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Rx for healthy communities: El Paso pharmacist Joe Piñón has led the fight against a multistate polluter for decades.
Sierra Magazine

By Marilyn Berlin Snell
From the May/June 2006 issue of Sierra magazine

"The scandal is not what's illegal. The scandal is what's legal." --Michael Kinsley

Find out how corporations use loopholes in U.S. bankruptcy laws to force taxpayers to shell out billions to clean up toxic messes around the country.

AT 75, JOE PIÑÓN STILL WEARS A CRISP WHITE LAB COAT and fills prescriptions at the pharmacy he's owned in El Paso, Texas, since 1960. His oversize glasses, helpful in deciphering a doctor's chicken scratch, lend him an owlish appearance; his soft voice only hints that he's also a Spanish speaker. In a crowded room, Piñón wouldn't stand out. Yet his mild manner has not kept him from becoming a leader in his community and a threat to polluters.
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Photo courtesy of Bruce Berman; used with permission.

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