona
law, 10 percent of the number
of electors who participated
in the last election in a city
may propose a referendum on
zoning changes. Based on Chandler’s
most recent election in May,
about 1,260 signatures would
be required to place a referendum
opposing zoning approval for
the Covance project on the
ballot.
“Chandler residents
are appalled by Covance’s
animal cruelty, and they don’t
want Covance’s animal
carcass incinerator spewing
pollution in their backyards,” said
Mindy Kursban, Esq., PCRM’s
executive director. “The
people who signed these statements
of opposition know that Covance
is wrong for their community,
and they know that Chandler
can do better.”
A recent opinion poll commissioned
by PCRM found that 56 percent
of Chandler residents oppose
the Covance project. The poll
found strong local concern
about the fact that Covance
was recently fined by the federal
government for physically abusing
monkeys in violation of the
Animal Welfare Act. Last month,
PCRM uncovered new U.S. Department
of Agriculture inspection reports
showing violations of the Animal
Welfare Act at five other Covance
facilities around the country.
For an interview with Ms.
Kursban, please contact Patrick
Sullivan at 202-686-2210, ext.
311, or psullivan@pcrm.org.
Founded in 1985, the Physicians
Committee for Responsible
Medicine is a nonprofit health
organization that promotes
preventive medicine, especially
good nutrition. PCRM also
conducts clinical research
studies, opposes unethical
human experimentation, and
promotes alternatives to
animal research.
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