Guest guest Posted December 1, 2002 Report Share Posted December 1, 2002 K. Young, MPH Environmental Diagnostics Corporation (EDC) 4041 University Drive #102 Fairfax, VA 22030 703-352-0488 703-352-4877 fax young@... -----Original Message----- From: [mailto: ] Sent: Friday, November 29, 2002 12:26 PM Subject: [] Digest Number 1457 FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ There are 4 messages in this issue. Topics in this digest: 1. town KY news From: " Armstrong " <hobbflorida@...> 2. Re: re: congress to address toxic mold issue From: Gingersnap1964@... 3. Boston Globe 11/29/02 Aging halls often last on town list From: MLMJ75@... 4. A Capitol Hill Mystery: Who Aided Drug Maker? From: " Hotz " <ahotz@...> ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 1 Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2002 12:57:56 -0500 From: " Armstrong " <hobbflorida@...> Subject: town KY news BUILDING OFFICIAL RESIGNS AMID FLURRY OF CITIZEN COMPLAINTS! http://www.georgetownnews.com/news-graphic/myheadline.asp?S=500 & P=727954 & Pub Thursday, November 28, 2002 town, Kentucky News-Graphic News Building inspector resigns By KEVIN HALL 11/27/02 town- County Building Inspector Lyndon abruptly resigned Monday amid a flurry of citizens' complaints and public scrutiny over past procedures. " Recent circumstances have caused me to step back and take a closer look at my present standing with the city, " wrote in his resignation letter to Mayor Everette Varney. The News-Graphic obtained a copy of the letter after filing an open records request with City Hall. " Recent scrutiny by others have unjustly indicted me for situations that were proven to have been amply handled, not to mention catching blame for certain actions of my predecessor, years prior to my employment " helped lead to the decision, wrote. " These circumstances have created an atmosphere in which I no longer have ambition to work or even be in, " he continued. did not provide a two-week notice, and caught Varney off guard with his letter. " I was as taken as much by surprise as anyone, " the mayor said. " I wasn't expecting it. " had been with the city since November 1996. He could not be reached for comment Tuesday. 's office had come under fire during the last six months after several homeowners complained about past building code procedures. Most recently, a group of town homeowners claimed that non-compliant homes were approved by the office, both under 's watch and during the previous tenure of Mike Flynn. The complaints prompted the town City Council to hold a public workshop, at which announced plans to implement a tracking process on permits. Software will allow the office to track permits that show an inspection date of six months or more, which said would cut down on the number of people living in homes without certificates of occupancy or with code violations. Complaints started in May after homeowners and Justice discovered they had been living in their home at 104 Coachman Ln. without a certificate of occupancy, which is required before a home can be occupied. The certificate cannot be granted until the building inspector's office grants a final approval. The home had not passed a final inspection because the builder was awaiting a variance hearing since the house had been built out of code. Varney held a one-day investigation and cleared of any wrongdoing with the Coachman Lane home. 's departure may spur some changes in the office, Varney said. " We're going to be organizing and making some decisions as we go, " he said. " This may be the time to do some things that needed to be done. " The office will remain without a chief inspector until Varney can meet with County Judge-Executive Lusby to discuss how to fill the post. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 2 Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2002 08:40:49 EST From: Gingersnap1964@... Subject: Re: re: congress to address toxic mold issue Ok OK I am sharing again. This email I wrote to our local newspaper, The Portsmouth Herald this am. I have emailed sixty miniutes, CNN, local tv stations,no answer. Is everyone that afraid of this subject and the federal government? Thanks for letting me share..Janet s > > > My name is Janet s and I live in South Berwick Maine. I have been > fighting the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and US Dept of Labor Workerrs comp > since last April. I am severely allergic to mold from a TOXIC MOLD building > basement on the shipyard. An Environmental report stating this place is > full of Stachybotrus and Aspergillus, Fusarium and many more was HIDDEN for > NINE months. I started with sinus, then hives then asthma and now wear a 3m > mask all the time as I smell mold in the dirt outside. The shipyard has > tried to prove me crazy, now that I called OSHA they have put out paperwork > that you need latex suits and respiratory quals to go down there, but the > US Dept of Labor says I am lying, mold showed up last season, I used too > much nose spray. I have tests, doctors letters, shipyard emails, all > documentation.I live in my apartment safe rooms with hepa filter air > cleaners right now on admin leave. OWCP wants me to see THEIR doctor and > get tested but I have two doctors letters stating that if I am, I may > possibly worsen my deteriorating condition. I do not walk well from a high > dose skin test in Boston from a doctor who says NO ONE gets sick from > mold. He says it is hocus pocus. This is Dr. Aiden Long at Mass General. I > even have a witness testimony to that. I ended up on ER again the other > night from asthma attack.They want me to sign off on disability. I cant. > HOW DO THEY get away with hiding something that SAYS people should be told, > that this place was unacceptable, that is was serious enough to cause > respiratory disease? I now live on inhalers and NEVER BEFORE had asthma in > my life. I worked in this black mold basement eight years then last three > above it with holes in the floor for wiring and open stairwell and freight > elevator. I have all documentation to prove. I hired a lawyer for a civil > suit but not one lawyer in area will help with workman's comp when they > hear it is the Shipyard. They say thanks but no thanks. Human Recourse > Office there has quite a reputation. They have sent letters to OWCP an d > Senator Snowe that is full of untruths. I have involved Senator Snowe. My > agency and OWCP send lies.I chop up the letters and send them back. You > would not BELIEVE the lies and cover ups from the Federal Government. > Anyway, I am a single mom who has lost her whole life and very sick and > bitter and fraustrated.They have given me till Dec 31 to make a decision. > OWCP hasn't said no yet and as of Dec. 31 I have to take disability, go on > leave without pay as I am now on administrative leave, or go back to work > where I get sick and this high dose testing I had done has gone deep into > muscles. I can barely walk never mind drive. This doctor is what Workman's > comp wants to believe, yet I have a years worth of testing and medical > information from doctor here which has all been submitted. Its not fair. I > even have pictures if this place. Disability is a slap in the face for a > smart 38 year old woman whom at the shipyard is a Technical Information > Specialist for 16 years with Secret Clearance. Disability is half of my > income the first year, then goes down even lower. I have a National Honor > Society daughter to send off to college next year. From this, I have had to > buy a new car as old one had leaks and was moldy so gave me asthma > attacks.No one seems to grasp what mold and mold spores in the air can make > people very sick. I wear my 3m mask everytime I leave my house. I cannot go > in public places as I smell mold in vents, I couldn't even go to my mothers > for thanksgiving as I am so hyper sensitive that her hose makes me sick. No > one will tell my story and the Shipyard is trying to hide this. You have to > have latex suits and respirator quals to go onto this basement now, but > according to Workman's Comp and the shipyard, I cant be sick from this. > Thank you for taking the time to read this. > Sincerely, > Janet s > 55 Front Street Apt 5 > South Berwick, Me. 03908 207 384 2242 Gingersnap1964@... [This message contained attachments] ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 3 Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2002 11:51:07 EST From: MLMJ75@... Subject: Boston Globe 11/29/02 Aging halls often last on town list No wonder so many people working in municipal/state/federal buildings are sick. Why are they so surprised when people working in these buildings have medical problems? They admit that the upkeep of these buildings is " politically difficult " to address. They then have the nerve to make it difficult for those of us who have had serious medical problems working in these unmaintainted and water-logged buildings. I just don't get it: You can't have water infiltration problems, not fix the problems, not clean it up and be surprised when you have an onslot of biological growth and occupant illness. You must now clearly see that toxic mold is a problem no matter where it occurs, but it can be an especially serious problem when it occurs in a government building because there is nothing compelling them to fix it. They make a poor case to the voters and taxpayers when they look for money to replace/repair sick government buildings. Would the taxpayers really fight against money spent on replacing buildings that are making the workers and the children sick if they knew that these buildings were robbing people of their health? Don't forget: sometimes taxpayers have to visit these buildings themselves. Don't forget that some of these taxpayers have family members working in these buildings too! Sadly, in the vast majority of instances, those who get sick are oftentimes, while sick, forced to deal with losing their health, their jobs, their careers and futures, their health insurance, and their piece of mind. Who would ever believe that our " government " employers would put so many of us in harms way and then turn their backs on us when so many of us inevitably get sick, including our children? Can you all see how outrageous this is? If you don't all support Congressman Conyers, Jr.'s resubmitted legislation to the 108th Congress this January, I just don't know what to say. We have to get this " dirty little secret " out in the open, deal with it, and go on with our lives. Don't ever forget that these people work for you. They work FOR YOU. Enough is enough! Toxic mold makes people sick. There is really no mystery to this. Our doctors know this, our military medical personal have known this for a very long time, our insurance companies know this, our government knows this. FEMA knows this; the EPA knows this and the CDC knows this. Little children who don't know toxic mold from popsicles are getting sick. People moving into water-damaged homes or apartments are getting sick. Workers in our government buildings are getting sick. Employees in the private sector are getting sick in their workplaces. When the US Toxic Mold Safety and Protection Act is refiled with the 108th Congress, you get on your phone and you call your U.S. Representatives and Senators. YOUR ACTION, YOUR CALLS TO YOUR FEDERALLY ELECTED OFFICIALS WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE. We are very grateful in Massachusetts. So far, Congressmen Lynch, McGovern, Neal and Olver have joined to support the legislation. When it is refiled, we expect 100% support from the Massachusetts Delegation. We expect no less. Do not underestimate the power of your call and your vote. Mulvey son THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING Aging halls often last on town list By Preer, Globe Correspondent, 11/29/2002 Heavy snow last winter was too much for the town hall in Westminster in Central Massachusetts. In late March, a 163-year-old timber that had been supporting the building started to split. The walls and ceiling shifted, and employees were evacuated and not allowed back for three months. In the southeastern Massachusetts town of Berkley, the town hall has literally been falling apart brick by brick. Two years ago, a custodian was injured by the crumbling facade. And at Plainville Town Hall, where some employees work shoulder to shoulder, officials recently considered moving some offices into a trailer that the Plainridge Racecourse offered to give the town. Massachusetts town halls - many of them historic buildings that anchor the center of town - have seen better days. Minimal maintenance and age have taken their toll, leaving some with flooded basements, faulty electrical and heating systems, and bad ventilation. In fast-growing towns in the outer suburbs, greatly expanded municipal work forces are being shoehorned into spaces designed for half as many people. ''There are a lot that are in really bad shape,'' said Frederick W. Todd, a partner in the Somerville firm of HKT Architects Inc., which has specialized in town hall work. ''Town halls and working conditions for town employees tend to be low on towns' lists of priorities.'' During times of tight budgets, fixing up or replacing the town hall almost always takes a back seat to keeping schools open and police on the streets. And, unlike schools, libraries, and senior centers, which are eligible for hefty state grants for construction projects, town halls are not. Unless a town hall qualifies for state or federal historic preservation aid, the only money a town is likely to get to renovate or replace a decrepit town hall is a small grant to make the building accessible to the handicapped. ''There is state money for schools and libraries, and police and fire stations have their constituencies,'' said on, deputy legislative director for the Massachusetts Municipal Association. ''But if you have a city or town hall that is not an historic building, you are in tough shape.'' To build a new town hall or undertake a major renovation, a town usually has to get voter approval in a referendum to lift the state Proposition 21/2 tax cap. In 2000, Rehoboth town officials offered voters a $5 million plan to build a new town hall and senior center side by side in the center of town. The plan, which required an override of Proposition 21/2, failed at the polls. But in the same election, voters overwhelmingly approved a $24 million high school renovation project. The following year, officials presented a revised senior center plan, which voters approved. Last year, as state and town finances deteriorated, officials shelved the town hall project altogether. A 50-year-old former dormitory at a long-abandoned Nike missile base, Rehoboth Town Hall was donated to the town about 30 years ago. Now, its plumbing and heating systems barely work. Power surges have repeatedly damaged equipment used to televise meetings. It's also badly located in a remote corner of the town. Town halls come in all shapes, sizes, and ages. Many are august 19th century buildings listed on state and national historic registers in towns such as Walpole, Wellesley, and Winchester. Avon Town Hall, meanwhile, is a former shopping plaza, while the town halls in Plymouth, Norwell, and Berlin are converted schools. Others, including Milton's, are nondescript office buildings constructed in the mid-20th century. But even when a town hall isn't particularly old or architecturally distinguished, residents are often reluctant to replace an aging landmark with a new building. ''There's not only a sentimental attachment, but also a common-sense prejudice that renovation is going to be cheaper,'' said Todd. ''It isn't always.'' Last year, Braintree selectmen proposed converting a vacant school into a town hall, replacing the overcrowded 1913 building that has been plagued by basement flooding. Consultants estimated that expanding and repairing the existing town hall would cost $2 million more than converting the school. Still, in a nonbinding referendum this spring, voters overwhelmingly supported fixing up the original. ''We, as a community, need to make a distinction between our town house and surplus buildings and properties,'' Braintree Town Clerk ph F. Powers said at a hearing before the town vote. Still, even in tough times, some towns have managed to find the money and support to repair aging town halls. Last month, Ashland voters approved a $4 million plan to renovate and expand the 1855 town hall. An earlier plan to demolish the building and construct a new one was defeated last year. After 40 years of debate and repeated Town Meeting and election defeats, voters in Truro this year finally passed a $3.57 million tax hike to renovate and expand the 1848 town hall. Truro's seat of government, built as a church meetinghouse and converted to a town hall around the time of the Civil War, has been plagued by a failing septic system and rodent infestations. An employee once found a snake in a public restroom. With the economic slowdown and expected cuts in state aid next year, fixes for town halls may become even harder to find. ''In the flush times, some [towns] were able to do it, but you are not going to see many more,'' said state Senator L. Hedlund, a Weymouth Republican. This story ran on page B1 of the Boston Globe on 11/29/2002. © <A HREF= " http://www.boston.com/globe/search/copyright.html " >Copyright</A> 2002 Globe Newspaper Company. [This message contained attachments] ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Message: 4 Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2002 12:26:34 -0500 From: " Hotz " <ahotz@...> Subject: A Capitol Hill Mystery: Who Aided Drug Maker? http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/29/politics/29VACC.html New York Times November 29, 2002 A Capitol Hill Mystery: Who Aided Drug Maker? By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG WASHINGTON, Nov. 28 — Lobbyists for Eli Lilly & Company, the pharmaceutical giant, did not have much luck when they made the rounds on Capitol Hill earlier this year, seeking protection from lawsuits over a preservative in vaccines. Senator Bill Frist, Republican of Tennessee, tucked a provision into a bill that went nowhere. When lawmakers rebuffed a request to slip language into domestic security legislation, a Lilly spokesman said, the company gave up. Now, in a Washington whodunit worthy of Agatha Christie, the provision has been resurrected and become law, as part of the domestic security legislation signed on Monday by President Bush. Yet in a city where politicians have perfected the art of claiming credit for deeds large and small, not a single member of Congress — or the Bush administration — will admit to being the author of the Lilly rider. " It's turning into one of Washington's most interesting parlor games, " said Dave Lemmon, spokesman for Senator Debbie Stabenow, Democrat of Michigan, who has promised to introduce legislation to repeal the provision. " There's a lot of guessing, a lot of speculation as to who did this. " The provision forces lawsuits over the preservative, developed by Eli Lilly and called thimerosal, into a special " vaccine court. " It may result in the dismissal of thousands of cases filed by parents who contend that mercury in thimerosal has poisoned their children, causing autism and other neurological ailments. Among them are ph and Theresa Counter of Plano, Tex., devoted Republicans whose party allegiance has run smack into family ties. The Counters' 6-year-old son, ph , was normal and healthy until he was 2, they say. Then he took an unexplained downward slide. Today, the boy struggles with words. He cannot zip his pants, snap buttons or tie his shoes. His parents say tests eventually showed that he had mercury poisoning, which they attribute to vaccines. They sued last year. " I know that our legislative system can be very, very messy at times, " said Mr. Counter, a political consultant, who with his wife has spent many thousands of dollars on medical care and therapy for their son. " But for them to attempt this, in the dead of night? It disgusts me. This morning, I am ashamed to be a Republican. " With lawmakers now scattered across the country, Washington is rife with speculation about who is responsible for aiding Lilly, a major Republican donor. During the 2002 election cycle, the company gave more money to political candidates, $1.6 million, than any other pharmaceutical company, with 79 percent of it going to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit research group that monitors campaign finances. Critics of the provision, mainly Democrats and trial lawyers, are quick to point out that the White House has close ties to Lilly. The first president Bush sat on the Lilly board in the late 1970's. The White House budget director, E. s Jr., is a former Lilly executive. The company's chairman and chief executive, Sidney Taurel, was appointed in June by President Bush to serve on a presidential council that will advise Mr. Bush on domestic security. The White House, however, has said that it did not ask Congress for the provision. Rob , a spokesman for Lilly, said that the company's lobbyists " made absolutely no contact with Mitch or anyone in his office about this, " and that Mr. Taurel " did not at any time ask " for any favors. " It's a mystery to us how it got in there, " Mr. said of the provision. Senator Frist has said it is a mystery to him as well. As the Senate's only doctor, he sought to include the provision in legislation that would promote the availability of vaccines. But the vaccine bill is stalled; Senator M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who is chairman of the Senate health committee, opposes it. Mr. Frist's spokesman said he did not seek to have the provision included in the domestic security bill. On Capitol Hill, Congressional aides-turned-detectives have traced the emergence of the provision to the Veterans Day weekend. Flush from their party's victories on Election Day, and with a mandate from President Bush to pass a domestic security bill, Republican negotiators in the House and Senate holed up for three days in the Capitol to hammer out the details, said Diamond, spokesman for the retiring House majority leader, Representative Dick Armey of Texas. One aide said the language mysteriously appeared in the House version of the bill in entirely different type than the rest of the measure, as though someone had clipped it out of Mr. Frist's legislation and simply pasted it in. Mr. Diamond said all the negotiators supported the move, but would not say who was responsible. " If you want to give somebody credit for it, " he said, " Mr. Armey takes ultimate credit. It's his bill. We are happy to wrap ourselves around it, but Mr. Armey is not a doctor, like Senator Frist. He's the source of the language. " Whether thimerosal is truly harmful is the subject of intense scientific controversy. Earlier this year, the National Academy of Sciences issued a report saying there was no scientific evidence either to prove or disprove a link between thimerosal and brain disorders like autism. But the academy did find that such a link was " biologically plausible, " and so it urged pharmaceutical companies to eliminate thimerosal, which has already been removed from many vaccines, as quickly as possible. The Lilly rider closes a loophole in a 1986 law that requires victims to file claims with the vaccine court, which awards payments from a taxpayer-financed compensation fund, before going to civil court. But the law covered only vaccines themselves, not their ingredients, which meant people like the Counters could sue ingredient manufacturers like Lilly directly. While Washington debates the origins of the provision, families are fuming. Some say the government fund will do them no good, because they have missed the statute of limitations — three years from the date symptoms first appear — for filing claims. and Bono of Durham, N.C., say that while their son , now 13, showed symptoms similar to autism six or seven years ago, it was not until August 2000 that they learned he had mercury poisoning. They filed suit just the other day. Aware of the controversy, lawmakers in both parties have pledged to alter the thimerosal rider, but are arguing about how to do so. While many Democrats want it repealed, Republicans have suggested that they may simply alter the language to apply to future cases only. " I'll believe it when I see it, " said Mr. Waters, the Counters' lawyer. In the meantime, Mr. , the Lilly spokesman, said his company would soon go to court to seek dismissal of the suits. That news made Theresa Counter cry. " It just makes me sick, " she said. " I cannot tell you how devastating it is to think that we might have to start all over. " ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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