'Green goo' revealed toxic leak at WV zinc plant

[Appaholic]

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – For at least five years before Rebecca Morlock noticed what she calls "a green goo" seeping out of the ground below a former zinc-smelting plant in the town of Spelter, water loaded with potentially toxic heavy metals was trickling into the West Fork River.

State environmental inspectors didn't spot it, even though they're required to walk the site twice a year.

Neither did the engineering firm hired by DuPont to inspect the site monthly to ensure toxic waste remains sealed under a layer of earth and plastic.

"How this missed us is, to this point, a mystery," says Ron Potesta, president of Potesta & Associates. "I wish we had found it ourselves."

Instead, it was the suspicious and sharp-eyed Morlock. The 41-year-old homemaker and mother of three took it upon herself to patrol the site after she and nine other plaintiffs won a class-action lawsuit against DuPont in 2007 over long-term exposure to toxins from the site.

"When I saw that, I knew there was something wrong," she says. "They should have been watching the entire site, not just the capped area."

Morlock, one of thousands who may eventually share in $380 million in damage awards, did not believe DuPont's claims during the trial that Spelter was clean and ready for redevelopment.

Although the seep she noticed last year is sealed now, Morlock does not buy the state Department of Environmental Protection's assertion that no harm was done.

The DEP says high levels of dissolved metals in the seep rapidly dispersed, soaking into the soil as they flowed downhill, then were further diluted in a river that no one downstream uses for drinking water. The only risk, the agency says, might be to fish.

"I think that's crap, for lack of a better word," Morlock says. "People swim there. They fish there all the time. And people eat fish out of that river. What are they eating?"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090730/ap_ ... nt_lawsuit

[Cap'n Cat]

This we can lay solely at the feet of Conk fvcks. Reagan and his henchmen gutted environmental law in the 1980's and it's never fully recovered. Now, people are dying to pay for it.


Azzholes.

Thanks, again, Conks!!!



"Yeah (gaaaaassssssp), I voted for (gaaaassssp) Reagan. That god-damned (gaaaassssp) Carter was spending too much on (gaaaassssp) environmental (gaaaaassssp) sh*t."

[dbackjon]

But Captain, Environmental Legislation is COMMUNIST.

IT costs America JOBS.

Those people should be begging DuPont to reopen the plant.

[BlueHen86]

But Captain, Environmental Legislation is COMMUNIST.

IT costs America JOBS.

Those people should be begging DuPont to reopen the plant.

I agree. Also, the green goo should be considered an ore and refined for usable metals. Zinc can be used to make pennies.

[dbackjon]

But Captain, Environmental Legislation is COMMUNIST.

IT costs America JOBS.

Those people should be begging DuPont to reopen the plant.

I agree. Also, the green goo should be considered an ore and refined for usable metals. Zinc can be used to make pennies.

Of course, the refinery needs to be in Brandywine, DE

[AZGrizFan]

State environmental inspectors didn't spot it, even though they're required to walk the site twice a year.

Neither did the engineering firm hired by DuPont to inspect the site monthly to ensure toxic waste remains sealed under a layer of earth and plastic.

So, let me get this straight: There were environmental laws in place requiring STATE inspectors to walk the site at least twice a year....DuPont engineers walked the site MONTHLY....and somehow this is REAGAN'S fault?

Where's that gross generalization flag when I need it. Cappy, you've officially gone off the deep end.

And Jon, you're goin' over the edge with him.

[Cap'n Cat]

State environmental inspectors didn't spot it, even though they're required to walk the site twice a year.

Neither did the engineering firm hired by DuPont to inspect the site monthly to ensure toxic waste remains sealed under a layer of earth and plastic.

So, let me get this straight: There were environmental laws in place requiring STATE inspectors to walk the site at least twice a year....DuPont engineers walked the site MONTHLY....and somehow this is REAGAN'S fault?

Where's that gross generalization flag when I need it. Cappy, you've officially gone off the deep end.

And Jon, you're goin' over the edge with him.

Z, friend, it's only a mild exaggeration. And don't tie App's post to mine. I'm speaking from 30,000 feet, he's addressing some specific issue.

Reagan gutted many of the potentially beneficial environmental legislation begun during the Carter administration, and before. Fact. That money "trickled down" into the pockets of lumber giants, chemical monopolists, mining barons and oil fvcks.

Guaranteed. Look it up.

[D1B]

State environmental inspectors didn't spot it, even though they're required to walk the site twice a year.

Neither did the engineering firm hired by DuPont to inspect the site monthly to ensure toxic waste remains sealed under a layer of earth and plastic.

So, let me get this straight: There were environmental laws in place requiring STATE inspectors to walk the site at least twice a year....DuPont engineers walked the site MONTHLY....and somehow this is REAGAN'S fault?

Where's that gross generalization flag when I need it. Cappy, you've officially gone off the deep end.

And Jon, you're goin' over the edge with him.

[D1B]

This we can lay solely at the feet of Conk fvcks. Reagan and his henchmen gutted environmental law in the 1980's and it's never fully recovered. Now, people are dying to pay for it.


Azzholes.

Thanks, again, Conks!!!



"Yeah (gaaaaassssssp), I voted for (gaaaassssp) Reagan. That god-damned (gaaaassssp) Carter was spending too much on (gaaaassssp) environmental (gaaaaassssp) sh*t."