美國密蘇里州腦癌患者 集體控告當地歇業工廠 | 環境資訊中心
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美國密蘇里州腦癌患者 集體控告當地歇業工廠

2008年09月03日
摘譯自2008年8月27日ENS美國,密蘇里州報導;鄭佳宜編譯;蔡麗伶、禾引審校

6位來自密蘇里州西北部的卡麥隆鎮的居民,控訴當地一家已關閉25年的絕緣物工廠排放有毒廢棄物,致使附近居民罹患腦瘤。

密蘇里州堪薩斯市的律師戴微斯(Grant Davis)代表這6位居民在科林頓郡(Clinton County) 提出5起訴訟,對這家洛克伍爾工廠(Rockwool)相關企業提出金錢賠償。

洛克伍爾位在卡麥隆鎮西邊3英里,是一家將鐵製成絕緣纖維的工廠。早在1981年結束營業,且在沒有成功賣掉廠房後,捐出20英畝86000平方英呎的廠地給卡麥隆鎮。洛克伍爾公司在1991年解體。

告訴中指控洛克伍爾公司於1974到1982年間在廠房附近傾倒有毒物質,包括原告居住區域;他們並宣稱洛克伍爾公司在靠近工廠處和附近一座採石場掩埋有毒廢棄物。

提出告訴的6名卡麥隆鎮民包括哥登(Cyndee Gardner)、漢姆(Carol Helms)、史都華(Rebecca Stewart)、歐勞林(Michael O’Loughlin)和蘇博夫婦(Hope and Steve Soldberg),這6名原告並未罹患腦瘤,罹癌者是他們的親屬。

被告達拉威的撒斯克哈拿企業(Susquehanna Corp.)是持有和經營洛克伍爾的母公司,而撒斯克哈拿又隸屬比利時埃特羅門企業的子公司,另一名被告則是洛克伍爾前經理布魯克雪爾(Loren Brookshier)。

這起案子要求集體訴訟,如果獲勝,卡麥隆鎮數千居民都可獲得賠償。

針對所謂「卡麥隆鎮疑似異常比例的腦瘤患者」,密蘇里衛生部正展開一項癌症問卷調查;配合這份普查,密蘇里自然資源部透過美國國家環保局協助,也正進行一次環境測查。

2008年7月14和15日兩天,州立和聯邦單位從洛克伍爾廠房和磨石採石場(Grindstone Quarry),採集50份泥土、沈積物、地表水質、地下水和廢石樣本。

密蘇里衛生部和美國國家環保局上週聯合舉辦一場公聽會,約有250位居民前往聽取採集結果。與會官員表示,廠房和採石場附近的土壤和水質含有高濃度的鉛和砷,但並未到達足以影響健康的含量。

「和飲用水標準相比,地下水確實含有高濃度的砷、鎘、鉻、銅、鉛和鋅等物質,」但官員申明:「這些採集點位在隔離的地下水區,混濁又充滿懸服物,不可能用於飲水。」

在衛生部調查卡麥隆鎮是否出現密集癌症病例的過程中,計有68位卡麥隆鎮居民表示罹有良性或惡性腫瘤。

當地傳言,洛克伍爾工廠在將近20年前非法傾倒有毒物質,而早在1989年11月,環保局犯罪調查中心(Crime Investigation Center)就接獲匿名檢舉,指稱時已歇業的洛克伍爾工廠疑似掩埋有害物質。

環保局並未在追查過程中發現實證,也沒有測到有毒物質流入該區。環保局在8月26日表示,已安排更多檢測,包括住宅區和附近採石場的水質採樣。

Lawsuits Filed In Missouri Brain Tumor Cases
KANSAS CITY, Missouri, August 27, 2008 (ENS) -

Six residents of the northwest Missouri town of Cameron are suing the owners of an insulation factory that has been closed for more than 25 years, claiming that discharges and hazardous waste from the factory caused a rash of brain tumors and other illnesses in local residents.

Kansas City, Missouri attorney Grant Davis filed a total of five lawsuits in Clinton County on behalf of the six residents, demanding monetary damages from companies linked to Rockwool Industries.

Rockwool turned iron into fiber insulation at a plant three miles west of Cameron. The company went out of business in 1981, and after their efforts to sell the building failed, they donated the 20 acres and 86,000 sq. ft. building to the city of Cameron. Rockwool was dissolved as a company in 1991.

The lawsuits allege Rockwool dumped toxic substances at or near the plant between 1974 and 1982, including on land where the plaintiffs lived. They also claim the company buried hazardous waste near the plant and in a nearby quarry.

The lawsuits were filed by Cameron residents Cyndee Gardner, Carol Helms, Rebecca Stewart, Michael O'Loughlin, and Hope and Steve Soldberg. None of the plaintiffs claim they have brain cancers but say that some of their relatives have developed tumors.

The cases were filed against Susquehanna Corp. of Delaware, which the lawsuits say owned and managed its subsidiary company Rockwool, as well as Susquehanna's parent company, Eteroutremer of Belgium. The suits also name as defendant Loren Brookshier, a Cowgill, Missouri resident who the lawsuits say is a former Rockwool manager.

The cases seek class-action status that if granted may allow thousands of Cameron residents to receive damages.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services is conducting a cancer inquiry in response to what the agency calls "a possible inordinate amount of brain tumor cases in Cameron." In conjunction with the cancer inquiry, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources is conducting an environmental investigation with assistance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The state and federal agencies collected about 50 soil, sediment, surface water, groundwater and waste rock samples from the former Rockwool facility and the Grindstone Quarry on July 14 and 15, 2008.

Last week, the Missouri DNR and the EPA held an information session attended by about 250 residents to release the test results. The agencies said that their tests of soil and water near the plant and the quarry showed high levels of lead and arsenic in some areas but not enough to threaten health.

"The groundwater had high levels of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, thallium, vanadium and zinc when compared to drinking water standards," the agencies said in a statement. "However, these are isolated pockets of groundwater that are very turbid and high in suspended solids and would never be used for drinking."

Sixty-eight people in Cameron have returned state surveys reporting cases of benign or malignant brain tumors, part of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services' investigation into whether there is a cancer cluster in the town.

Local suspicions of illegal hazardous waste dumping by the Rockwood plant go back nearly 20 years. In November 1989, for instance, the EPA Criminal Investigation Center received an anonymous allegation of buried drums of suspected hazardous waste at the Rockwool plant in Cameron, which by then was closed.
The subsequent EPA investigation did not substantiate the allegations nor turn up evidence of a release of hazardous substances.

The EPA said Tuesday that more testing is scheduled, including water sampling at a group of homes and at a nearby quarry.

全文及圖片詳見:ENS

作者

蔡麗伶(LiLing Barricman)

In my healing journey and learning to attain the breath awareness, I become aware of the reality that all the creatures of the world are breathing the same breath. Take action, here and now. From my physical being to the every corner of this out of balance's planet.