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NEWS & LETTERS, April 2002
Velsicol
tragedies
Memphis,
Tenn.--I showed people from News & Letters houses where people have died
from cancer, where children were born with birth defects, where people have had
heart disease and illnesses that affected the brain-most houses in this
neighborhood near a Velsicol chemical plant that manufactures pesticides whose
use is banned in the U.S. We talked to one man who had three different cancers
and three of his brothers and sisters had cancer. Even the lady who was
interviewed on TV on the day of the explosion at Velsicol last year is dead now
(see March 2002 N&L). Another
lady with kidney disease died young, and left four little children. The day she
died, their grandfather walked the children to the corner store to buy them some
candy, thinking he was easing the pain a little bit. I looked at those little
children's eyes. I never will forget it. Velsicol
has shown no concern whatsoever. When I talked to them at a meeting in February,
the plant manager, Glenda Akins, said that dioxin was released in the air in a
minute amount. But she admitted that even a minute amount could cause cancer.
They have a hazardous waste incinerator and they're trying to get a permit to
increase the amount that they burn. The amount that they're burning now is
causing catastrophic problems. They don't intend to stop. There were times when
Velsicol passed its inspections and times when it didn't. There were leaks and
they keep violating the laws. One guy who works at Velsicol told me,
"They're not going to tell you the truth." And he is one of those
mixing the chemicals. Velsicol
workers get tested every six months for the diseases that those chemicals can
cause. Akins told me that they couldn't afford to pay for medical checkups for
everyone in the neighborhood. I said, "Some people have their own
insurance, why don't you just give them the list of chemicals so they can show
the doctor?" She said, "I'll send the paperwork." I haven't
received it yet. That was well over six weeks ago. Nobody
in the neighborhood is employed by Velsicol. They found carcinogens in Cypress
Creek, right next to my house. My dad worked in the backyard all the time.
Before he got ill and died, he got around better than me. He could run like a
young man. He was diagnosed two months after the explosion with leukemia and
multiple myeloma at the same time. Within three months he was dead. I
can't say it's racism because it's not going to just affect me. It's going to
affect people everywhere. I told Akins, you might run to Cordova, Germantown,
wherever you live, but it's going to get you too because the wind is going to
carry it there. What
I would like to see is that Velsicol either buy us out or move to President's
Island, an area that was allocated by the government for manufacturers. They can
afford to move and clean up the mess they made. |
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