In article , Tom Jaszewski
wrote:
On Wed, 13 Aug 2003 12:08:08 -0700,
(paghat) wrote:
. As you deny being the same Bill Oliver who services
Monsanto through the American Chemical Society,
Check out some of the staff at the Armed Forces Institute of
Pathology, Billo's employer. Lots of Monsanto links there. Nothing
like defending your buddies and their interests.
Thanks Tom. It was the one query he most kept avoiding, though I asked
quite nicely a couple of times -- what his emotional investment was in
loving Monsanto so wholeheartedly & not caring one whit about their proven
track record of causing extravagant harm. I'm sorry the answer was only
what was to be expected, but it's good to know nobody without ulterior
motive could possibly be dumb enough to make those sorts of arguments
about truth not mattering, admissions under oath that data was fabricated
didn't matter, nothing matters but that glyphosate is no more dangerous
than table salt -- which argument I'm liking so much better now that even
Billo quite rightly wants everyone to forget he repeated THAT particular
page out of Monsanto's falacio-for-glyphosate instructional manual.
-paghat the ratgirl
( oh oh Ashcroft's bullies are probably reading this)
An analysis by PHR Environmental Consultants Inc., conducted in 1999
for the purpose of a federally mandated cleanup, identified 12 zones
of extreme contamination in the area located close to the Mississippi
River opposite the city of St. Louis. Until 1967, Sauget was known as
the Village of Monsanto, after the largest industrial company
operating within its bounds.
"Contaminants identified to date in the subject area include: PCBs
(polychlorinated biphenyls), heavy metals including arsenic, barium,
copper, lead, mercury, nickel and zinc; volatile organic compounds,
including chloroform, benzene, 111-trichloethene, tetrachloroethene,
chlorobenzene, toluene and xylenes; semi-volatile organic compounds
such as phenol, naphthalene and pentachlorophenol; pesticides; the
breakdown products of chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents have also been
detected in the ground water," the report said.
Exposure to many of these compounds, especially PCBs, dioxins and
benzene, is known to cause cancer in humans and animals.
The PHR report states that pollution of Dead Creek began in 1918 when
St. Louis-based Monsanto Co. began manufacturing chemicals there. As
early as 1923, six local landowners sued Monsanto for damages to their
agricultural land caused by the release of chemical wastes into Dead
Creek.
Over the years, dozens of companies contributed to the problem. Some
are no longer in business; some have been acquired by other companies.
Monsanto itself has spun off its Sauget plant to a subsidiary, Solutia
Inc.
Solutia has taken responsibility for cleaning up the site and spent
around $17 million trying to do so. Solutia bought the Batson's house
for $40,000 last year and demolished it.
But the company, which last April settled a similar case of PCB
contamination in Alabama for $40 million, is fighting the lawsuit.
Solutia has petitioned to have the case transferred from an Illinois
county court to federal court, arguing much of the pollution stemmed
from a period during World War Two when the company was producing
poisoned gas for the military.
"We believe the U.S. government will be a defendant and therefore it
should be heard in federal court," said Solutia spokesman Glenn
Ruskin.
Additionally, Ruskin stated: "I have not heard of any medical
knowledge or studies that the form of leukemia Mr. Batson has is
associated with exposure to chemicals."
Chemical engineer Melvyn Kopstein, an expert retained by Batson's
lawyer Bill Gavin, said in an affidavit: "Benzene has long been known
to cause myelogenous leukemia in humans."
Gavin believes Solutia's attempt to shift the case to federal court
is aimed at avoiding disclosure of documents. "The federal court
system has strict restrictions on the kind of discovery that can be
conducted," he said.
The federal judge has told plaintiffs they can only send 50
interrogatories, or questions, to each defendant and 20 requests for
production of documents.
"That severely limits my ability to shake information out of them,"
Gavin said.
* * *
Copyright 2001, Reuters All Rights Reserved
Copyright (C) 2001 Environmental News Network Inc.
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"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl:
http://www.paghat.com/