Document YjdLNnkpxQBmLRqp73yo7RmXO

SOLU T |A FROM {name-location-phone) Kevin Cahill - G3NO (4-7518) DATE: Dec. 11, 1998 SUBJ: Anniston REF: TO: Bob Potter - G4NH John Hunter - G4NH John Ferguson - G4NK Karl Barnickol - G4NB Tom Bistline - G5EN Mike Pierle - F2EE __ Christy Beckmann - G3N0 Mike Foresman - F2EA Bob Kaley - F2ED Please see the attached article that appeared in The Anniston Star. / Attachment Kevin Cahill DSW 138441 STLCOPCB4038396 +-- Cahill @002 I David Baker speaks to the audience Thursday night, help Ing West Anniston residents to form an environmental coali tion to take on Monsanto over the use of PCBs in past years. . West Anniston wants environmental justice _______ _____By Jonathan Ufland.______________ A group of nearly 60 fonned under the banner of the Star Staff Writer 1 ~ : Alabama African-American Environmental Justice Witness the birth of a grassroots movement in/ Action Network, listened intently as organizers deliv- Anniston. , ered the message that all those present must get tested ~ Flyers were passed at church services and tacked for possible contamination of themselves,'their children near street comers. Word of mouth spread through and their property. . ' neighbors and friends. Then on Thursday eamr an Monsanto, now Soluda, manufactured polychlorinatevening meeting to tie it all together, along with a ^ biphenyl's, or PCBs, for years at its west Anniston strong pitch to form into a group. Organize. Visualize. , 1 plant, and'nearby residents are now .worried that they ' "ay b suffering the effects from years of exposure to . West Anniston residents began the embryonic stages foe chemical. .. . of becoming an environmental justice coalition I^PBs are a suspected carcinogen that has caused can- Thursday, lending their bodies, voices and pocket cerm animal testing, although human testing has never change to form a group to take on mighty Monsanto for , Plaasc sge Justice previous contamination that could affect their health. ** Page 6B ,' i- Justice: EPA assistance sought From Page IB been conducted. W^st Anniston resi dents learned that people were there to help them in their quest forjustice and for medical testing to determine their long-term health. ' A petition against both Monsanto and Solutia was circulated through foe throng gathered at foe Anniston Funeral Home, requesting Environmental Protection Agency assistance in finding the extent of foe contamination. *, The work is likely to lead to further litigation, suggested. Thandi Chimurenga, an organizer with the Atlanta-based Southern Organizing Committee for Economic' and Social Jusuce.. `They need to pay us for foe results from their actions,", she said. `The people of, west Anniston need to be organized to help the residents of west Anniston. My question is `What are y'all prepared to do.' " , Solutia has repeatedly faced chal lenges from'a series of lawsuits claim ing environmental damage, and a sim ilar class-action suit is scheduled for early next year. . , Many in foe crowd had not been involved in previous lawsuits and needed guidance, Ms. Chimupenga said. Environmental justice, aid her group seeks to bring, can right foe .wrongs of ill health and behavioral problems from the- chemica. ; Mentioning a litany Of symptoms that included dizziness, arthritis, unex plained illness and attention deficit disorder, local organizer and former Monsanto employee David Baker declared that PCB's are spread throughout a large portion of west Anniston, and residents'needed to sign foe petition to initiate EPA interven tion and remediation, By foe end, folks were reaching into their pockets, collecting for foe hew, independent group. Further meetings were scheduled and plans laid to widen membership within the fledg ling organization. ' . , "We need some answers 'tonight for the community that's been left oiit?' he said. "The concern must come from within. You all live in an area that's been contaminated flitp Attmairm OSW 138442 STLCOPCB4038397