Little David was small, but oh my! In the Biblical story, with God's help and faith in the rightness of his cause, he defeated the giant Goliath.
Residents are fighting a giant here. Chemical Waste Management, which is part of the 12 billion dollar Waste Management company, is bringing toxic materials from 30 states, Canada, and Puerto Rico to bury here.
They bury them near the Great Lakes, which contain over 20% of the world's liquid fresh water. PCBs from the land fill have leaked, year after year, into the streams and Lake.
They continue to haul toxic wastes across the country, up to 400,000 tons annually, in thousands of trucks. Trucks can leak; one recently overturned and spilled its load half a mile from the school. This is a school of approximately 2,500 students with no monitoring or evacuation plan. It is only one mile from the hazardous waste land fill.
They bury them on top of unexamined atomic wastes from the Manhattan project. They bury toxic wastes despite a State Health Department order that the soil should not be disturbed. They continue to bury them even after plutonium has been discovered on the CWM site.
They continue to do this even though the New York State Department of Health documented "statistically significant male cancers" downwind, and the surrounding area shows 150% to 200% the expected male and female cancers, "not likely due to chance."
They hold open house events, including enticing children to their site, to talk about what good neighbors they are. They give gifts and pay funds to local municipalities in hopes they won't object to what they do. The use paid ads and mail slick propaganda pieces to every household talking about how wonderful it is to have them in our community.
They do all of this in an area that should be a tourist attraction for the world, just a few miles from Niagara Falls and near the Niagara River. They do it despite a New York State law and Supreme Court order that there should be a geographically equitable siting plan for toxic waste disposal. They don't worry about the danger; they just want the money.
They do it because it is their business. They do it despite the fact that the citizens of this community and the New York State Supreme Court don't want us to be the only dumping ground for the entire northeastern United States. They continue to press for permits to enlarge and expand their facility. They count on the Department of Environmental Conservation to continue to give them permits, and our elected officials to look the other way and accept their money.
But citizens have organized in a group called Residents for Responsible Government. RRG will tell the public the truth. RRG works with the community to challenge their permits at public hearings. RRG employs lawyers to oppose CWM maneuvers in court. RRG is dedicated to protect our area and people.
But of course they don't think we can fight them. They're a giant! They have millions of dollars of funds to spend; they know we don't. They are sure they can roll right over local people and this community.
Well, little David didn't give up; neither do we. Would you like to help RRG/little David defeat the giant? Contact us at Residents for Responsible Government, P. O. Box 262, Youngstown, N.Y. 14174 or phone us at 716 791 4562. Our web site is www.rrg-wny.org.
In behalf of RRG,
Charles Lamb, 2nd vice president
Residents for Responsible Government
