{"id":8948,"date":"2014-05-13T15:34:59","date_gmt":"2014-05-13T19:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=8948"},"modified":"2014-05-13T15:43:27","modified_gmt":"2014-05-13T19:43:27","slug":"test-now-to-protect-our-children-waycross-citizens-group-to-ga-epd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2014\/05\/test-now-to-protect-our-children-waycross-citizens-group-to-ga-epd.html","title":{"rendered":"Test now to protect our children &#8211;Waycross citizens group to GA EPD"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\nWaycross citizens have not ceased trying to get answers since<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/12\/epa-ga-epd-and-southeast-health-in-waycross-about-seven-out-superfund-epa-2013-11-14.html\"><br \/>\nthey first met with GA EPD in November<\/a>. -jsq<\/p>\n<blockquote style=\"font-size:100%\">\n<p>\nFor Immediate Release:<br \/>\n<br \/>\nSilentdisaster.org Meets with Judson Turner, Director of Georgia EPD<br \/>\n<br \/>\nMay 12, 2014<br \/>\n<br \/>\nBy: Silentdisaster.org, a citizens group in Waycross, Georgia<\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/chronicle.augusta.com\/news\/metro\/2012-10-01\/environmental-regulators-adapt-leaner-budgets\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none\" src=\"http:\/\/aug-cdn.com\/sites\/default\/files\/imagecache\/story_slideshow_thumb\/11597567.jpg\"><\/a><br \/>\nAfter over a year of delays and disappointments, Members of<br \/>\nSilentdisaster.org Group met with Judson Turner, Director of EPD on<br \/>\nMonday, May 5th to discuss the harmful chemicals found in the<br \/>\nWaycross area which the group believes points to CSX as the source<br \/>\nof the community&#8217;s toxic contamination which is killing local<br \/>\nresidents. With several children having died and a new childhood<br \/>\ncase being reported, the Members of Silentdisaster.org want<br \/>\nimmediate action to protect the children from environmental<br \/>\nexposure.<\/p>\n<p>The list of<br \/>\nchemicals found in soil and water tests include <!--more--><a href=\"http:\/\/chej.org\/\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\" src=\"https:\/\/fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net\/hprofile-ak-prn2\/t1.0-1\/p200x200\/10252044_10152001758040764_7940394878090954206_n.jpg\"><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>Trichloroethylene (TCE), <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gaepd.org\/Documents\/lpb_leadpaint.html\">Lead<\/a>, Mercury, Methylene Chloride,<br \/>\nAcetone, 1-4 Dioxan, and Benzo(a)pyrene<\/strong>. Toxicologist and scientists with the<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/chej.org\/\"><br \/>\nCenter for Health and Environmental Justice<\/a><br \/>\nhave been helping Silentdisaster by reviewing documents and testing<br \/>\nresults. Based on the finding Silentdisaster.org requested the<br \/>\nfollowing immediate actions be taken to prevent further sickness and<br \/>\nto protect the people of Waycross:\n<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ware.k12.ga.us\/schools\/ruskin\/\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;width:300px\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ware.k12.ga.us\/schools\/ruskin\/images\/ruskin.jpg\"><\/a><br \/>\nWater testing at both public school systems &mdash; the Ruskin<br \/>\nElementary School (3\/4 mile from the west end of CSX property) and<br \/>\nthe Ware County High School (1\/8 mile from the CSX contaminated<br \/>\nLPABS\/OEH CSX RCRA sites).<\/p>\n<li>\nVapor intrusion testing at both public school buildings d.<\/p>\n<li>\nIf any chemicals are identified in either media, the state will<br \/>\nimmediately respond with clean water supplies and vapor intrusion<br \/>\nmitigation system.<\/p>\n<li>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/uga.edu\/gm\/ee\/index.php?\/single\/2013\/12\/2020\/\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none\" src=\"http:\/\/uga.edu\/gm\/ee\/images\/support_photos\/new_faculty_tour-30394-242_thumb.jpg\"><\/a><br \/>\nWater testing beginning at the edge of the CSX property site every 8<small><sup>th<\/sup><\/small> of a mile around the perimeter<br \/>\nand then out every 8<small><sup>th<\/sup><\/small> of a mile until no CSX chemicals are found.<\/p>\n<li>\nVapor intrusion testing at every other home around the perimeter of<br \/>\nthe CSX site.<\/p>\n<li>\nIf chemicals are found that immediate vapor intrusion mitigation<br \/>\nsystems are installed.\n<\/ul>\n<p>\nAfter Silentdisaster.org members made their request known to Mr.<br \/>\nTurner, Mr. Turner referred to<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gaepd.org\/Documents\/lpb.html\"><br \/>\nMr. Cowns, Chief of the Land<br \/>\nProtection Division<\/a>, regarding the CSX contamination who insisted<br \/>\nthe CSX contamination was contained to CSX property OR properties<br \/>\nthey had purchased. Silentdisaster provided the State with a list of<br \/>\nall the chemicals found along with the corresponding excerpts from<br \/>\nCSX documents related to the CSX releases of each chemical. The<br \/>\nmapped testing locations represented areas to the north, south, and<br \/>\nwest of CSX property. Silentdisaster insisted that it was not<br \/>\npossible for the contamination to be contained on CSX property<br \/>\nbecause<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/10\/csx-groundwater-contamination-in-waycross.html\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7434\/10127072885_1b9183f0a9_m.jpg\"><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>ALL<\/strong> of the various testing locations had the <strong>SAME<\/strong> chemicals as released by CSX and therefore, logic would<br \/>\nreason that there must be a link between CSX and the chemicals found<br \/>\nin the community. Silentdisaster members also told the Director,<br \/>\nthey thought the State&#8217;s testing had skirted the real issue of<br \/>\ngroundwater and vapor intrusion which are causing most of the health<br \/>\nissues. Mr. Turner told Mr. Cowns, &lsquo;he needed an<br \/>\nexplanation&rsquo; and Mr. Turner said, he would get back with the<br \/>\nSilentdisaster members but they needed time to look into it.<br \/>\nSilentdisaster members reminded The Director of all the children who<br \/>\nhave died and all the people sick.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ware.k12.ga.us\/schools\/wchs\/\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ware.k12.ga.us\/schools\/wchs\/images\/wchs.jpg\"><\/a><br \/>\nSpecifically, regarding the water testing at the schools, Mr. Turner<br \/>\nsaid drinking water was a priority for the State and they would<br \/>\nverify the source of water at each school and review the water<br \/>\nresults for the City and County wells that supply the schools water.<br \/>\nMr. Turner agreed to provide the group with a copy of these reports<br \/>\nby Friday, May 9<small><sup>th<\/sup><\/small>,<br \/>\na date which has now come and gone without<br \/>\nSilentdisaster members receiving reports.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nMembers of Silentdisaster voiced their concerns over past testing<br \/>\nmethods and specifically, that the State&#8217;s testing failed to measure<br \/>\nfor contaminants at levels lower than the Federal Standards called<br \/>\n&lsquo;Maximum Contamination Level&rsquo; (MCL) for drinking water. High<br \/>\nreporting levels were also used to measure for chemicals in the soil<br \/>\ntests. The State &lsquo;resampled&rsquo; the wells after members of<br \/>\nSilentdisaster accused the State of hiding true health risks behind<br \/>\ninadequate testing, but the results of the &lsquo;resampling&rsquo; have yet to<br \/>\nbe released. The State had written letters to local residents<br \/>\ntelling them their water was &lsquo;safe&rsquo; even though they had not been<br \/>\ntested to &lsquo;Federal Standards&rsquo;. Silentdisaster pressed the State for<br \/>\nthe most recent well water testing results which they agreed were<br \/>\nready but they said they needed to notify the home owners first. Mr.<br \/>\nTurner again agreed to have the results to the group by May 9<small><sup>th<\/sup><\/small><br \/>\n(another report not yet received by members of the group). Regarding<br \/>\nthe &lsquo;high reporting limits used for soil testing&rsquo;, Mr. Turner said<br \/>\nthey did not realize there was a problem with the soil testing and<br \/>\nwould look into it by Friday, May 9<small><sup>th<\/sup><\/small>.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/09\/aquifer-and-well-contamination-miles-from-waycross-seven-out-superfund-site.html\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;width:300px\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ec.gc.ca\/eau-water\/6A7FB7B2-4406-4C62-A1D7-C980DDFAF247\/a5f8e.gif\"><\/a><br \/>\nRegarding the vapor intrusion testing for the schools, the State<br \/>\nsaid they usually don&#8217;t do vapor intrusion testing without knowing a<br \/>\ncontamination plume is present under the area being tested, so the<br \/>\nState said they would get back with the members on May 9<small><sup>th<\/sup><\/small> after<br \/>\nreviewing the latest water testing results. Silentdisaster members<br \/>\nhave not heard from the State on this matter either.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nThe members of Silentdisaster.org believe these tests are<br \/>\nimmediately necessary for the safety of the children in our area and<br \/>\nanything less would be a violation of EPD&#8217;s duty to protect the most<br \/>\nvulnerable of our citizens, it&#8217;s children.\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size:90%\">\n<em><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.Silentdisaster.org\"><br \/>\nSilentdisaster.org<\/a><br \/>\nand the citizen&#8217;s<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/SilentDisaster\/\"><br \/>\nFacebook page &lsquo;South Georgia&#8217;s<br \/>\nsecret killer&rsquo;<\/a> is a local citizens group concerned with the on-going<br \/>\nenvironmental toxins that are causing health problems in our<br \/>\ncommunity and are committed to efforts that will remove residents<br \/>\nfrom contaminated area if desired, compel the clean-up of affected<br \/>\nproperties by companies polluting, and call for adequate medical<br \/>\nresources and information that would assist in the restoration of<br \/>\nthe health of residents affected by these toxic chemicals. For more<br \/>\ninformation contact Joan Tibor McNeal at 912-281-6897 or Nihlia<br \/>\nGriffin at 912-2884668.<br \/>\n<\/em>\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Waycross citizens have not ceased trying to get answers since they first met with GA EPD in November. -jsq For Immediate Release: Silentdisaster.org Meets with Judson Turner, Director of Georgia EPD May 12, 2014 By: Silentdisaster.org, a citizens group in Waycross, Georgia After over a year of delays and disappointments, Members of Silentdisaster.org Group met [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,32,478,449,55],"tags":[292,8701,8718,7650,8702,12,7,8715,7649,8772,8767,6,8727,2597],"class_list":["post-8948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health-care","category-pollution","category-solid-waste","category-transportation","category-water","tag-ga-epd","tag-georgia","tag-health-care","tag-judson-turner","tag-lake","tag-lowndes-area-knowledge-exchange","tag-lowndes-county","tag-pollution","tag-silentdisaster-org","tag-solid-waste","tag-transportation","tag-valdosta","tag-water","tag-waycross"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8948"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8957,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8948\/revisions\/8957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}