Tag Archives: children
Resident Farinda O’Steen: “I’m up to 20 in my family that have died over that (Koppers) plant and I want out of the neighborhood”
Let’s Send Wells Fargo a Clear Message:
Scott Miller, Remedial Project Manager Superfund Remedial Branch USEPA Region 4 Atlanta Federal Center 61 Forsyth Street Atlanta, GA 30303
Gainesville Commissioner Chase says of Stephen Foster Neighborhood, “In a million years, I wouldn’t live there with my kids.”
7 OctResident Sharon Sheets wants relocation: “Half my life in contamination“
Resident Farinda O’Steen: “I’m up to 20 in my family that have died over that (Koppers) plant and I want out of the neighborhood”
Resident Alice Alonso wants to know why Beazer East/Koppers executives like Mitchell Brourman haven’t been jailed. Mayor Braddy agrees that Mrs. Alonso would be arrested for terrorism if she purchased their deadly chemical cocktail that’s killing her family and neighbors.
Industry Expert Bob Burton tells Commission, “We have a very serious problem here that one foot of soil is not going to cure”
Gainesville Commissioner Hinson-Rawls wants residents made whole: “Just purchase the homes“
“We’re not coming back.” Beazer East executive Mitchell Brourman says they’re done in Stephen Foster Neighborhood after twelve inch soil removal even if it fails.
Gainesville Commissioner Chase says of Stephen Foster Neighborhood, “In a million years, I wouldn’t live there with my kids.“
Gainesville Residents Brave Stormy Weather to Rally Against Wells Fargo’s Toxic Greed and Prejudice
23 JulKoppers-afflicted residents thank everyone who came out and demonstrated against Wells Fargo’s toxic criminal activities on July 19th. Friday’s rally, the first of a series, was wet, wild, and really loud! Details of upcoming rallies will be posted here, so keep visiting for more opportunities to raise your voice for environmental justice!
Boycott Wells Fargo’s Criminal Activities in Gainesville and Across USA
22 JulWhen you bank with Wells Fargo your money supports:
* Wells Fargo’s ongoing sales of uninhabitable dioxin-contaminated homes to unsuspecting low-income and minority families in neighborhoods surrounding Koppers Superfund Site in violation of Florida Statutes requiring full disclosure of the superfund hazard.
* Dead Peasant Policies: Wells Fargo executives benefit financially from the deaths of their employees through insurance policies called “Dead Peasant Policies” that pay bonuses to key executives when employees and former employees die. WF’s Dead Peasant Policies have yielded $17.8 billion so far.
* Wells Fargo systematic discrimination: The U.S. Dept. of Justice has come to a $175 million settlement with WF for pushing minority loan applicants into risky, high-cost subprime loans regardless of qualifications.
*Wells Fargo for-profit prisons: WF-funded private prison companies cut rehab programs, limit staffing, deny adequate medical care, and distribute cheap food to increase revenue. WF also lobbies federal and state governments to enact harsher criminal and immigration laws to ensure a steady flow of prisoners and profits.
* Wells Fargo debit card and payday lending scandals.*Wells Fargo predatory practices that kill homeowners like the typo victim, who died in court after WF wrongfully continued foreclosure proceedings after acknowledging that the homeowner had mistakenly received foreclosure papers due to a WF typo, had never missed a payment, and was not the intended party.
*Wells Fargo bailout funds and programs that put taxpayers on the hook for up to $36.9 billion plus an unknown amount from the Federal Reserve’s $8 trillion in emergency programs.*Wells Fargo discriminatory neglect: WF has been ordered to pay $38.5 million to advocacy groups and regulators due to the bank’s neglect of foreclosure properties in minority areas.* Wells Fargo ongoing illegal foreclosures on US service members.
* Wells Fargo violations: WF reneged on NY/NJ homeowners’ loan modifications after Hurricane Sandy, violating a $25 billion settlement for the same misbehavior prior to the super storm.
* Wells Fargo thuggery: A breast cancer patient who never even had a WF mortgage was evicted at gunpoint by WF employees and the sheriff, despite the fact that a California court had placed a stay on the eviction which was posted on her front door.
The best way to end this predatory practice is to walk away from WF and conduct our business through local credit unions.
Let’s Send Wells Fargo a Clear Message:
Greed and Prejudice are Unacceptable- Especially at the Cost of Our Families’ Health and Safety!!!
Boycott Wells Fargo!
Rally Against Wells Fargo’s Greed and Prejudice on July 19th!
9 JulWells Fargo, Greed and Prejudice
Wells Fargo Willfully Sells Agent Orange Homes to Low-Income and Minority Gainesville Families
Rally Against Wells Fargo’s Greed and Prejudice! Friday, July 19th 5:00-6:00pm Meet at Bo Diddley Plaza & March to Rally at Wells Fargo at 104 North Main Street
Wells Fargo spokeswoman Debora Blume told the Palm Beach Post that Wells Fargo requires their appraisers to identify contamination hazards, stating “Our agencies and investors prohibit the sale of loans when a proven property hazard affects safety and habitability.” Yet Wells Fargo continues to sell Gainesville houses that are documented to be severely contaminated with arsenic, PAH’s, and dioxins (aka agent orange) to unsuspecting low-income and minority families in neighborhoods surrounding the notorious Koppers Superfund Site, violating Florida Statutes that require full disclosure of this hazard with seeming impunity. Wells Fargo’s callous practice has brought misery to countless local families who have paid for WF’s lies with their health, even with their lives. Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf, the highest paid CEO in US history, is still dissatisfied with his taxpayers’ bailout. Stumpf and his cronies give themselves outrageous bonuses while sentencing local families to a toxic nightmare, knowingly selling highly contaminated homes with no disclosure of the danger to homebuyers’ health and lives. This is just one of the many ways that Wells Fargo singles out innocent, vulnerable members of our community, a practice WF has been heavily fined for in other states.
Tell Wells Fargo Our Families Are Worth More Than Your Profits!
Another Family Rejects Beazer East/EPA’s Dangerous and Disingenuous “off-site soil remedial action”
4 JunScott Miller, Remedial Project Manager Superfund Remedial Branch USEPA Region 4 Atlanta Federal Center 61 Forsyth Street Atlanta, GA 30303
May 15, 2013
Mr. Miller et al,
We still do not grant access to our property, parcel 08409-000-000, to Beazer East, Inc./Koppers Inc., Tetra Tech, MACTEC (AMEC), Kestrel Ecological Services, or any other entities or individuals working on behalf of Beazer East, Inc., US EPA, FL DOH or FL DEP for soil sampling or any other activity related to the dangerous and disingenuous “off-site soil remedial action”.
Let us again plainly state that we are not participating in any phase of EPA’s and Beazer East’s “off-site soil remediation”. As you well know, in our neighborhood it has been repeatedly illustrated that clean replacement soils quickly become as contaminated as the replaced soils, sometimes even more contaminated. Further, your “remediation” fails to address the greater, more immediate danger posed to our families by the dioxin-saturated interiors of our homes.
We refuse to participate in your purely cosmetic psychological exercise designed to deceive residents into the false belief that our homes and gardens will no longer be a serious toxic threat to our families. This includes any and all phases of the soil scraping and cover-up that you are trying to force on innocent residents in lieu of providing the real protective action that our suffering community needs and deserves.
Please inform your contractors: NO employee of Tetra Tech, MACTEC (AMEC), Kestrel Ecological Services, Beazer East, Inc./Koppers Inc., US EPA, FL DOH or FL DEP may trespass our property at any time without both our explicit permission and our actual physical presence while you are there. This prohibition also applies to any employees of Alachua County or the City of Gainesville intending to trespass our property for any activities connected to the “off-site soil remediation” in Stephen Foster Neighborhood.
Please contact attorney Stephen Murakami, as instructed in this email which you received on July 6, 2012:
Dear Mr. Miller: I believe my client has made it abundantly clear by her unequivocal instructions and notice set forth in her message, that she does not wish to participate in any additional soil or dust sampling conducted by you or any of your agents or contractors. In the future, should you require any information pertaining to the Kennedy’s property, kindly contact me in advance of any attempt to secure the Kennedy’s permission or authorization to enter upon their property for any purpose. Sincerely, Stephen David Murakami, Esq. Attorney at Law
Please reply to our email so that we know that you understand its contents.
Sincerely,
Sandra Watts Kennedy and Kevin Kennedy
Share Us, Buzz US, Tweet US! What ever your Fancy. Please help spread the word!
Follow Koppers Gainesville
