PHOTO/CATHY TALBOTT
On June 19, residents from communities of Metro–east St. Louis gathered to protest the decision of the EPA to allow the multi-national corporation Veolia to pump poisonous toxins such as mercury into the air from its three incinerators in the heavily industrialized town of Sauget, IL without sufficient monitoring. Trump’s EPA relaxed provisions of a permit issued under Obama’s watch.
Reverend Jennifer Warren Hauser, representing the United Congregations of Metro-East, told the crowd, “We mobilized over 100 people at the EPA hearing and we rejected the revised permit. But despite our misgivings and pleas, the EPA approved it. At the hearing, I said that if the #MeToo movement and similar things in our culture were showing us anything, it’s that people are tired of being exploited by those in power. All deeds done in darkness will be brought to light. A recent issue of Scientific American detailed specific deeds of darkness done by multi-national corporations like Veolia that have been issuing rules that aren’t subject to congressional oversight and are restricting the scope of data that can be measured by the EPA. What we don’t measure will still kill us. We need the original permit. We can’t choose what air to breathe but we all have a ‘right’ to know what’s in it.”
Mamie Cosey, a great-grandmother raising her great-grandchildren, spoke of the grave illnesses she and her family suffered living in the area. She said the kids’ blood levels for lead are so high. In an impassioned plea to Veolia to “do the right thing and put the monitors up,” she declared, “I’m here to fight the good fight; to fight for my children’s lives. We live in a toxic world. I’m 78 years old but the fight has just begun. This company knows what they’re doing! If they were concerned about the children and seniors they would be glad to put up a monitor. Is money more important than life? Never!”
“Yesterday, EPA ruled in favor of the company after telling us they considered all viewpoints but they only considered one viewpoint, [Veolia’s],” said Cheryl Sommer. She, along with residents of her hometown, stopped Veolia from privatizing their water. “We plan to appeal this decision.”
Cathy Talbott is a former telephone operator, a job lost to automation. She was a homeless mother of two and fights for welfare rights. A former co-host of a weekly community radio program out of Carbondale, IL, “Occupy the Airwaves,” Cathy is the Environmental Desk for the People’s Tribune.
