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January 27, 2000
Vice President Albert Gore, Jr.
Old Executive Office Building
Washington, DC 20501
Dear Vice President Gore,
Since we delivered our January 6th letter to you asking for a
meeting in Washington at the end of this month, we have
received no official response. After repeated phone calls to
your office, we were told that you will not be in Washington,
DC for the rest of January due to your Presidential
campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire.
As you know, we have been requesting meetings with you
regarding the WTI incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio since
1992. We know you are busy; therefore for your
convenience, we have decided to send a delegation to New
Hampshire to meet with you before the February 1st
Presidential Primary. In that meeting we will show you why,
now more than ever, it is necessary to honor your 1992
commitment to stop WTI.
A meeting at this time is especially important to correct
misleading statements that you and your staff have recently
made regarding the authority of the EPA to stop WTI (New
York Times, January 13, 2000). In particular, your staff
claimed that your Administration "looked exhaustively" into
WTI and could not prove that WTI "violated health and safety
standards." In addition, you personally told citizens at a
December 13, 1999 Cleveland campaign stop that your
Administration was "legally obligated" by past decisions
made by the Bush Administration to approve WTI.
However, these explanations are inconsistent with the
actions of your administration immediately after taking office
in January, 1992. A few examples below, should help to
clarify this:
- After making your first post-election commitment on the
environment to "not issue [WTI's] test burn permit" on
December 7, 1992 (reported on the same day in the New York
Times), your transition team failed to formally communicate
this position to the EPA, according to outgoing EPA
Administrator William Reilly and other EPA officials. To the
contrary, the EPA was instructed by your transition team to
proceed with its plans to approve WTI's test permit.
- Within days after taking office, the Clinton-Gore EPA and
Justice Department defended WTI in Federal Court by
formally opposing a temporary restraining order (TRO)
against WTI. The Administration was overruled by Federal
District Court Judge Ann Aldrich, who issued a TRO in March
on behalf of the opponents of WTI. Aldrich relied on EPA's
own hazard assessments to determine that WTI was too
dangerous to operate for even one year. Joy Allison, a
plaintiff who was identified as the "maximally exposed
individual" in this case, died of cancer in June of 1998,
blaming WTI for her illness. She was 55 years old.
- Four years later in 1997, the EPA completed an
assessment of WTI which
identified 27 different accident scenarios that could harm or
kill children at the East Elementary School, located 1,100 feet
from the incinerator. However, the EPA did not consider the
impact of these same accident scenarios on the children
whose homes are 320 feet from WTI. Nor did they include the
possibility of trucking accidents involving any of the 20
trucks that deliver toxic waste to be burned at WTI each day.
Since WTI began operation in 1993, there have been 34 fires,
5 explosions (one of which caused $100,000 of damage), 27
release incidents and constant complaints from the
community about noxious odors and suspicious plumes of
smoke. In addition, the levels of mercury in the urine of local
children show significant increases since WTI began
operation.
- In September, 1994 the General Accounting Office (GAO)
issued its report confirming that, "Under EPA's regulations,
the grounds for terminating a permit include noncompliance
by the permittee with any condition of the permit." They also
concluded, "Thus the grounds for terminating WTI's permit or
imposing a penalty were present, and EPA could have taken
either action or both." In addition, the Ohio and West Virginia
Attorneys General and the City of Pittsburgh's Solicitor also
argued that the EPA had the authority to revoke WTI's permit.
However, the EPA chose to merely fine WTI $64,900.
- The Akron Beacon Journal ran an investigative series in
1997-99 exposing scandals involving WTI. The Journal
documented the tampering of pollution monitoring equipment
AND named North Ohio Valley Air Authority (NOVAA)
employees who were receiving payments directly from WTI.
Some of the pollution monitoring irregularities dated back to
WTI's 1993 "trial burn" and data used in EPA's risk
assessment. One of the air monitoring violations resulted in
a $126,000 fine to WTI.
- The EPA's current unwillingness to renew WTI's operator's
permit, which
expired in 1995, indicates lingering concern about this
troubled facility. And as you know, just four months after WTI
was issued its original permit it became illegal in Ohio to site
an incinerator within 2,000 feet of a school. Virtually all
experts at EPA agree with the wisdom of such a policy.
In fact, in May of 1997, the EPA issued new hazardous waste
facility siting criteria. WTI fits 5 out of eight locations
determined by the EPA to be inappropriate for the siting of
any hazardous waste management facility. In the meantime it
continues to burn more than 150,000 tons of toxic waste a
year, all on an "interim status" permit. In addition it is allowed
to release 4.4 million pounds of heavy metals, such as lead,
into the air each year.
In New Hampshire we can discuss in greater detail how you
can keep your
promise on WTI and protect the children of East Liverpool,
Ohio.
Sincerely,
Terri Swearingen, Tri-State Environmental Council
Chester, West Virginia
(304) 387-0587
Rick Hind, Greenpeace
Washington, DC
(202) 319-2445
Martin Sheen
Malibu, California
Alonzo Spencer, Save Our County
East Liverpool, Ohio
(330) 385-4584
Jennifer O'Donnell, Ohio Citizen Action
Akron, Ohio
(330) 375-5277
Lois Gibbs, Center for Health, Environment and Justice
Arlington, Virginia
(703) 237-2249
Leslie Kusic, SOS
Wheeling, West Virginia
(304) 242-9240
Dr. Paul Connett, Professor of Chemistry, St. Lawrence University
Canton, NY 13617
Ellen Connett, Editor, Waste Not
82 Judson Street
Canton, NY 13617
Peter Montague, Editor, Rachel's Environment and Health Weekly
Annapolis, Maryland
(410) 263-1584
Maria Pellerano, Associate Director, Environmental Research Foundation
Annapolis, Maryland
(410) 263-1584
Bruce Cornett, Greene Environmental Network
Yellow Springs, Ohio
(937) 767-5000
Teresa Mills, Buckeye Environmental Network
Athens, Ohio
(614) 871-1353
Dianne Bady, Director, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition
Proctorville, Ohio
(740) 886-5796 or (304) 522-0246
Laurie Valeriano, Policy Director, Washington Toxics Coalition
Seattle, Washington
Mike Fremont, Rivers Unlimited
Cincinnati, Ohio
(513) 771-5087
Vicki Deisner, Ohio Environmental Council
Columbus, Ohio
(614) 487-7506
Marilyn Wall, Ohio Sierra Club
Cincinnati, Ohio
(513) 761-4003
Will Everett, Toxics Action Center
Portland, ME
(207) 871-1810
Matt Wilson, Director, Toxics Action Center
Boston, MA 02111
(617) 292-4821
Merc Pittinos, Program Director, Toxics Action Center
West Hartford, CT
(860) 233-7623
Kevin Snape, Clean Air Conservancy
Cleveland, Ohio
(216) 932-8999
Dr. Ted Schettler, Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility
Boston, Massachusetts
Michael Mariotte, Executive Director, Nuclear Information and Resource Service
Washington, DC
Brent Baeslack, Chairman, The Haverhill Environmental League
Haverhill, MA 01835
Ed Meagher, Co-chairperson, People for the Environment
North Andover, Massachusetts
(978) 794-3704
John Tuhill, New Hampshire State Representative
Acworth, New Hampshire
Katie Lojoie, Working On Waste
Claremont, New Hampshire
(603) 675-5486
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