[CPEO-BIF] On Food and Environmental Contamination

["Schnapf, Lawrence" <Lawrence.Schnapf@srz.com>]

The New York Times ran an article yesterday (Sunday) on e-coli
contaminations issues associated with hamburger meat. the link is at
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/health/04meat.html?_r=1.

Amidst the reporting on poor inspections and oversight by the USDA, what
struck me was the contractual agreements negotiated by slaughterhouses
and their customers. The slaughterhouses prohibited their customers from
sampling the meat for e-coli at the risk of being cut-off from further
supplies!

The contractual prohibitions on sampling of meat imposed by
slaughterhouses should be void as a matter of public policy. How is it
in the public interest to prevent supermarkets and other companies
selling meat for consumption by the public to be prevented from sampling
the meat to ensure it is not contaminated. This contractual arrangement
should be prohibited just like landlords are not allowed to rent
substandard properties or manfacturers cannot void warranties on their
products. 

Bringing this topic back to the environmental world, these arrangements
imposed by the slaughterhouses remind me of the "no look" or "no hunt"
provisions common in corporate transactions where the seller prohibits
the buyer from conducting environmental sampling after the closing at
the risk of voiding any contractual indemnity. 

As you know, I have been vocally pushing for reforming the CERCLA
reporting requirements so that owners of property would be required to
disclose the existence of historical contamination which is not
currently required to be reported. CERCLA requires reporting of releases
of hazardous substances that exceed a a "Reportable Quantity" (RQs)
which are expressed in quanity over a 24 hour period. When dealing with
historical contamination, owners can hide behind the fact they do not
know if the contamination was a "drip, drip, drip" over a decade or a
single spill. 

This concept of the right of contracting parties to hide information
that can impact the public health and welfare be it contaminated meat or
contaminated drinking water simply has no place in the 21st century.
Just like a person does not have a First Amendment right to yell fire in
a theater, the right of privacy or the antiquated notion of "caveat
emptor" should not apply when the public health is involved. Our legal
system has done away with these concepts when it comes to new
residential constructions and manufactured products. I see no reason or
any reason why this transparency should not be applied to
contamination-be it to food or drinking water.  

Larry

-----Original Message-----
From: brownfields-bounces@lists.cpeo.org
[mailto:brownfields-bounces@lists.cpeo.org] On Behalf Of Lenny Siegel
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 5:13 PM
To: Brownfields Internet Forum
Subject: [CPEO-BIF] Landfill gas beneath homes, Irondequoit, New York

Methane gas found beneath two Irondequoit homes

Alan Morrell
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (NY)
October 2, 2009


Methane gas has been found beneath two Irondequoit homes that were built

on a former landfill site, and officials quickly alerted residents 
Thursday to address concerns.

The homes are on Timrod Drive, near the Genesee River on the west side 
of Irondequoit.

Officials from the town's engineering firm stressed that the levels were

low and that the gas has been detected only underground, not in homes. 
An official from the Monroe County Health Department also said there was

the potential for the gas to seep into homes, but not necessarily 
explosive levels.

....

A state Supreme Court judge in Monroe County previously sided with the 
Lighthouse Pointe developers, but appellate judges reversed that 
decision earlier this year.

Alan Knauf, a lawyer for the Lighthouse Pointe developers, said in a 
telephone interview that the testing was done to disprove the state's 
contention that the levels of contamination at the dump were negligible,

and to protect residents.

....

For the entire article, see
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20091002/NEWS01/910020359/10
02/RSS01

-- 


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org




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