www.newsandletters.org
|
|
NEWS & LETTERS, June 2002
Velsicol is poison to workers, communityMemphis, Tenn.—Velsicol, the huge chemical company built in the middle of one of Memphis' oldest Black communities, is in trouble. The community is already angry over Velsicol's decision to seek renewal of a permit to burn toxic material in their hazardous waste incinerator (see April N&L). Now, it turns out that Velsicol's own study reveals that their decades of dumping have left the eight-mile-long Cypress Creek, which runs through some of the most densely populated parts of Memphis, dangerously polluted. This came out at a Velsicol-called public hearing last month, attended by over 80 community people. While Velsicol's slick brochure stressed that studies "did not indicate any imminent risk," on the last page they admitted: "Chemical residue levels of organochlorine pesticides, such as dieldrin and endrin...exceeded EPA target levels for long term exposure." It took leaders of the Vollintine Evergreen Community Association (VECA) to fill out what "such as" really means: aldrin, chlordane, heptachlor, and heptachlor-epoxide. VECA warns, " The EPA ranks all these chemicals in the top 10% of most toxic chemicals for human health." But it was from their own lives that community people spoke of the hazardous effects of living and working by Velsicol and Cypress Creek. The first speaker was a Black worker at Velsicol who had inhaled chlorine gas at the plant and almost died. He explained, "Velsicol denied that it ever happened. I was denied worker's compensation and long-term disability, and my life was basically destroyed because of this company. What about the people who breathe all this junk that these companies pollute?" Looking the Velsicol spokesman in the eye, he continued, "You people don't care about this community. I'm a living witness to that." A woman who had been to a Velsicol hearing on their hazardous waste incinerator demanded that Velsicol tell the audience what dioxin does to people. Not only did they stonewall that question, they said they wouldn't discuss the incinerator, as if people don't both breathe and walk, play and dig in the earth. Soon people raised the demand that an independent health study, paid for by Velsicol but with community control, be done—not on the known effects of chemicals, but on the people! Women spoke of deaths in their families, of their neighbors, in the community. The last speaker summed up feelings at the meeting: "I've heard some things that just don't add up. I heard the toxicologist talk about how you look at a residential area for 30 years of exposure, or a recreational area for 15 years, and then I hear you say that you don't have enough data to determine how much people were exposed to. I was stunned to hear the statement from the Vice President that 'We didn't know about [the hot spots of illnesses] before.' I've seen people from this community talking about it on TV, I saw it in <ital>The Commercial Appeal</ital>, I heard people talking about it at the open house Velsicol had in January.” The stonewalling by Velsicol was stunning, prompting a Black resident to say, "This is a room full of experts. When we ask these questions, somebody should get up and say something besides 'I don't know.'" —Marxist-Humanist participant |
|
Home l News & Letters Newspaper l Back issues l News and Letters Committees l Dialogues l Raya Dunayevskaya l Contact us l Search Published by News and Letters Committees |
