This just in from People Concerned About MIC:

August 4, 2009

Honorable John Bresland

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazards Investigation Board

2174 K Street NW, Suite 400

Washington, DC 20037

Dear Mr. Bresland:
I want to congratulate you on the near completion of the August 2008 Bayer CropScience explosion investigation.  Your perseverance and commitment to upholding your Presidential charge is to be commended on what seems to have proven to be one of the most stonewalling investigations the Chemical Safety Board has ever undertaken.

While our organization has previously been in contact with the CSB to inform you of our hopes for your recommendations on Bayer CropScience incident, a bit of space from the April Congressional hearing and the following public meeting has given us some additional time to reflect on our hopes for our future.

The weeks and months prior to and following these April hearings placed much emphasis on determining Bayer’s feasibility to eliminate their stockpiles of methyl isocyanate (MIC) and the possibilities of transitioning to use of alternative chemicals and more inherently safer technologies.  This is one of the outcomes for which we have advocated, not only for the health and safety of our community, but also to reduce national terrorist threat vulnerabilities.  The continued use of MIC, a highly toxic chemical created of equally highly toxic chemicals, remains of grave concern to us, especially as reports indicated that this incident could have ‘eclipsed Bhopal.’  We commend you for taking the time to meet with Sarita and Safreen, the two young girls who live in Bhopal and whose families are still living the continued aftermath of the 1984 disaster.  We would be remiss to stand on the shadow of the Bhopal tragedy without recognizing their continued struggles and America’s stake in them.

What would have happened had the August 2008 event actually eclipsed Bhopal?  If I made it through, would my probably physically deformed children be drinking contaminated water 25 years from now, if they were lucky enough to live that long, because Bayer decided that it was cheaper to pack up and go back to Germany than clean up their responsibilities or to sell their problem to another company who would refuse to clean up since it wasn’t their mess to begin with?  We truly hope that this possibility has been among the considerations for your recommendations.  We would like to see a recommendation for Congressional legislation that holds the party responsible for such disasters accountable for clean up to pristine condition.  We would also like to see the U.S. government take a more active role in ensuring the clean up of the Bhopal community.

 While we are thrilled that both the CSB and our Congressional representatives have taken such a pro-active investigatory stance on the MIC issue, we fear that it possibly overshadows the additional risks that are posed to our community (and other communities surrounding a toxic chemical plant) on a daily basis and will continue to pose regardless of the absence or presence of MIC.  Methyl isocyanate is not the only dangerous chemical being manufactured and stored at the Institute facility.  Over the years, at this and all chemical facilities across the United States, chemicals have been manufactured disproportionally in minority communities without ever having been tested for toxicity to humans.  They go to market before we know what environmental and health effects they cause.  Each day, thousands of people die from cancers and other diseases that can be traced to the toxins in our food, our land, air, water, and the daily products we use.  It is our government’s responsibility to protect us from such hazards yet instead, it has chosen to condone acts of environmental racism and discrimination while erring on the side of special interests.  As we would be remiss to not recognize American industry’s role in the plight of the Bhopal people and the US government’s condoning of such acts, we would be equally remiss not to seek some sort of monumental recommendation that addresses the core issues of the problems that exist in our community and in communities across the country living in harms way of chemical plants. 

Highly toxic chemicals will never be manufactured in a way that guarantees the protection of workers, community members and our environment.  As such, our organization firmly believes that the only way to truly eliminate the hazards posed by toxic chemical production is to eliminate our dependence on toxic chemicals.  We understand that in order to accomplish this goal, there must be a transition over time to greener technologies.  However, since multi-billion dollar chemical corporations are driven solely by profits and not moral obligations to the communities in which they operate, they must be given impetus to make this transition, for the greater good of humanity.  In the meantime, it is imperative that our government holds industry accountable at the onset of toxic chemical manufacturing and sends out a message to the disproportionally affected communities surrounding chemical facilities that no American community, of any color, class or ability, is considered an acceptable risk factor.  The active inclusion in decision-making by the people most affected is no more than democratic.  Sanctioning otherwise is ruthless and tyrannical.

In conclusion, we would like to see this investigation result in the following (in no particular order):

1.     Identification and elimination of hazardous storage and processing practices, including but not limited to MIC;

2.     Identification and elimination of hazardous work practices that endanger worker and community safety, specifically we would like to see — All safety failures be reported publicly

Reasonable limits to the number of consecutive days worked and amount of rest time after consecutive days worked established

3.     Job creation as a result of governmental incentives for industry to transition to inherently safer and greener processes;

4.     Criminal and shutdown penalties of any chemical corporation for the failure to clearly communicate to emergency response officials and the community as well as for intentional and/or multiple violations of EPA or OSHA standards;

5.     Regulation that does not absolve reclamation and remediation responsibilities for corporations in mergers or acquisitions;

6.     Environmental justice work plans for every chemical facility operating in low-income and minority communities;

7.     Legislation that requires all chemical facilities, with equal active participation from all of the stakeholders, including industry, agencies, elected officials, and the public, to develop a safety ordinance that meets or exceeds the Industrial Safety Ordinance model in Contra Costa County, California;

8.     Regulations for human toxicity and long term health determination prior to mass production and public consumption;

9.     Restoration of pre-911 Community Right to Know laws;

10.     For our specific community, we would like to see:

– An independent epidemiological and health study of the Kanawha Valley performed in conjunction with our organization;

– A functioning and independently operated land, air and water monitor whose data would be available to governmental and public entities at any time; and,

– An Economic Impact Study surveying the loss of economic potential to the Kanawha Valley due to Brownfields.

Above all, we want Bayer CropScience (and all chemical companies) to do business as if it were in their own backyard.  Likewise, the toxic chemicals we wish not to be in our backyard, we wish not to be in the backyard of our neighbors, either.

Thank you for the CSB’s thorough investigation of this incident and for considering our hopes for your forthcoming recommendations.

Sincerely,

Maya Nye, SpokespersonPeople Concerned About MIC

P.O. Box 45

Institute, WV  25112

 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 5, 2009 at 10:53 am and is filed under Chemical industry, Environment, Public safety, Worker safety. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.