Re: [CPEO-MEF] Twp. Trustees formal legal position to US EPA at Hearing back before they got "flipped"

On Thursday, May 14, 2026 at 12:54:00 PM EDT, crborello@aol.com <crborello@aol.com> wrote:

On Thursday, May 14, 2026 at 12:45:40 PM EDT, crborello@aol.com <crborello@aol.com> wrote:

For Senator Brown's personal review.

Dear Sherrod,

We are sure that you are extremely busy campaigning, but would request, when you have time, your review of what we just sent to Congresswoman Sykes - see attached legal letter sent to US EPA Region 5 during the first formal ( and required) comment period, when EPA began dismantling the Uniontown IEL Superfund cleanup ROD. This very same due process should have likewise been afforded to this community when the final ( third) cleanup component - the expansion of the gas control system - was also killed off, unlike when the first two components, i.e, the ground water pump and treat system and the impermeable cap, were taken taken away, at least, we had been granted under Superfund Law the same formal comment period,a public hearing and written EPA responsiveness summary . No, not in the case of the literal turning off of the gas control system, vs. adhering to the cleanup ROD, and expanding the system.

When, as we wrote prior we talked to your D.C. staffer, she finally acknowledged that EPA would not answer this question, about their failing to provide the same process.

Senator Brown, as a result of these three components gone, preventing migration of contaminated water offsite to wells, and toxic/radioactive vapors leaving the site, as a result 1, 4 Dioxane chemical has been reported in a plume, requiring some 40 home's private wells to be quietly sealed off. Gases are explosive as before, again, clearly suggesting the gas control should never have been allowed to be turned off.

Now, we believe EPA R5 continues to drag its feet on providing data bases from testing done by Firestone over the past five years, obviously not a surprise given the above scenario, but that doesn't make any of this right...They need to provide this info. immediately (However, before any public forum is scheduled, we need ample time for scientists to independently review those data bases, whenever R5 releases them.)

Senator Josh Hawley took a strong stance against the coverup at the St. Louis Westlake Landfill containing radium. Our IEL has radium along with various man-made rads, freely continuing to flush in a high water table. It remains extremely painful for us to receive articles telling of how Sen. Hawley almost immediately had newly EPA appointed Lee Zeldin fly in to St. Louis, just to reassure those residents that the government's promise of a thorough cleanup would be carried out quickly - while here Uniontown IEL sits, after 40 + years, our bare bones, basic institutional controls cleanup plans systematically stripped away, in favor of allowing "enhanced" flushing of the hundreds of thousands of tons of chemicals, including Plutonium, into our area's drinking water supplies. We need Army Corp. of Engineers to be brought into Uniontown. EPA has so completely bungled our case, digging itself such a deep hole, there is no way out. We have good reason to believe even the Rubber Companies wanted Army to take IEL over, proof of this was their top lawyer, Douglas Haynum, personally taking Kittinger before the Fed. Judge in Cleveland and what they stated in writing, about the DOJ/EPA probe not fully adjudicating the Kittinger testimony regarding Army's burial of deadly Plutonium at IEL. .

This document prepared for the Twp. sent during a formal comment period illustrates for you nicely just how important that due process was, that your office couldn't obtain answer to many years ago, when EPA chose to bow to polluters and kill off the gas system. We now in 2026 appreciate more than ever before, the gravity of EPA's sheer arrogance in dissing your simple inquiry of this matter.... Clearly, EPA was dead wrong in taking away the IEL cleanup..

Sincerely,

CCLT/Uniontown IEL Superfund Site, OH

Wednesday, May 13, 2026 at 12:11:50 PM EDT, crborello@aol.com <crborello@aol.com> wrote:

Congresswoman Sykes C/O Dominick,

Dear Congresswoman Sykes,

CCLT greatly appreciated the opportunity to discuss our 40 + year battle seeking justice, scientific accountability and most importantly a safe and permanent cleanup of the Uniontown Industrial Excess Landfill Superfund Site in your District with your staffer this week.

Before local entities got "flipped" in approx. 1999, our grassroots citizens' group, Concerned Citizens of Lake Twp, had fantastic support from both the Canton REP and the Beacon Journal, editors, who did numerous scathing commentaries; reporters who pressed Region 5 for facts and concrete answers for years. This journalistic accountablilty was coupled with support from various Twp. Trustees' Board Members, Stark County Commissioners, the former Stark County Prosecutor, Robert Horowitz, State Reps, (Scott Oelslager, Dave Johnson,) the Ohio EPA Director Rich Shank, Congressman Regula, Gov. Celeste visited the site, going on TV demanding to know what the military had dumped at IEL, Sen. John Glenn, and especially Sen. Howard Metzenbaum. CDC's health/toxic agency, ATSDR heroically did what they could to challenge US EPA Region 5, subcontracting US GS on the groundwater flow, fought for the expanded gas control system, and triggered the evacuation of 13 border families under FEMA. You already know about the courageous whistleblowers at the Ohio EPA who pushed on Region 5 for drilling into the suspected nuclear dumping area , the NE corner.

However, as conveyed, there was a stunning and abrupt change that occurred in around the second half of 1999, that we are forced to still grapple with as a result to this very day.

Officials appeared chilled and seriously intimidated almost over night. They did a 180 degree flip, soon after sending (the below attached document) - these legally written formal comments submitted to the US EPA Region 5.

A precursor to the dramatic 180 came one morning via a phone call from Twp. Trustee Ruley, telling me that their attorney, Dave Herbert, had just informed her that ..."They'd be in BIG trouble if they challenged the crummy cap".....My very first thought was: Was this due to the leaked transcript Ruley had provided via FAX to CCLT, she said she derived from Herbert from Judge Manos' behind closed doors meetings, in approx. 1998, suggesting the EPA, DOJ, PRPS were already planning on doing away with the ground water cleanup BEFORE they had even carried out additional testing planned for the Fall/Sept. 1998!?

Regardless, it was a mind-blowing betrayal. We still do not know for certain, but our belief remains it was (at least in part) may also have been as a result of the notorious " Potential 3rd Party Defense List " that conveniently also happened to get floated around Stark County, listing the Twp. and Stark Health Dept. among local entities, with major defense contractors and the Army.

The Prosecutor who had flown to Chicago and Washington to meet with USEPA top officials with CCLT, who had even incorporated our group in order to obtain the first TAG grant Congressionally mandated ( CCLT was the very first in the nation to be awarded a TAG), likewise dramatically turned, suddenly after working closely with us for years, informed us quite nastily on the phone one day, that ...it was his job to represent the Trustees, NOT concerned citizens!. This obviously spoke volumes..

No matter, there still is absolutely no justification for elected officials to betray/ turn their (collective) backs on our citizens, when it comes to their sworn oath of office to protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizens' they were elected to represent, no matter the intimidation and coercion they faced.. Worse, they not only flipped, but then worked against us by embracing the polluters's testing efforts and decisions..thus aiding them to get rid of the entire cleanup and attacked CCLT and technical experts alike. .

We sent you yesterday the Beacon article ( from early 2000s), illustrating how Congressman Sawyer too appeared flipped, after he and Ms. Ruley had both pushed FOR EPA Ombudman Martin to be brought in to investigate the radiation scandal. Trustee Ruley even issued a statement saying the Ombudsman ( suddenly) was no longer warranted.

To further assist your understanding of how dramatic this change of position was, kindly review the below document that had been sent to the US EPA on the cleanup going away of the groundwater.

https://semspub.epa.gov/work/05/923462.pdf

Sent from my iPhone

From:	"crborello@aol.com" <crborello@aol.com>
Date:	Thu, 14 May 2026 12:23:39 -0700 (PDT)
Reply:	cpeo-military
Subject:	Re: [CPEO-MEF] Twp. Trustees formal legal position to US EPA at Hearing back before they got "flipped"

On Thursday, May 14, 2026 at 12:54:00 PM EDT, crborello@aol.com <crborello@aol.com> wrote: On Thursday, May 14, 2026 at 12:45:40 PM EDT, crborello@aol.com <crborello@aol.com> wrote: For Senator Brown's personal review. Dear Sherrod, f We are sure that you are extremely busy campaigning, but would request, when you have time, your review of what we just sent to Congresswoman Sykes - see attached legal letter sent to US EPA Region 5 during the first formal ( and required) comment period, when EPA began dismantling the Uniontown IEL Superfund cleanup ROD. This very same due process should have likewise been afforded to this community when the final ( third) cleanup component - the expansion of the gas control system - was also killed off, unlike when the first two components, i.e, the ground water pump and treat system and the impermeable cap, were taken taken away, at least, we had been granted under Superfund Law the same formal comment period,a public hearing and written EPA responsiveness summary . No, not in the case of the literal turning off of the gas control system, vs. adhering to the cleanup ROD, and expanding the system. When, as we wrote prior we talked to your D.C. staffer, she finally acknowledged that EPA would not answer this question, about their failing to provide the same process. Senator Brown, as a result of these three components gone, preventing migration of contaminated water offsite to wells, and toxic/radioactive vapors leaving the site, as a result 1, 4 Dioxane chemical has been reported in a plume, requiring some 40 home's private wells to be quietly sealed off. Gases are explosive as before, again, clearly suggesting the gas control should never have been allowed to be turned off. Now, we believe EPA R5 continues to drag its feet on providing data bases from testing done by Firestone over the past five years, obviously not a surprise given the above scenario, but that doesn't make any of this right...They need to provide this info. immediately (However, before any public forum is scheduled, we need ample time for scientists to independently review those data bases, whenever R5 releases them.) Senator Josh Hawley took a strong stance against the coverup at the St. Louis Westlake Landfill containing radium. Our IEL has radium along with various man-made rads, freely continuing to flush in a high water table. It remains extremely painful for us to receive articles telling of how Sen. Hawley almost immediately had newly EPA appointed Lee Zeldin fly in to St. Louis, just to reassure those residents that the government's promise of a thorough cleanup would be carried out quickly - while here Uniontown IEL sits, after 40 + years, our bare bones, basic institutional controls cleanup plans systematically stripped away, in favor of allowing "enhanced" flushing of the hundreds of thousands of tons of chemicals, including Plutonium, into our area's drinking water supplies. We need Army Corp. of Engineers to be brought into Uniontown. EPA has so completely bungled our case, digging itself such a deep hole, there is no way out. We have good reason to believe even the Rubber Companies wanted Army to take IEL over, proof of this was their top lawyer, Douglas Haynum, personally taking Kittinger before the Fed. Judge in Cleveland and what they stated in writing, about the DOJ/EPA probe not fully adjudicating the Kittinger testimony regarding Army's burial of deadly Plutonium at IEL. . This document prepared for the Twp. sent during a formal comment period illustrates for you nicely just how important that due process was, that your office couldn't obtain answer to many years ago, when EPA chose to bow to polluters and kill off the gas system. We now in 2026 appreciate more than ever before, the gravity of EPA's sheer arrogance in dissing your simple inquiry of this matter.... Clearly, EPA was dead wrong in taking away the IEL cleanup.. Sincerely, CCLT/Uniontown IEL Superfund Site, OH Wednesday, May 13, 2026 at 12:11:50 PM EDT, crborello@aol.com <crborello@aol.com> wrote: Congresswoman Sykes C/O Dominick, Dear Congresswoman Sykes, CCLT greatly appreciated the opportunity to discuss our 40 + year battle seeking justice, scientific accountability and most importantly a safe and permanent cleanup of the Uniontown Industrial Excess Landfill Superfund Site in your District with your staffer this week. Before local entities got "flipped" in approx. 1999, our grassroots citizens' group, Concerned Citizens of Lake Twp, had fantastic support from both the Canton REP and the Beacon Journal, editors, who did numerous scathing commentaries; reporters who pressed Region 5 for facts and concrete answers for years. This journalistic accountablilty was coupled with support from various Twp. Trustees' Board Members, Stark County Commissioners, the former Stark County Prosecutor, Robert Horowitz, State Reps, (Scott Oelslager, Dave Johnson,) the Ohio EPA Director Rich Shank, Congressman Regula, Gov. Celeste visited the site, going on TV demanding to know what the military had dumped at IEL, Sen. John Glenn, and especially Sen. Howard Metzenbaum. CDC's health/toxic agency, ATSDR heroically did what they could to challenge US EPA Region 5, subcontracting US GS on the groundwater flow, fought for the expanded gas control system, and triggered the evacuation of 13 border families under FEMA. You already know about the courageous whistleblowers at the Ohio EPA who pushed on Region 5 for drilling into the suspected nuclear dumping area , the NE corner. However, as conveyed, there was a stunning and abrupt change that occurred in around the second half of 1999, that we are forced to still grapple with as a result to this very day. Officials appeared chilled and seriously intimidated almost over night. They did a 180 degree flip, soon after sending (the below attached document) - these legally written formal comments submitted to the US EPA Region 5. A precursor to the dramatic 180 came one morning via a phone call from Twp. Trustee Ruley, telling me that their attorney, Dave Herbert, had just informed her that ..."They'd be in BIG trouble if they challenged the crummy cap".....My very first thought was: Was this due to the leaked transcript Ruley had provided via FAX to CCLT, she said she derived from Herbert from Judge Manos' behind closed doors meetings, in approx. 1998, suggesting the EPA, DOJ, PRPS were already planning on doing away with the ground water cleanup BEFORE they had even carried out additional testing planned for the Fall/Sept. 1998!? Regardless, it was a mind-blowing betrayal. We still do not know for certain, but our belief remains it was (at least in part) may also have been as a result of the notorious " Potential 3rd Party Defense List " that conveniently also happened to get floated around Stark County, listing the Twp. and Stark Health Dept. among local entities, with major defense contractors and the Army. The Prosecutor who had flown to Chicago and Washington to meet with USEPA top officials with CCLT, who had even incorporated our group in order to obtain the first TAG grant Congressionally mandated ( CCLT was the very first in the nation to be awarded a TAG), likewise dramatically turned, suddenly after working closely with us for years, informed us quite nastily on the phone one day, that ...it was his job to represent the Trustees, NOT concerned citizens!. This obviously spoke volumes.. No matter, there still is absolutely no justification for elected officials to betray/ turn their (collective) backs on our citizens, when it comes to their sworn oath of office to protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizens' they were elected to represent, no matter the intimidation and coercion they faced.. Worse, they not only flipped, but then worked against us by embracing the polluters's testing efforts and decisions..thus aiding them to get rid of the entire cleanup and attacked CCLT and technical experts alike. . We sent you yesterday the Beacon article ( from early 2000s), illustrating how Congressman Sawyer too appeared flipped, after he and Ms. Ruley had both pushed FOR EPA Ombudman Martin to be brought in to investigate the radiation scandal. Trustee Ruley even issued a statement saying the Ombudsman ( suddenly) was no longer warranted. To further assist your understanding of how dramatic this change of position was, kindly review the below document that had been sent to the US EPA on the cleanup going away of the groundwater. . https://semspub.epa.gov/work/05/923462.pdf Sent from my iPhone _______________________________________________ Military mailing list Military@lists.cpeo.org http://lists.cpeo.org/listinfo.cgi/military-cpeo.org
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