- Where have I been? Well mostly dealing with local waste
incineration, and the ending of a contract that will most likely see the
wasters bigger and better; despite our protests, letters, petitions, signs,
briefs, court hearings et al.
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- Why bother? Simply because one must! Injustice towards
one is injustice towards all. Why bother? The picture enclosed will explain.
The man you see sitting with the plaid shirt with chin in hand, is Mr.Donald
Leonard. No, you will never him meet outside this e-mail and his photo.
Mr.Leonard epitomizes why one must become involved in local issues.He represents
many in our community; that are dying or have died these past years. Mr.Leonard
was diagnosed with inoperable stomach cancer No carouser-drinker he, the
love of his life a tiny two year old grandchild.
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 This scene, in a senior
citizen's center in NH, shows Industry (waste) honchos, and citizens gathered
on a warm balmy July night. The issue? A permit which basically will have
Industry legally permitted to pollute big time. Everyone, well most everyone,
(area citizens unaware) knew the fact that this public hearing being held
was farcical. NH has never turned down a Title V or, Permit to Pollute
(our identification of it). "All the world's a stage", and everyone
dutifully took their chalked places, excepting a few cameo appearances
by citizens attending such a meeting for a first time.
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- The drones, from our state Dept.of Environmental Services,
a stepchild to the Federal Environmental Protection Agency; take this road
show to various communities to meet the required technicality of a "public
hearing"; written somewhere in their massive volumes of jibberish
and effusive "aren't we wonderful" volumes. My opinion sees them
merely as the bureaucratic, regulatory partner of industry; to maneuver
the language of Clean Air-Clean Water-Quality of Life etc; that they allude
to in their literature. State or Federal, the name of the Game is money!
Protecting money, and writing the loopholed legislation, that sees citizens
saddled with all costs financially, environmentally and health wise. Industry
writes the standards and are self monitoring and self reporting; which
needs no in-depth rocket science thinking to tell you that; everything
is always fine, and they are just your good corporate neighbors.
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- In our case, an incinerator sitting at the edge of town,
burns 24 hrs. a day, seven days a week, year in and year out (16 now).
This belching monster, spews lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, arsenic
and carcinogenic dioxin over a populated area located in a valley. The
toxic ash from this filth sits above our drinking water on a leaking liner,
all 300,000 tons of it! Stupid? Insane? Incomprehensible? Depraved indifference?
Sure, but get real. Money-profits-quarterly reports-lucrative industry
jobs--cozy contracts--energy deals; take precedence over the maudlin emotions
of citizens in poorer areas of the country; be it NH, Maine, Pennsylvania,
Virginia, Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, et al. These lesser ones,
are identified by EPA/Industry as "risk assessments". This is
a formula that decides, outside of public knowledge, how much toxic pollutants
are "acceptable" over "certain" locales. No, the owners,
attorneys, honchos, big shots don't live where they do business. Their
children are not subjected to daily doses of various cocktails of chemicals.
God forbid!
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- Why care about Mr.Leonard? Because Mr.Leonard is all
of us (those that is that are identified as acceptable risks). Mr.Leonard,
has the bad fortune of living in an area that has him assailed from all
sides with pollutants. Ground Zero sees citizens at extreme risk. People,
react according to the cumulative effects of pollutants in their bodies
at different ages. Those with chronic illnesses, babes in the womb, small
children and the elderly have higher risk factors. Our Department of Environmental
Services refers to them as a "sub-group". People with weaker
constitutions, of course, succumb more quickly to these daily (cumulative)
deluges. Other names for citizen victims are; abutters, acceptable risks,
fringe, extremists, trouble makers, etc. Much like war sees human beings,
not by name-dreams-hopes-and talents, but as "collateral damage"
expendable, so too does industry.
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- Mr.Leonard, like other victims, is charged with PROVING
that such things as mercury, arsenic, lead, cadmium,dioxin and a stew of
other chemicals has anything to do with his misfortune! The fact that each
of these chemicals separately causes everything from cancer, sterility,
impotency, birth defects, auto-immune diseases etc., is not considered.
"Prove It. Take us to court", is the mantra of industry. Yes,
penniless Mr.Leonard, his monies exhausted on his medications for his terminal
disease, surely has the energy, and money to contend with designer suited,
coiffured legions of lawyers. He has a hard enough time making it through
the day. But then industry already knows this.
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- Why battle? If we can't care for our neighbor whom we
know and see, what hypocrisy has us marching for strangers in a foreign
land, that we shall never meet? Not that they are of lesser importance
but it is safer. One can return from their demonstration, march, rally
etc., feeling patriotic, responsible and caring. Of course, one will never
have to minister to the napalm flesh, the limbless child, the fear, hunger
or lack of daily necessities. Meanwhile, our neighbor lies in the gutter,
suffers evictions, shut off notices, or if elderly, relegated to the humiliation
of seeking food at a local under funded soup kitchen. Our veterans, live
in abandoned cars, under bridges or are killed in their plastic tents by
crazed drug addicts. Sure we care, but we care feebly.
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- I found it appalling that this group of people were meeting;
not for a community get together, joying in the summer but over something
as mundane as having the RIGHT to breathable air! What right, I thought
to myself, looking out over the people did others outside our realm have
to decide what level of toxins was "acceptable" to drench us
with? No right, and thus my outrage. Get out of my town and stop killing
my neighbors, you greedy insatiable, conscienceless, satiated bastards!
Go away.
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- Interesting, the players last night and the various parts
they all played. Interesting, also, I noted that they were (mostly men)
all of the same age grouping. I watched as Mr.Leonard approached Industry
honchos after the meeting. The contrast was for me, quite gut wrenching.
Mr.Leonard, in his fifties and with cane, thin, ghost-like palor, his eyes
pools of unrelenting pain and his counternance defiant and confrontational.
I thought to myself, when one is dying there is a certain liberty afforded;
that says what it feels, no need for posturing or pretense or measured
safe middle of the road shallow banter.
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- Hardly Herculean, I thought watching him maneuver himself
amidst the coven of waste men, in their expensive suits, silk shirts, designer
ties with gold watches, gaudy bejeweled white sausage fingers. Mr.Leonard,
a slight man of maybe 5'4" was diminutive, in this crowd of towering
elegance, and satiated, rotund florid faces. His attire to me was Sir Galahad
armour; as he took them all on. He pulled out the picture of his beautiful
grand daughter, two years of age, who lives on the west coast. He thrust
it into the vice-president of the company's hands and stated, "You
killed me. You are the reason that I will never enjoy my grandchild, you
did this to me. You killed me." He grabbed the picture back and gallantly
turned and left them standing there silent.
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- A few seconds passed, and another citizen, a woman crying
approached them. She'd lost several friends and knew of neighbors children
who had died. She had given testimony of how a young man, who'd been assigned
to see to odds jobs at a store, surrounded by fields near the incinerator.
Part of his job; seeing to the mice was no longer a chore; she related,
as they didn't run anymore. The birds, found in the parking lot could no
longer fly! Like Mr.Leonard she too was not going to dance around with
any cotton candy pleading. Her voice was forceful and quivering as she
asked, "What has happened to you men? What is wrong with you? Are
you soulless? I know that money is important to you, but is it this important?
Important enough to not care of people dying! Dying!" A looming giant
of a man, his face red with fine dining and fine living, a Ph.D, I was
told (to impress? it didn't), started the canned industry mantra to her
of how good industry was, how it wasn't their faults, it was the government's
fault and oh, he did want to know more about the MICE and BIRDS! I had
to respond to this patronizing manure. I said, "Why are you lying
to this woman? How dare you excuse all this and shove it over to government,
when anyone with any sense knows about your armies of lobbyists, who damn
well write the regulations and legislation? And don't go denying it because
I was there first hand watching it, and I didn't see you there," He
responded with some attempt at forced joviality of, "Ho ho ho, I see
I've stepped into a can of worms." I turned and left not wanting to
vomit on his elegant gigantic lizard footwear.
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- Yes I am angry. The fact is, more anger is needed. We
become angry for the moment without effecting any change. Our anger is
feeble, conciliatory. There is the destructive anger of some environmental
groups, that colors all concerned citizens in small town U.S.A. as rabid
also. I am led to believe that this is deliberate to invalidate ordinary
citizens. It is interesting, that the violent destroyers of ski lodges,
housing developments, SUVs and labs make the news and not mothers with
signs!
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- All of these men, industry--various citizens--representatives
of comparable age. Revealing, the various paths they'd all chosen. Mr.Leonard
in rural NH. You'd imagine him safe from all the horrors of pollution that
we hear of. An ordinary man, known for his solicitous care of his neighbors,
until he too was stricken. And now he's dying, and men who live far outside
his realm, who are involved in the loopholed language, contracts, and profiteering;
demand that he "prove his dying". Yes, and how do you hold a
moonbeam in your hand? One woman said it bluntly, attacking the apologist
DES woman, and her made up numbers of industry being 99% compliant and
faultless. She responded with the retort of being 99% cancer free. It's
that 1% that'll get you.
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- Mr.Leonard's dying presence, made some uncomfortable
and accusatory; of why he would "ruin the meeting". Listening
to this callous, vindictiveness; against; not the poisoning pirates of
Ahoy Garbage, but the victim; I could well understand why a woman, decades
ago in New York City, named Kitty Genovese, was beaten and raped over some
hours; while those in apartments above looked out, and just as quickly
closed their blinds to her screaming of, "Help me, help me he's killing
me". It is a strange malady that some possess; (maybe from toxic or
other poisons?) that renders them hollow, soulless, mutations of humanity;
without feelings or conscience. What happens to the other; man/woman is
none of their concern. They appear 'normal', mimicking other humans and
miming empathy and compassion; devoid of the capacity to love, to enter
in with another's suffering or anguish; has them, the tragic living dead;
leaving the odor of decay wherever they tread. It's been said, that the
greatest sin against our fellow man is not hatred but indifference. Hatred
at least acknowledges the other's presence. Indifference does not acknowledge
that the other even exists. Sad tragic world we live in, that such walk
amongst us.
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