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Air
quality
study
bought
and
paid
for
by
US
Sugar
Advertisements
Boca
Raton,
FL
–
May
21,
2025
– The Pre-harvest
Burning
of
Sugarcane
and
Air
Quality study
published
by
Tuskegee
University
on
April
29
is
more
of
the
same
Glades
residents
have
been
getting
from
US
Sugar
for
as
long
as
anyone
can
remember.
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Just
shy
of
one
year
before
the
study
was
published,
the
leaders
of
the Stop
the
Burn-Go
Green
Campaign were
wary
when
approached
for
participation
in
an
“Environmental
Stewardship
Discussion” by
Olga Bolden-Tiller,
Tuskegee
University
Dean
and
Research
Director
–
College
of
Agriculture,
Environment and
Nutrition
Sciences,
but
refused
any
clear
idea
of
the
study’s
scope
of
work
(SOW),
especially
considering
Dr.
Bolden-Tiller
described
the
project
as
“a comprehensive
environmental
study
to
assess
the
impacts
of
sugarcane-burning
practices
throughout
the
region.”
Patrick
Ferguson,
Senior
Organizing
Representative,
Sierra
Club
Florida:
“Dr
Bolden-Tiller
was
informed
of
our
campaign’s
position
that
existing
studies,
done
in
Florida
and
elsewhere
in
the
world,
had
already
proven
beyond
a
doubt
that
the
only
humane
and
sustainable
option
is
to
replace
burning
with
burn-free
green
harvesting.
We
reminded
her
that
residents
in
more
affluent
Eastern
Palm
Beach
County
did
not
have
to
wait
for
more
research
to
justify
the
protections
they
received
from
pre-harvest
sugar
field
burning
when
the
wind-direction-based
permitting
rules
were
put
in
place
to
protect
them
in
the
1990s,
and
that
Glades
residents
who
disproportionately
bear
the
impacts
of
this
toxic
practice
should
not
have
to
wait
for
more
research
when
the
green
harvesting
alternative
is
readily
available
and
already
being
implemented
by
some
local
sugar
growers.
Soon
thereafter,
the
campaign
team
learned
that Tuskegee
University
and
FAMU
were
given
$100,000K
grants for
carrying
out
this
particular
study
project,
and
with
the
sugar
industry’s
long
history
of manipulating
science and
harassing
independent
academic
researchers
whose
results
criticize
the
industry,
the
leaders
of
the Stop
the
Burn-Go
Green
Campaign did
not
agree
to
participate
in
the
study,
but
offered
to
engage
in
a
conversation
that
was
never
pursued
by
the
researchers.
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Now
that
the
study
has
been
published,
those
worst
suspicions
have
been
confirmed.
Colin
Walkes,
former
Mayor
of
Pahokee:
“Nothing
included
in
this
recent
study
indicates
that
sugarcane
burning
is
not
a
major
public
health
threat
or
that
the
existing
regulations
are
adequate
to
protect
the
public.
Just
because
U.S.
Sugar
can
pay
for
a
study
like
this
doesn’t
mean
we
are
going
to
ignore
what
we
see,
feel,
breathe,
and
know
from
living
here
our
whole
lives.”
Steve
Messam,
Belle
Glade
resident
and
Senior
Pastor
First
Church
of
God
South
Bay: “One
would
think
a Pre-harvest
Burning
of
Sugarcane
and
Air
Quality study
would
have
focused
on
the
eight
months
of
the
year
when
pre-harvest
sugarcane
field
burning
takes
place,
but
the
study
period
was
between
April
12,
2024
and
September
6,
2024,
missing
peak
burning
season
of
October
–
March.
The
majority
of
air
quality
readings
took
place
when
no
sugar
burning
took
place!
When
you
focus
on
the
wrong
months,
you
are
bound
to
come
to
wrong
conclusions.”
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Kina
Phillips,
South
Bay
resident:
“While
the
study
proclaimed
to
examine
the
pros
and
cons
of
sugarcane
burning,
what
was
published
completely
ignores
all
of
the
negative
environmental,
public
health,
and
local
economic
impacts
from
pre-harvest
burning.
It
reads
exactly
like
the
corporate
propaganda
US
Sugar
paid
for,
and
does
a
grave
disservice
to
residents
of
the
Glades
communities.”
Luz
Torres,
Pahokee
resident:
“Does
US
Sugar
really
think
this
study
will
make
us
believe
sugar
cane
burning
is
good
for
our
communities?
During
the
peak
burn
season,
we
clean
black
snow
off
our
properties
and
see
how
our
children’s
asthma
is
aggravated
on
heavy
burn
days.”
Anne
Haskell,
Belle
Glade
resident: “How
could
the
study
authors
leave
out
any
reference
to
the
burn-free
alternative
of
green
harvesting,
practiced
not
only
by
sugar
growers
around
the
world,
but
sugar
growers
right
here
in
Florida?”
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Patrick
Ferguson,
Senior
Organizing
Representative,
Sierra
Club
Florida:
“The
study
itself
failed
to
disclose
this
financial
relationship
and
even
had
the
nerve
to
claim
Randal
Miller
(of
Miller
Environmental
Solutions),
who
took
part
in
the
study,
was
an
independent
participant,
despite
Mr.
Miller
being
the
sugar
industry’s
hired
green-washer-in-chief
for
years.
So
we
are
satisfied
with
our
campaign’s
decision
to
not
give
credibility
to
this
study.
It
is
nothing
more
than
a
smokescreen.”
Legitimate
“peer
reviewed”
studies
from FSU and FIU have
documented
the
health
and
air
pollution
impacts
caused
by
sugarcane
field
burning.