Green Space
Publised February 2002
By Scott Fisher
CASEY JONES, YOU BETTER WATCH YOUR SPEED-- The CSX train derailment in Charlotte last December, which destroyed several houses and spilled acetone and methylene chloride (destined for Kodak), was the topic of discussion Jan. 7 at the Charlotte Community Association meeting. The overflow crowd extended into the hallway outside the small basement room of the Charlotte Branch Library.
Several citizens gave the CSX Railroad public relations person, the Department of Environmental Conservation spokesman, and the Monroe County Health Department representative a good going over. Someone in the audience asked, 'What assurances can you give me that this won't happen again?' John Casellini of CSX responded, 'Everything that can be done is being done. We'll put in new track that will be to the highest standards. It's 10 mph track.' Someone in the audience shot back, '10 mph? That train was going at least 50 when it passed my house!'
Ground contamination by the methylene chloride and acetone is now the only thing that can be remedied, if you want to call taking contaminated soil from one place and putting it in another a remedy. But no one really knows how much of these airborne chemicals settled on people, pets, homes, cars, and lawns immediately after the accident.
Much was made by the DEC about their high-tech monitoring equipment at the site. Big deal. No one in the room brought up the fact that methylene chloride is a human carcinogen. It is linked to pancreatic, brain, and central nervous system cancers. Our local, Kodak-sponsored cancer train keeps chugging along.
AN ECO-TERRORIST BEHIND EVERY BUSH-- After the terrorist attacks in September, theories proliferated as to the origin of these attacks. Jerry Falwell's now famous 'pagans, abortionists, feminists,' accusation notwithstanding, there were other equally hair-brained right-wing theories which didn't get the same airplay.
One such theory, put forth by Sen. Dan Young (R-Alaska), informed us it was very likely that eco-terrorists based in Seattle had hijacked the airplanes that slammed into the World Trade Center, according to Rachel's Environment & Health News #740. 'If you watched what happened in Genoa, in Italy, and even in Seattle, there's some expertise in that field. I'm not sure they're that dedicated, but eco-terrorists--which are really based in Seattle--there's a strong possibility that can be one of the groups,' Young told the Anchorage Daily News.
Not to be outdone, Congressman Scott McInnis (R-Colorado) and six of his Republican sidekicks suggested that there is a connection between mainstream environmentalism and terrorism. On October 3, McInnis fired off letters to the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, the League of Conservation Voters, the World Wildlife Fund, the National Wildlife Federation, Earthjustice Defense, and National Resources Defense Council, giving them an ultimatum of December 1 to publicly 'disavow eco-terrorism.'
The League of Conservation Voters' Scott Stoermer responded by saying, 'For him to make the presumption that we are not already on his side is more than a little troubling to us. This really puts the ball back in his court, where we can say, okay, now what do you want to do?'
Clint Talbott, a columnist for the Daily Camera.com in Boulder Colorado, wrote, 'Scott McInnis seems confused. Clearly, the Colorado congressman abhors eco-terrorism. Beyond that, he's either fuzzy, inconsistent or way, way off base. Wittingly or not, he's assuming guilt by association. As he prattles about terror, the congressman can be scary.' But then, many congressmen are