co | Koppers Superfund Gainesville, Florida

Tag Archives: co

Koppers Consent Decree is Irrelevant to Relocation of Residents

9 Sep

Superfund Communities across the US who achieved relocation for their families continue to advise Gainesville Koppers Victims and Refugees that relocation was achieved well after consent decrees were signed. They further stress that this is the time to begin really advocating loudly for our families’ relocation out of dioxin-arsenic-pah deathtrap contaminated homes.

Beazer East is certainly not a good neighbor- in fact, there are numerous instances where infamous Dow Chemical is a far better neighbor and citizen than Beazer East.

In July 2012, DOW Chemical offered to purchase 50 dioxin contaminated homes in Midland, Michigan to enable families near the Tittabawassee River Superfund Site to move out of harm’s way. Residents and government agencies did not initiate these offers- Dow undertook this humanitarian action on its own.

Contrast this with Beazer East’s cold-blooded treatment of residents in Gainesville’s Superfund Community: not only has Beazer East failed to reach out to families who need to evacuate their dangerously contaminated homes- residents, many with catastrophic illnesses known to result from chemical exposure, who contact Beazer East with buyout negotiation requests have been uniformly turned down by Beazer East representatives.

Dow Chemical also bought out homes on contaminated land near their Morrisonville, Louisiana plant in order to create a safety zone. Louisiana environmental officials noted that industrial facilities and residences do not mix. Likewise, superfund sites and residences do not mix. Dow executives said buyouts were a sensible approach to moving people out of harm’s way, and good citizenship.

Just this summer, chemical corporation Sasol North America announced plans to introduce a Voluntary Property Purchase Program in Mossville, Louisiana. Mossville residents have been fighting for relocation since at least the 1990’s, so this is huge news for this community whose health and property values have suffered for decades and yet was denied Superfund designation by EPA 2011.

There are many more precedents for relocation buyouts in contaminated communities, including Superfund Communities. Beazer East can choose to be a good neighbor in reality and introduce a buyout option so help their victims get their families out of toxic homes instead of perpetuating the collusion and coverup that will keep harming Gainesville families. In the meantime, Koppers Victims and Refugees will advocate ever more loudly for relocation out of dioxin-arsenic-pah contaminated deathtrap homes…

Sandra Watts Kennedy
President, Stephen Foster Neighborhood Association, Inc.
09/05/13 remarks to Gainesville City Commission

Tags: AAA Gainesville, abc news, ACEPD, Against Me, agent orange, ai, air, al, Al Jazeera, Alachua County, Alachua County Health Department, Aljazeera, alligator, amec, Andrew Liveris, Angela Merkel, AP, arsenic, associated press, ATSDR, Bank of America, basketball, Beatles, Beazer East, beezer, Bernd Scheifele, Bill Moyers, biomass, birth defects, bosshardt, boycott wells fargo, Brutal Strudel, buyout, buyouts, cabot koppers, Cancer, cappex, carcinigenic, Carl Hiassen, Carol Estates, catastrophic illnesses, cats, center for public integrity, chemical contamination, children, city commissioners, City of Gainesville, cleanup plan, climate, co, coast to coast, COCEJ, colbert report, college board, college insight, college majors 101, college navigator, college results online, collusion, consent decree, coops, copper, coppers, Cornel West, corporate crime, corruption, da, daily show, danger, data, dateline, DAX, daycare, death, Diane Sawyer, Dioxinville, Dow Chemical, Dow Jones, drinking water, Eagles, entertainment tonight, environment, environmental justice, epa corruption, Erin Brockovich, European Journal, falsified test results, Family, Fannie Mae, farmer's market, Florida, Florida Gators, Florida State Road 441, floridan aquifer, football, for rent, foreclosures, fraud, Freddie Mac, free range chickens, FTSE, gacar, Gainesville, Gainesville High School, gainesville realtors association, Gainesville Regional Airport, gainesville regional utilities, gainesville sun, gardening, gator growl, gator nation, gator stomp, Gators, global warming, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, GREC, Green Peace, harassment, Heartbreakers, Heidelberg Cement, hexavalent chromium, Hippodrome Theatre, homes for sale, hoodwinked, hot water music, houses gainesville, Howard Bishop, huffington post, investors daily, John Stumpf, jon stewart, JP Morgan Chase, Julia Roberts, Karen Silkwood, killing fields, koppers class action, koppers gainesville, Koppers Refugees, Koppers Victims, Koppers/ Beazer East, Larry Herr, lawn mowers, Less Than Jake, lies, loans, lone ranger, louisiana plant, Love Canal, Main Street, Miami Herald, Midland, miscarriage, missing limbs, missing organs, Mitchell Brourman, Morrisonville, morrisonville louisiana, Mossville, mossville louisiana, moving service, mutagenic, nascar, NE 23rd Ave, north florida, Oak View, obama, onion, organic, PAH, PAHs, palm beach post, parks and recreation, Paynes Prairie, Phillips Center tickets, poisoned places, politics, project on student debt, prudential, raw deal, real estate, redevelopment, relocation, rentals, Robert Markwell, Rolling Stones, Ronald Wolfe & Associates, Sacrifice Zones, safety zone, San Francisco Times, Sanjay Gupta, Santa Fe College, Sasol, schoolguides, science, Scott Miller, Shands, SILKWOOD, Sister Hazel, slurry walls, snowden, solar energy, State Road 441, Stephen Foster Elementary School, Stephen Foster Neighborhood Association, student guide, superfund communities, SUPERMAN, tampa tribune, Tavis Smiley, the buzz, the choice, threat, Times Beach, tittabawassee river, today show, tone unknown, toxic Gainesville, toxic scorecard, toxic trespass, typo victim, UK markets, unigo, united nations, University Ave, university of florida, vegetables, Waldo Road, wallstreet journal, Walmart, Wards, washington post, washington week, water, watson, watson realty, weather, Wells Fargo, Wells Fargo’s, wf boycott, wikileaks, world health organization, zinch, zoo, zucchini

Comments Leave a Comment
Categories Beazer East, Death, EPA Corruption, Florida, Gainesville, Koppers, Uncategorized

Gainesville Residents Brave Stormy Weather to Rally Against Wells Fargo’s Toxic Greed and Prejudice

23 Jul

Koppers-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!

Tags: 2 miles, abc news, ACEPD, Against Me, agent orange, air, Alachua County, Alachua County Health Department, arsenic, associated press, beezer, Bill Moyers, bill nelson, birth defects, bosshardt, boston globe, boycott wells fargo, Brutal Strudel, buyout, buyouts, cabot koppers, Cancer, Carl Hiassen, cbs, center for public integrity, children, cleanup plan, co, colbert report, college board, college insight, college majors 101, college navigator, college results online, collusion, consent decree, copper, coppers, Cornel West, corporate crime, corruption, creosote, crime, da, daily show, danger, dateline, daycare, death, Debra Heights, Diane Sawyer, dioxins, Dioxinville, drinking water, Duck Pond, dust, Eagles, environmental justice, epa corruption, Erin Brockovich, Family, Fannie Mae, FL DOH, Florida Gators, Florida State Road 441, floridan aquifer, football, foreclosures, fox news, fraud, Freddie Mac, free range chickens, fruit, gacar, Gainesville High School, gainesville realtors association, gainesville regional utilities, gainesville sun, gardening, gator growl, greed, Green Peace, GRU, harassment, Heidelberg Cement, hexavalent chromium, homes for sale, hot water music, houses gainesville, investors daily, Julia Roberts, Karen Silkwood, killing fields, koopers, Koppers, koppers class action, Koppers/ Beazer East, la times, lies, loans, Lois Gibbs, london times, long-term toxic exposure, Love Canal, miscarriage, ms, msnbc, mutagenic, nbc, north florida, PAH, PAHs, palm beach post, parks and recreation, Paynes Prairie, poisoned places, politics, prejudice, project on student debt, prudential, raw deal, redevelopment, relocation, rentals, Robert Markwell, Sacrifice Zones, San Francisco Times, Sanjay Gupta, Santa Fe College, schoolguides, SILKWOOD, soil, solar energy, State Road 441, stephen colbert, Stephen Foster, Stephen Foster Neighborhood Association, tampa tribune, Tavis Smiley, the doctors, Times Beach, today show, toxic, toxic city, toxic Gainesville, toxic scorecard, toxic trespass, university heights, university of florida, vegetables, Waldo Road, washington week, water, watson, watson realty, weather, Wells Fargo, Wells Fargo’s, wf boycott, whistleblowers, wikileaks

Comments Leave a Comment
Categories Beazer East, Death, EPA Corruption, Florida, Gainesville, Koppers, Uncategorized

Rally Against Wells Fargo’s Greed and Prejudice on July 19th!

9 Jul

Wells 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!

Tags: 20/20, 60 minutes, abc news, Against Me, Alachua County, Alachua County Health Department, alligator, arsenic, Bank of America, basketball, Bill Moyers, birth defects, boa, BOCC, bosshardt, Brutal Strudel, Cancer, chemical contamination, children, city commissioners, cnn, co, coast to coast, colbert report, college board, college insight, college majors 101, college navigator, college results online, collusion, consent decree, coops, copper, Cornel West, corporate crime, corruption, da, daily show, danger, dateline, daycare, Diane Sawyer, dioxins, Dioxinville, Dr. Oz, drinking water, entertainment tonight, epa corruption, Erin Brockovich, falsified test results, Family, farmer's market, FHA, fl, Florida, Florida Gators, floridan aquifer, football, foreclosures, Freddie Mac, gacar, Gainesville, gainesville realtors association, gator growl, gator stomp, Gators, global warming, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, gpd, greed, Hippodrome Theatre, hoffa, Hogtown, houses gainesville, huffington post, JP Morgan Chase, Julia Roberts, Karen Silkwood, koopers, Koppers, koppers class action, koppers gainesville, Koppers/ Beazer East, loans, Lois Gibbs, Love Canal, miscarriage, ms, msnbc, mutagenic, nbc, north florida, nsa, obama, onion, prejudice, prudential, real estate, redevelopment, relocation, Sanjay Gupta, Santa Fe College, SILKWOOD, Sister Hazel, snowden, solar energy, Stephen Foster, Stephen Foster Elementary School, Stephen Foster Neighborhood Association, superfund communities, Tavis Smiley, test koppers, the choice, the doctors, Times Beach, today show, tone unknown, toxic, toxic city, toxic Gainesville, toxic scorecard, typo victim, university of florida, vegetables, washington post, washington week, watson, Wells Fargo, Wells Fargo’s, zinch

Comments Leave a Comment
Categories Beazer East, Death, EPA Corruption, Florida, Gainesville, Koppers

GAINESVILLE RESIDENTS REJECT FRAUDULENT SOIL TEST RESULTS

19 Jun

We the victims of Koppers Gainesville, one of the Nation’s oldest and most toxic Superfund Sites, outright reject AMEC’s soil sampling due to these facts:

Trees absorb contaminants from adjacent soils, thereby lowering the toxin levels in those soils. Stephen Foster Neighborhood residents saw employees of AMEC- also known as MACTEC- break soil collection protocol by taking samples from soil immediately next to tree-trunks. And, in the months prior to soil collection, residents saw new soil added to several properties where soil samples were later collected.

Worse, many residents witnessed AMEC employees diluting soil samples. They were seen performing the following actions:

1.    Placing clean soil from a potting soil bag into a stainless steel mixing bowl
2.    Collecting a small scraping of soil from a resident’s yard using a trowel
3.    Adding the collected soil to the clean potting soil in the mixing bowl
4.    Very vigorously mixing the two soils
5.    Placing some of the resulting soil mixture into a sample jar
6.    And pouring the remaining soil mixture onto the ground. Homeowners witnessing this   action called neighborhood representatives and asked them to come out to see for themselves. The representatives that responded also witnessed these actions.

AMEC employees were seen repeating this process at properties throughout the neighborhood. Their tampering renders Beazer East’s soil testing inadmissible. We do not accept Beazer East’s fraudulent test results. Our families need out of the dioxin, PAH, arsenic contaminated homes that are making us sick.

Willingness to accept counterfeit test results and Beazer East & EPA’s “raw deal” for Gainesville families is inhumane. Decades of collusion and negligence at every level of government has allowed Gainesville to become a Toxic City.

Susan Fairforest

Tags: Alachua County, Alachua County Health Department, arsenic, Bank of America, basketball, Beatles, birth defects, cabot koppers, center for public integrity, chemical contamination, children, city commissioners, cnn, co, coast to coast, colbert report, college board, college insight, college majors 101, college navigator, college results online, collusion, consent decree, copper, coppers, Cornel West, corporate crime, corruption, dioxins, Dioxinville, Duck Pond, dust, epa corruption, Erin Brockovich, falsified test results, Family, Fannie Mae, farmer's market, FHA, FL DOH, Florida, Florida Gators, Florida State Road 441, floridan aquifer, FM, football, foreclosures, fox news, Freddie Mac, free range chickens, fruit, FYI, Gainesville High School, gardening, global warming, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, harassment, Hippodrome Theatre, INC, JP Morgan Chase, Julia Roberts, Karen Silkwood, Less Than Jake, Lois Gibbs, lone ranger, Love Canal, north florida, obama, Phillips Center tickets, Sacrifice Zones, Santa Fe College, SFNA, Shands, SILKWOOD, Sister Hazel, Stephen Foster, Stephen Foster Elementary School, Stephen Foster Neighborhood Association, superfund, SUPERMAN, Tavis Smiley, Times Beach, toxic, toxic city, toxic Gainesville, toxic scorecard, university of florida, vegetables, washington post, Wells Fargo

Comments 1 Comment
Categories Beazer East, Death, EPA Corruption, Florida, Gainesville, Koppers, Uncategorized

Stephen Foster Resident Martha Miller On AMEC’s Fraudulent History

14 Jun

City of Gainesville Commission Meeting

June 6, 2013

AMEC (Beazer East’s environmental consultant for Gainesville’s Koppers Superfund Site) is a huge British-owned corporation like BP that is notoriously corrupt and has faced indictments from countries all over the world. For example:

1. In 2008 Great Britain’s Serious Fraud Office fined AMEC five million pounds for falsifying records and other related ethics violations.

2. In South Africa, AMEC was named in a bribery/kickback scandal involving contracts on the Lesotho Dam Project.

3. AMEC carried out the Environmental Impact Assessment for the proposed Chalillo Dam in Belize, and has been accused of burying the scientific analysis of the dam’s impact on wildlife that concluded the project would cause significant and irreversible loss of biological diversity.

Geologists characterize AMEC’s Environmental Impact Assessment as “gravely flawed and so filled with errors so as to render it useless as a document for engineers to use in the design and the construction of the proposed dam.” They go on to state “The mistakes made by AMEC in the geological mapping of the Chalillo site would get a failing mark in an introductory geology class”.

4. Likewise, University of Florida scientists found AMEC’s assumptions and models regarding health risks associated with Koppers Superfund Site to be so flawed that they recommended to Florida DEP that AMEC’s data should not be used at all.

Given AMEC’s worldwide reputation for unethical conduct and unreliable work, continuing to use their falsified data to drive our remedial action is a major mistake that will forever impact the reputation of our city. More importantly, Gainesville families will continue to sicken and die in toxic homes. We want out of this toxic city. We don’t want to die in beautiful but toxic homes- We reject this RAW DEAL!

Tags: 13th Street, 2 miles, abc news, ACEPD, ai, air, al, Alachua County, Alachua County Health Department, alligator, arsenic, associated press, ATSDR, Bank of America, basketball, Beatles, Brutal Strudel, buyout, buyouts, cabot koppers, Cancer, cappex, Carol Estates, center for public integrity, chemical contamination, city commissioners, City of Gainesville, climate, cnn, co, coast to coast, colbert report, college board, college insight, college majors 101, college navigator, college results online, collusion, consent decree, Cornel West, corruption, creosote, daily show, daycare, Debra Heights, dioxins, drinking water, Duck Pond, Eagles, eggs, entertainment tonight, epa, epa corruption, Family, Fannie Mae, FL DOH, Florida, Florida Gators, Florida State Road 441, floridan aquifer, football, foreclosures, fox news, Freddie Mac, free range chickens, gacar, Gainesville, Gainesville High School, gainesville realtors association, Gainesville Regional Airport, gainesville sun, gardening, Gators, global warming, Green Peace, Heartbreakers, hexavalent chromium, Hippodrome Theatre, Hogtown, Homes, houses gainesville, Howard Bishop, Koppers, koppers class action, koppers gainesville, Less Than Jake, Main Street, miscarriage, ms, msnbc, NE 23rd Ave, Oak View, obama, PAH, parks and recreation, Paynes Prairie, Phillips Center tickets, poisoned places, real estate, relocation, Rolling Stones, Santa Fe College, schoolguides, Sister Hazel, slurry walls, soil, Stephen Foster, Stephen Foster Elementary School, Stephen Foster Neighborhood Association, superfund, test koppers, Tom Petty, UF, University Ave, Waldo Road, Walmart, Wards, water, weather, Wells Fargo, wow, yes

Comments Leave a Comment
Categories Beazer East, Death, EPA Corruption, Florida, Gainesville, Koppers, Uncategorized

Unpublished Response to Inaccuracies in 02/06/13 Alligator Article

4 Mar

Because the Koppers article printed in the Florida Independent Alligator on 02/06/13 contained several inaccurate statements, Sandra Watts Kennedy submitted a letter addressing these inaccuracies to the Alligator on 02/18/13. As of 03/04/13, the Alligator has not printed her letter, so koppersgainesville is posting it here:

Hundreds of afflicted residents are taking Koppers and Beazer East to court with scientific proof that levels of arsenic, dioxins and PAHs inside our homes are drastically higher than ACEPD and GRU staff asserted at Santa Fe College’s recent panel discussion on the Cabot-Koppers Superfund Site.

Dr. Mousa’s memory is creative concerning local government involvement in closing Koppers. He should review videos from numerous commission meetings showing citizens testifying to illnesses and deaths from Koppers toxic exposure and begging our elected officials to close down the site. It was only after residents produced documents proving that the City and GRU were among Koppers best customers and therefore abetting Koppers’ ongoing contamination, that we convinced the City to stop doing business with the polluter. Public outcry ultimately closed the plant.

If water contamination is the primary concern, why does our local government support EPA’s “cleanup plan” that contains no remedial action to stop the downward migration of contamination into the aquifer and continues to compromise our drinking water?

Stephen Foster Elementary School is not “several miles north” of the toxic site: it is only 1/3 mile away from the Site, and yes, our children there are at risk.

Regarding the related art show, families of Koppers victims are offended by the lavishing of grants for greenwashing projects when there is so much pain and suffering in our community. A better use of these funds would be to move the most severely afflicted residents out of harm’s way.

Tags: 13th Street, 2 miles, ACEPD, air, Alachua County, Alachua County Health Department, alligator, arsenic, ATSDR, Bank of America, basketball, buyout, cabot koppers, Cancer, Carol Estates, chemical contamination, children, co, Cornel West, creosote, daycare, Debra Heights, dioxins, drinking water, Duck Pond, eggs, environment, epa, Family, FL DOH, Florida, Florida Gators, Florida State Road 441, football, free range chickens, gacar, Gainesville, Gainesville High School, gainesville realtors association, Gainesville Regional Airport, gainesville sun, gardening, global warming, government, GRU, gtn news, hexavalent chromium, Hippodrome Theatre, Homes, houses gainesville, Howard Bishop, JP Morgan Chase, Koppers, koppers gainesville, Main Street, NE 23rd Ave, news, Oak View, organic, PAH, parks and recreation, real estate, relocation, Santa Fe College, science, slurry walls, soil, Stephen Foster, Stephen Foster Neighborhood Association, superfund, test koppers, toxic, tv20, UF, University Ave, university of florida, Waldo Road, Walmart, Wards, water, Wells Fargo, yes

Comments Leave a Comment
Categories Uncategorized

Search

Koppers Superfund Gainesville, Florida