Approximately 150 residents, many of them angry and critical, gathered in western Anniston Tuesday to question the federal officials who recently negotiated a proposed deal with Solutia and Pharmacia to address PCB contamination.Twenty Environmental Protection Agency officials and one Washington D.C.-based U.S. Justice Department attorney were put on the defensive as dozens of residents asked stinging questions about why the cleanup and health investigations in the PCB-impacted areas are dragging on for years.
The agencies hosted two two-hour sessions at the Carver Community Center, at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.
"I regret that it's taken a long time for us to come to your community," said Bill Wienischke, the DOJ attorney who signed the proposed agreement with Solutia and Pharmacia.
Wienischke noted that the final decision on the proposed deal would have to take into account how the community reacts during the public comment period, which ends June 3.
The deal has to win the approval of a Birmingham federal judge, but before then, EPA has the options of withdrawing the proposed deal or attempting to modify it, he said.
Residents asked why Solutia, Monsanto's spinoff company, should be allowed to conduct the PCB investigation and risk-assessment studies when many of the residents impacted by PCB pollution do not trust the company.
"We have always said that Monsanto's credibility was no good. That should have been considered during the negotiations," said David Baker, president of Community Against Pollution, a western Anniston activist group.
Some residents, including Arthur Bowie, who owns a contaminated home, asked about EPA's intentions for the PCB-containing landfills adjacent to the former Monsanto plant, now owned by Solutia. Both Solutia and Pharmacia, Monsanto's parent company, are held liable for the PCB contamination in the Anniston area.
"When will they move the landfills? We've been waltzing around that for (years)," Bowie said.
EPA officials said that their agency still does not have a handle on whether the landfill or other spots are ongoing sources of contamination. "The data gaps have to be filled before we have a basis to tell Solutia to do this or that," said Dick Green, director of EPA's regional waste division.
Residents also asked about the proposed deal's exclusion of some of the community's original requests for health studies and a health clinic for western Anniston.
EPA officials said they asked Solutia for those things but did not have the legal authority to demand that Solutia provide health-related services.
"Congress did not give EPA the authority to require a health clinic," said Phyllis Harris, EPA's chief regional attorney.
Harris said she told Solutia negotiators that they had a "moral obligation" to provide something for the community, and the result of that was a $3.2 million trust for education needs in Anniston.
Officials from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, who also attended the meeting, said they are working with several other health organizations to find out how to respond to PCB-related health concerns in Anniston.
Residents also questioned the officials about the impact of the proposed deal on the ongoing PCB trial in state court. "Why don't you give the local court a chance?" yelled one man. "You are ramming this down our throats, whether we want it or not."
EPA officials said the deal "may or may not" preempt a ruling by Calhoun County Circuit Judge Joel Laird on PCB cleanup.
CAP's Baker told the officials that he thinks Solutia "is utilizing you all, against us," by the company's recent legal action to use the consent decree as a reason to stay or dismiss the cleanup portion of the state court trial.
Public comments on the proposed consent decree should be addressed to the Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources, U.S. Department of Justice, P.O. Box 7611, Washington D.C. 2004. Comments should refer to "United States v. Pharmacia (p/k/a) Monsanto Company and Solutia, Inc., D.J. Ref. 90-11-2-07135/1.
The decree is available for viewing at the Anniston-Calhoun Public Library and the EPA Community Relations Center on North Noble Street. It is also available for viewing at www.epa.gov/region4/waste/npl/nplal/annpcbal.htm.
