Monsanto is where we got the pesticide, the stuff that I thought smelled like bug spray. One state environmental official then dismissed the CDC as "overly cautious.". Officials blame their inaction on scientists who once believed dioxin decays faster than it does. To pad the citys coffers, it stationed a cop with a radar gun out on the highway. The liquor store doubled as a tackle shop, selling rods and bait. The townspeople couldnt afford to have the results quantified, so they were given only yes-or-no answers. I think its very interesting that PCBs were so overlooked, Taylor says. He reported a litany of problems: Documents were lost; samples were mislabeled and switched; a chain of custody was not established. So she took matters into her own hands. My dad drove up on a little concrete pad and said, The water might get the tires wet. Shoot. Missouri's problem is different from New York's Love Canal, which Hooker Chemical used as a toxic dump for dioxin until it was discovered in 1978. Compelling evidence of Bliss misdeeds had been presented only months earlier as a part of the DNRs effort to prevent his son from being granted a hazardous waste haulers license. The fencing is certainly just an interim measure, while we are preparing the final alternative, says Bob Feild of the EPA. Many former residents wish they hadnt been forced to leaveand think they werent adequately compensated when they were pushed out. I dont know his real name, because he never did say it, Copeland says. Waiting proved to be a bad move. The top level found beneath the surface in Ellisville was 1,173 ppb, according to the EPA. He had acquired an official document detailing suspected dioxin sites across Missouri. The haul included drums laden with cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). "If they had, I wouldn't have taken it. Now the fledgling city faces a dilemma: Two developers are asking for zoning variances so that they can wedge dozens of high-priced houses on either side of Strecker Road on parcels of land that were once part of the Bliss-Ellisville hazardous-waste site. I guess Wildwood is just going to have to look at it from a credibility standpoint, says Shea. Taylors overarching complaint is that the EPAs focus was too narrow. Yet the poisoning of Times Beach, and 14 other dioxin sites in Missouri and six in Illinois, happened long before that, a deadly legacy by industry and government from an era when there were no comprehensive laws to protect the public from dangers that few had imagined. The residents gathered in front of a hotel in Eureka, crowding around the outdoor pool. Will it be cheaper to buy out the town or clean it up?". ", Larry Collier pledges to hoist an American flag in his yard as a symbol of defiance. The park is nice enough. TBAG, for example, acquired some of its more telling evidence from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA), which in turn obtained the information from the EPA and DNR. Callahan started working for Bliss in the early 1970s, which would have been around the same time Bliss started hauling hazardous waste. Jerry Hatcher, the town's heavy equipment dealer, lost a sale when a customer found dust on a tractor tire. On the other side of the road, at 210 Strecker Rd., developer Larry Wurm of James Properties Inc. is proposing to build Wildwood Ridge, an 11-home development on 7.6 acres of land now owned by Jean Callahan. Among those who doubt the EPAs blanket endorsement is Tammy Shea, a Wildwood resident. russell bliss | stlreporter BITTERNESS IS A LEGACY OF A TOWN THAT DIED Chicago Last Saturday morning, Steve Taylor heard a tapping at his apartment door, a gentle rapping that he hopes to hear no more. Young wonders if a hysterectomy at 23, headaches so severe that medicine can't relieve the pain, her sons' rashes and birth defects in the children of several neighbors came from exposure to the toxic chemical. His acting career began at the age of 12 when he was given a role in the western series The A video of a man holding a Black Lives Matter poster in Harrison As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. I didnt set the price, but its my fault. It appears that it is possible that certain leads werent followed up on because they didnt fit their theory of where this waste came from.. 67115. Sid Hammers wife didnt want to stay in Times Beach, but Sid didnt see anything wrong, Leistner says. She and Frank Purler, another former resident, are looking through old photo albums and scrapbooks that he brought. A missing page, a missing date, a missing signature. (Despite repeated requests, the agency was unable to comment for this story. Those who do return, however, are eager to have the EPA check their homes for dioxin and fill out CDC health questionnaires as part of a $500,000 statewide study of potential dioxin victims. There are probably a lot of people who are unaware, she adds. Citizens blame state bureaucrats for deadly delay. WebJerry Russell Bliss, Age 66. Ultimately, the state accepted $94,000 in 1988 as its part of a $660,000 settlement with several companies, a fraction of the estimated overall cleanup cost. The younger Bliss is appealing the denial of his request for a hauling permit from the Missouri Hazardous Waste Management Commission. Past Addresses: Eureka MO, Saint James MO Tom Whats-his-face at the Post-Dispatch, he didnt have time. A boulder sits in the center of her well-manicured front yard, next to an inviting driveway leading to an attached garage. But despite what McClellan implies, scientists agree that dioxin is dangerous. Nebraska students toss water balloons for Guinness World Record. Representatives of the DNR and the Missouri Attorney Generals office were also present. We have no way of knowing that there will not be additional sites in the future. The greatest surface concentrations, 169 ppb, are present in a wooded ravine, which is currently being fenced off. In August, the EPA warned Imperial residents of a potential dioxin problem, later revealing that it suspected contamination of 40 other sites in Missouri. April 29 (UPI) -- An Australian tourist facing possible flogging after being accused of going on a drunken nude rampage in the Indonesian province of Ache says he felt "almost possessed" at the time. As a result of a lawsuit that Piatt filed against Bliss and the chemical companies, which eventually netted her family a healthy sum, Bliss was forced to admit his waste-hauling activity and identify the dozens of sites across the state where he had dumped it. It was so awful. The rugged land has resisted development for a long time, so a rural atmosphere still clings to these verdant hills, despite the encroachment of affluent subdivisions on the remaining ridgetop farms. Judy Piatt, who was co-owner of Shenandoah Stables in 1971 when the arena was oiled for dust control, testified that the driver for Russell Bliss, a waste oil dealer, ''told me there was special stuff put in the oil for special customers that would kill flies.''. Were hesitant to give this information to an agency that we feel is corrupt. For both PCBs and dioxin, it was a yes. After Bliss sprayed her stables in 1971, Piatts horses died and her daughter became seriously ill. To gather evidence for her pending civil suit against Bliss, the stable owner followed the waste oil hauler and his drivers along their daily routes. After all, Bliss sprayed the oil on his own property, and once even claimed to have tasted it to test its strength. We do not have the expertise that the U.S. EPA and Missouri Department of Natural Resources have. A part-owner of a stable where 62 horses died after dioxin-tainted oil was sprayed testified today before the Missouri Hazardous Waste Management Commssion that the man who sprayed the oil had told her it contained a special fly-killing ingredient. JERRY-RUSSELL BLISS v. HAZARDOUS WASTE - Casemine During the Depression, a lot of the people in the city moved into their homes in Times Beach to ride out the hard times, Leistner says. Shipping the waste to Coffeyville would have been prohibitively expensive even if it had remained an option, according to one local official. Denial of Application. Then we left when they drug us out kicking and screaming, she quips. More than a decade later, erosion spread dioxin-laced fill dirt to a nearby subdivision and contaminated a creek. They wanted to paint, but she wouldnt let them, told them to go help somebody else. In both instances, the allegations were not based so much on environmental concerns as they were on the bottom line. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Eventually, one of the towns police officers, a 300-pound man nicknamed Tiny, whom Copeland remembers eating quite a few long johns from his parents shop, identified the culprits. Mrs. Piatt was followed to the stand by Gary Lambarth, a former Bliss driver, who testified that he lied about hauling chemicals in a 1974 deposition because his former boss had told him ''to keep my memory fuzzy about things like that. oklahoma public land deer hunting Accept X A 74-year-old grandmother, Leistner looks 10 years younger and remains as feisty as ever, with no plans to retire. The citys nearly 2,500 residents were divided about what to do next, whether to stay or to ask for a buyout of their property through the EPAs Superfund. Jerry Russell Bliss, Ballwin, MO (63011) - Spokeo That paved the way for final approval of the buyout. He was 92. It has caused a great deal of concern for people. 67115 (Mo. But when it marks the site of one of the nations worst environmental disasters, an embroidered-jean-jacket emporium can feel a little disrespectful. From publicly released EPA documents, this much is known: In the winter of 1981-1982, the DNR and EPA excavated more than 1,200 barrels of toxic waste from the Callahan property. I look at it this way as a lawyer, says Steincamp. Actor and comedian Jerry Stiller has died due to natural causes, his son, actor Ben Stiller said in a tweet. Man who sprayed dioxin says he tried to be responsible The only building that remains is a former roadhouse, now a museum and gift shop. "I don't think we're proud of the track record," said Fred A. Lafser, director of Missouri's Department of Natural Resources at one hearing. "Why, if it's so dangerous, did the government wait 10 years to warn us?" I figure I was homeless for a year and a half, OLeary says. So why were they in such a rush to get the barrels off the Callahan property? asks Shea. Aussie tourist 'very sorry' for drunken, nude rampage in Indonesia. St. Louis, MO 63119
The legendary and controversial TV host was 79 years old. There was an appeals process that could net disgruntled residents a few extra dollars. Jerry Ive got letters from EPA and DNR also stating that everything is cool on the property. But Wurm says he doesnt want to discuss the project in detail, fearing his plans will be misrepresented. TBAG had opposed the project, saying it was unsafe to human health and the environment. Everybody was friendly in Times Beach, she says. In Times Beach, the dioxin level was more than 100 parts per billion. Did it get into the water supply? WebView the profiles of people named Jerry Russell. Its clean as a whistle, he repeats. Dioxin concentrations of one part per billion are considered hazardous. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the National MS Society
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