| From: | Emery Graham <egraham@dca.net> |
| Date: | Mon, 1 Mar 1999 09:36:38 -0800 (PST) |
| Reply: | cpeo-brownfields |
| Subject: | No Subject |
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Subject: State Environmental Agency Correspondence Misleads City
Officials/Revision
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EPA Documents Contradict State of Delaware's Environmental Agency
Officials' Representation of Hazardous Wastesite Danger
On Fefruary 25, 199, 270 barrels of hazardous waste were reported to
have been discovered in Wilmington, Delaware. according to a Delaware
daily newspaper. Prior to the news report a manager from the State of
Delaware's Department of Natural Resources and Environmental
Control(DNREC) had twice assured City of Wilmington officials, in
correspondence dated 9/18/98 and 10/30/98, of the safety of this
hazardous wastesite stating,
"....that the Drum Area did not pose an immediate public
health hazard..."
In the February article the local newspaper reported the comments of a
Delaware State environmntal department manager saying,
"The wooded land is isolated and doesn't present a risk to the
public."
However a funding request to the Director of the Hazadous Site Cleanup
Division of the Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, in
Philadelphia, dated February 5, 1999, from the On-Scene Coordinator,
states in its " Endagerment Determination" section the following,
"Actual and threatened releases of hazardous substances from
this Site, if not addressed by implementing the response
action discussed below, will continue to present an imminent
and substantial endangerment to the public health, or welfare,
or the environment."
In another section the funding request goes on to point out,
"there is a strong potential for exposure to nearby
populations to the hazardous substances found at the Site. The
urbanized area of the City of Wilmington is approximately 1
mile from this Site." " There is evidence that people slept
onsite in the past. It appears that over the years children
have made forts and other temporary "play" areas onsite.
People have been observed fishing in the creek in close
proximity to the Site."
Finally, in the "Issues" section of the same funding request the author
states,
"Because the Site is largely unsecured and the public could
come in direct contact with these hazardous substances,{"...
including PCBs,. mercury, arsenic, strong acids, halogens, and
flammable solids.}and because of the release of these
hazardous substances to the environment, they pose an imminent
and substantial threat to human health, welfare, and the
environment."
To the ordinary citizen, and any reasonable person, the Federal and
State representations directly contradict each other. State officials
say there is no, or little, danger and Federal officials say there is
imminent danger to life, health, and safety. Who's telling the truth?
Who should the vunerable, unsuspecting, taxpayer believe?
Why did State of Delaware's environmental officials tell Wilmington City
officials and the press that the hazardous wastesite posed no danger?
What's going on in the the State of Delaware's Department of Natural
Resources and Environmental Control? Is it time for the State of
Delaware's Attorney General and Federal Environmental Protection Agency
officials to step in and investigate DNREC's actions? When the citizens
can't trust their regulatory agencies to protect their life, health, and
safety or to honestly represent the dangers facing the citizens, it's
time for a drastic change. The supervisors of these officials have some
explaining to do and some corrective action to take.
Misleading statements that cause citizens to be unaware of, or
understate, dangerous situations is a terrible failure of governmental
responsibility. How can innocent people protect themselves if they are
given incorrect or misleading information? Innocent citizens suffer.
What is Governer Carper's policy in a situation like this? Given the
poor health conditions in Wilmington Delaware's African American
community, where many hazardous wastesites are located, and with no
public health assessments having been done at these hazardous
wastesites, serious attention must be focused on these failures of State
government agencies.
This is not the first time that State and Federal officials' lack of
timely action increased the danger to the Wilmington public. A snafu
occured at the Diamond State Salvage wastesite project, currently under
way in Wilmington, Delaware, when neither the State of Delaware's
environmental agency nor the Federal Environmental Protection agency
acted to fence in the hazardous waste site once evidence was gathered
that the site was a danger to public health and safety. The Diamond
State Salvage wastesite had been declared a "high risk" site by the
Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry almost three years prior
to the site being fenced in May of 1998. Both State and Federal
environmental officials admitted that the site should have been fenced
immediately to prevent homeless persons and local residents from having
been exposed to the sites hazardous wastes. There is some consolation to
know that this Federal On Scence Coordinator is calling for the
immediate fencing of the entire hazardous wastesite.
You can email comments to Emery Graham at: egraham@dca.net.
Emery Graham
542 E. 12th St.
Wilmington, DE 19801
3026610989
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML>
For Publication:: Replace previous version -
<P><B>EPA Documents Contradict State of Delaware's Environmental Agency
Officials' Representation of Hazardous Wastesite Danger</B>
<P>On Fefruary 25, 199, 270 barrels of hazardous waste were reported to
have been discovered in Wilmington, Delaware. according to a Delaware daily
newspaper. Prior to the news report a manager from the State of
Delaware's
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control(DNREC) had twice
assured City of Wilmington officials, in correspondence dated 9/18/98 and
10/30/98, of the safety of this hazardous wastesite stating,
<BLOCKQUOTE>"....that the Drum Area did not pose an immediate public health
hazard..."</BLOCKQUOTE>
In the February article the local newspaper reported the comments of a
Delaware State environmntal department manager saying,
<BLOCKQUOTE>"The wooded land is isolated and doesn't present a risk to
the public."</BLOCKQUOTE>
However a funding request to the Director of the Hazadous Site Cleanup
Division of the Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, in Philadelphia,
dated February 5, 1999, from the On-Scene Coordinator, states in
its " Endagerment Determination" section the following,
<BLOCKQUOTE>"Actual and threatened releases of hazardous substances from
this Site, if not addressed by implementing the response action discussed
below, will continue to present an imminent and substantial endangerment
to the public health, or welfare, or the environment."
<P>In another section the funding request goes on to point out,
<P>"there is a strong potential for exposure to nearby populations to the
hazardous substances found at the Site. The urbanized area of the City
of Wilmington is approximately 1 mile from this Site." " There is evidence
that people slept onsite in the past. It appears that over the years children
have made forts and other temporary "play" areas onsite. People have been
observed fishing in the creek in close proximity to the Site."</BLOCKQUOTE>
Finally, in the "Issues" section of the same funding request the
author states,
<BLOCKQUOTE>"Because the Site is largely unsecured and the public could
come in direct contact with these hazardous substances,{"... including
PCBs,. mercury, arsenic, strong acids, halogens, and flammable solids.}and
because of the release of these hazardous substances to the environment,
they pose an imminent and substantial threat to human health, welfare,
and the environment."</BLOCKQUOTE>
To the ordinary citizen, and any reasonable person, the Federal and
State representations directly contradict each other. State officials say
there is no, or little, danger and Federal officials say there is imminent
danger to life, health, and safety. Who's telling the truth? Who should
the vunerable, unsuspecting, taxpayer believe?
<P>Why did State of Delaware's environmental officials tell Wilmington
City officials and the press that the hazardous wastesite posed no
danger?
What's going on in the the State of Delaware's Department of Natural
Resources and Environmental Control? Is it time for the State of
Delaware's Attorney General and Federal Environmental Protection Agency
officials to step in and investigate DNREC's actions? When the citizens
can't trust their regulatory agencies to protect their life, health, and
safety or to honestly represent the dangers facing the citizens, it's time
for a drastic change. The supervisors of these officials have some explaining
to do and some corrective action to take.
<P>Misleading statements that cause citizens to be unaware of, or understate,
dangerous situations is a terrible failure of governmental
responsibility.
How can innocent people protect themselves if they are given incorrect
or misleading information? Innocent citizens suffer. What is
Governer Carper's policy in a situation like this? Given the poor
health conditions in Wilmington Delaware's African American community,
where many hazardous wastesites are located, and with no public health
assessments having been done at these hazardous wastesites, serious attention
must be focused on these failures of State government agencies.
<P>This is not the first time that State and Federal officials' lack of
timely action increased the danger to the Wilmington public. A snafu occured
at the Diamond State Salvage wastesite project, currently under way in
Wilmington, Delaware, when neither the State of Delaware's environmental
agency nor the Federal Environmental Protection agency acted to fence in
the hazardous waste site once evidence was gathered that the site was a
danger to public health and safety. The Diamond State Salvage wastesite
had been declared a "high risk" site by the Agency for Toxic Substance
and Disease Registry almost three years prior to the site being fenced
in May of 1998. Both State and Federal environmental officials admitted
that the site should have been fenced immediately to prevent homeless persons
and local residents from having been exposed to the sites hazardous wastes.
There is some consolation to know that this Federal On Scence Coordinator
is calling for the immediate fencing of the entire hazardous wastesite.
<P>You can email comments to Emery Graham at: egraham@dca.net.
<P>Emery Graham
<BR>542 E. 12th St.
<BR>Wilmington, DE 19801
<BR>3026610989
<BR>
<BR>
<BR> </HTML>
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