AGENT ORANGE BURIED HERE?

(This is a reprint of an article that appeared in the Hazleton (Pa.) Standard-Speaker on Monday, March 14, 1993 -- 25 years ago. Could the incredible epidemic of cancer and other horrible incurable diseases plaguing the Greater Hazleton area be the result of Agent Orange, among other toxic chemicals, having been dumped at the McAdoo Associates site near McAdoo in 1989?)

 

(It should be noted that Phil Kaufman, upon learning of the existence of the dumping of Agent Orange here, immediately had driven to Trenton, N.J., to secure a copy of the manifesto confirming the documentation of the shipment of Agent Orange. However, upon arrival, he was informed that, if it existed, it was missing from the state's files. Yet the Philadelphia Inquirer had confirmed the document's existence a few years earlier.)

By ED CONRAD

Almost 10,000 pounds of the dangerous and highly controversial herbicide 2,4,5-T -- more commonly known as Agent Orange -- reportedly was illegally dumped in an abandoned coal mine near McAdoo four years ago.

This allegedly is documented in manifest records on file at the state capitol in Trenton, N.J., records that are kept for tracking the movement of hazardous waste,

Mrs. Marlene Clymer of Silver Brook discovered the information and already has passed it on to state Sen. James J. Rhoades (R-29th). Rhoades said he was flabbergasted when it was brought to his attention yesterday and has promised a full-scale investigation in Harrisburg.

The chemical was used by the U.S. Army as a defoliant during the Vietnam War and, since the end of the war, more than 100,000 veterans have taken a special Veterans Administration medical examination to determine whether exposure to the chemical had affected their health.

Some 16,546 veterans, many suffering from diseases they cannot otherwise explain, have filed for disability compensation. The VA has rejected the claims, saying that no link has been established between the herbicide and diseases the veterans are suffering. "It's enough to scare the daylights out of you," said George Havrilla, president of the Concerned Citizens of McAdoo and a Kline Township supervisor. Rhoades insists he will investigate the matter rigorously -- and thoroughly. "The thing is, no one from DER ever brought this up," Rhoades said. "If it's on a manifest down there (in Trenton), why isn't it on a manifest here (in Pennsylvania)?"

The existence of a manifest documenting the illegal dumping of drums of Agent Orange in the McAdoo area was reported in a two-part series on the dumping of hazardous chemicals which appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Sept. 23-24, 1979. For that reason, Rhoades questions why it has never been mentioned by DER officials despite the fact that they have been familiar with the toxic waste dumping in the McAdoo area -- in particular, McAdoo Associates -- for several years.

Mrs, Clymer agrees.

"All these years and nobody (from DER) knows anything about it," she said. "I'd like them (DER officials) to dispute this, since it's on the record in New Jersey."

The manifest reportedly reveals that 9,900 pounds of Agent Orange was transported through New Jersey en route to its final destination in northern Schuylkill County.

The exact location of the abandoned mine where 2,4-5-T was deposited is not known but may be revealed from the official record contained in the manifest.

Last October, officials of the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Environment Resources told South Side residents they were concerned over the possibility that more chemicals may have been dumped into an abandoned mine shaft at the northern end of the site.

"We have the feeling that there are barrels underground," said Donald Bayer of DER.

Margot Hunt, an EPA public information specialist, said then that discussions were underway with those potentially responsible for depositing waste at the site.

"We have to go by law, give potentially responsible parties the opportunity to clean up," Ms. Hunt said at the time.

Two weeks ago it was revealed that an additional $350,000 had been allocated from state and federal funds for continued cleanup of the McAdoo Associates site along Route 309,

The new money is targeted to test the soil as well ground and surface studies.

"The next step is to ask those potentially responsible parties to go in and determine if a problem still exists and to work out a way to solve it," she said.

The cleanup effort to date has resulted in the removal of 6,807 drums and 13,500 gallons of hazardous material from the storage site. Wastes included such toxic chemicals as toluene, benzene, naphthalene, trichloroethylene, metallic sodium and cyanide.

In January, Commonwealth Court in Harrisburg upheld the 1979 convictions for the former McAdoo Associates recovery firm and one of its employees who had been found guilty of dumping industrial liquid waste without a permit in 1978.

Mrs. Clymer maintains that the illegal dumping of all sorts of hazardous material near McAdoo over the years explains what she says is an abnormally high incidence of respiratory ailments in children whose families reside just south of the borough. She says that quite a few youngsters -- including her own -- in the small Kline Township development are encountering recurring types of breathing problems.

"One of the first signs that someone is bothered by toxic waste is bronchitis and chest trouble," she said, adding that this is documented in a new book,, "Hazardous Waste in America," written by three experts on toxic waste, including Dr. Samuel S. Epstein.

"I had seen Dr. Epstein on The Phil Donohue Show and had learned he had written a book," said Mrs. Clymer. "Immediately, I phoned the Hazleton Library and learned they had just got it in. I reserved it -- and I guess I'm the first person in this area to read it,"

Mrs. Clymer said she could hardly believe some of the things she read, especially about the serious health hazards to babies and children residing near toxic waste sites.

"What about our kids?" she asked. "I don't want to prove I'm right (concerning her concern over hazardous waste sites). All I want is peace of mind ... and water (non-contaminated water coming from her family's well, which hasn't been used for quite some time)."

The McAdoo Associates dump site is situated about three-quarters of a mile from Silver Brook -- or, as Havrilla put it, "only about 4,000 feet as the crow flies, and I've measured it."

Mrs. Clymer says the authors of "Hazardous Waste in America" list McAdoo Associates as No. 5 among the nation's "Top 115 Superfund Sites" for hazardous waste cleanup.

Mrs. Clymer and Havrilla said they were shocked by the authors' placement of the Love Canal near Buffalo, N.Y., at No. 24.

"And remember the big stink that was made out of the Love Canal?" Havrilla asked."I think it (serious illness at some point in the future) is going to happen ..."

Havrilla was present in the Cymer household when the Inquirer clippings were shown to a Standard-Speaker newsman.

Mrs. Clymer wanted it known that she had invited Harvilla to her home at this time "not as a Kline Township supervisors but as president of the Concerned Citizens of McAdoo."

Mrs. Clymer says she is convinced there is a definite link between the dumping of hazardous waste in Schuylkill County and what she said is a high percentage of cancer and other ailments on a county-by-county basis.

She said she has been informed by the state Department of Health that Schuylkill County is presently listed as No, 5 and Luzerne County No. 8 among cancer cases among the 67 counties.

"Northeast Pennsylvania, which includes the coal region, has more cancer than any other section of the site," Havrilla pointed out, "This is because everything is being dumped here."

Mrs. Clymer said she and her family first became seriously concerned about hazardous waste last October when they discovered that their well water was contaminated. They have been importing water ever since.

She said her family had resided in Delaware but she managed to convince her husband to move back to the anthracite region.

"Now I wonder why we ever moved back," said the Tresckow native, "I used to tell my husband (when trying to convince him to move back): 'It's good water and good air.' Now I have to say that this has to be the worst place in the world."

Mrs. Clymer revealed how she happened to gain access to the Inquirer's series on hazardous waste entitled "'Poison at Our Doorstep," written by Rod Nordland and Josh Friedman.

A week or so ago an unidentified Hazleton man attended an environmental meeting in York and struck up a conversation with a woman from Chester named Jean Haines.

She mentioned she was in attendance because of environmental problems in her area over the past few years. When he learned the man was from Hazleton, she casually asked about the cleanup at McAdoo Associates -- then rather routinely asked if there were any new developments regarding the dumping of Agent Orange. Naturally, the man wore a quizzical look,

Mrs. Haines then told him what had appeared in print in The Inquirer series in 1970 and, when he expressed amazement since the DER had never commented on it, he took her name and phone number.

Mrs. Clymer was then told about the dumping of Agent Orange and, after acquiring Mrs. Haines' phone number, called and asked if she'd be kind enough to search for the clippings and send them to her.

"Thank God for that woman," said Mrs. Clymer. "She was in the right place at the right time. It's unbelievable!"