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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
Scott Miller, Remedial Project Manager Superfund Remedial Branch USEPA Region 4 Atlanta Federal Center 61 Forsyth Street Atlanta, GA 30303 May 30, 2013 Dear Mr. Miller, As I told you in person when you came to my door earlier this month, you do not have my permission to enter my property; neither does Beazer East, Inc./Koppers Inc., Tetra Tech, Mactec (AMEC), Kestrel Ecological Services, or anyone working for Beazer East, Inc./Koppers, Inc., US EPA, FL DOH or FL DEP for soil sampling or any activity that’s part of the shameful “off-site soil remedial action”. As you already very well know, on my property I have already replaced up to four feet of toxic soil with clean soil several times trying to protect my family- and my soil continues to test extremely high in dioxin, arsenic, PAHs and other Koppers chemicals. My house is still making me and my family sick, and your six inches to one foot of clean soil won’t do me or anybody else any good. Stay off of my property. I am not taking part in EPA’s and Beazer East’s so-called “off-site soil remediation”. Mr. Roy Geiersbach and other neighbors have had twenty to forty feet of toxic soil replaced with clean soils and two years later, the new soil tested was every bit as contaminated as the old soils, even worse. EPA and Beazer East know this, and know that your soil cover-up won’t help any of us residents. Koppers contamination has taken my surviving family members’ health and peace of mind away forever. We have suffered too much for too long to suffer this outrageous sham too, and will not take part in any of the soil scraping and cover-up that you are trying to force on us innocent residents when you should be giving us permanent relocation out of homes that are killing us. Your “remediation” doesn’t do a thing to move our families out of our dangerous homes. Shame on you, EPA! Tell your contractors: NO employee of Beazer East, Inc./Koppers Inc., Mactec (AMEC), Tetra Tech, Kestrel Ecological Services, US EPA, FL DOH or FL DEP may trespass on my property at any time. This also applies to any employees of Alachua County or the City of Gainesville trespassing my property at any time for any activities connected to the “off-site soil remediation” in Stephen Foster Neighborhood. My surviving family members and I don’t want to be entombed here- we want out of this toxic neighborhood! Farinda O’Steen
Alachua County Commission Votes to Ask Beazer East to Relocate Residents Out of Toxic Homes- Story and Video Coming Soon!!
19 SepGainesville 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!
Sandra Watts Kennedy on AMEC’s Canadian Scandal
14 JunCity of Gainesville Commission Meeting
June 6, 2013
AMEC engineers and scientists hired to do environmental assessment for the Raven Coal Corporation in Port Alberni Canada falsified data about the Alberni Airshed, not once but twice.
When AMEC published their final assessment of air pollutant concentrations in the Alberni Airshed, they claimed that DIOXIN levels in the airshed were well below the safe level standard for air quality set by the Canadian Government and the World Health Organization. But AMEC was not aware that the Canadian Government monitors the Alberni Airshed for air pollutant concentrations.
The Canadian Government’s reports confirmed major DIOXIN air pollution in Port Alberni, contrary to AMEC’s air quality report. Investigation into AMEC’s actions in Port Alberni proved that AMEC never collected any air quality data in the Alberni Airshed- their report was composed of false test results invented to meet the needs of their client.
AMEC’s fraudulent report included a map illustrating the locations of monitoring towers they claimed to have used for several years to collect their Alberni Airshed data. Upon investigation it was established that these monitoring stations never existed.
It is said that one can tell a lot about a person’s character by the company they keep. AMEC is criminally fraudulent. Why does Beazer East keep using them in Gainesville? And why has Beazer East repeatedly lied to residents about rehiring AMEC under another name? Why is EPA allowing use of AMEC-derived data when the lives of Gainesville’s children are at risk?
This farce is costing lives in Gainesville! We reject AMEC’s sham test results and all aspects of the Beazer East/EPA coverup! Our families want out of our dioxin-contaminated homes while we’re still alive!
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
Resident Farinda O’Steen Rejects USEPA/Beazer East Coverup: Shame on you EPA!
31 MayScott Miller, Remedial Project Manager Superfund Remedial Branch USEPA Region 4 Atlanta Federal Center 61 Forsyth Street Atlanta, GA 30303 May 30, 2013 Dear Mr. Miller, As I told you in person when you came to my door earlier this month, you do not have my permission to enter my property; neither does Beazer East, Inc./Koppers Inc., Tetra Tech, Mactec (AMEC), Kestrel Ecological Services, or anyone working for Beazer East, Inc./Koppers, Inc., US EPA, FL DOH or FL DEP for soil sampling or any activity that’s part of the shameful “off-site soil remedial action”. As you already very well know, on my property I have already replaced up to four feet of toxic soil with clean soil several times trying to protect my family- and my soil continues to test extremely high in dioxin, arsenic, PAHs and other Koppers chemicals. My house is still making me and my family sick, and your six inches to one foot of clean soil won’t do me or anybody else any good. Stay off of my property. I am not taking part in EPA’s and Beazer East’s so-called “off-site soil remediation”. Mr. Roy Geiersbach and other neighbors have had twenty to forty feet of toxic soil replaced with clean soils and two years later, the new soil tested was every bit as contaminated as the old soils, even worse. EPA and Beazer East know this, and know that your soil cover-up won’t help any of us residents. Koppers contamination has taken my surviving family members’ health and peace of mind away forever. We have suffered too much for too long to suffer this outrageous sham too, and will not take part in any of the soil scraping and cover-up that you are trying to force on us innocent residents when you should be giving us permanent relocation out of homes that are killing us. Your “remediation” doesn’t do a thing to move our families out of our dangerous homes. Shame on you, EPA! Tell your contractors: NO employee of Beazer East, Inc./Koppers Inc., Mactec (AMEC), Tetra Tech, Kestrel Ecological Services, US EPA, FL DOH or FL DEP may trespass on my property at any time. This also applies to any employees of Alachua County or the City of Gainesville trespassing my property at any time for any activities connected to the “off-site soil remediation” in Stephen Foster Neighborhood. My surviving family members and I don’t want to be entombed here- we want out of this toxic neighborhood! Farinda O’Steen
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