Many of those attending the meeting reacted strongly to the EPA representatives' proposal to cap the waste pile in place.

"We didn't bring it here," Ted Hafer declared. "We don't want it here. We want it out of here." The cheers Hafer received reflected the majority sentiment that the toxic wastes should be removed to a landfill designed to completely contain these hazardous materials.

Hafer spoke a week earlier before the Schuylkill County Commission, explaining that leakage from the site has contaminated the Little Schuylkill River and Lake Hauto.

"This is going to affect everybody in the area. They always said that Three Mile Island was one of the safest nuclear power plants in the world, and look what happened," he said, referring to the 1979 nuclear disaster near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

The major component of the waste pile is plastic discarded by Eastern Diversified Metals Corp. from a wire reclamation operation between 1966 and 1977. After a series of fires on the site in the late 1970s, residents began to demand cleanup of the site. In 1987 a fence around the pile was erected. Today plastic sheets held down by rocks partially cover the debris.

The EPA representative stated that a system to test and treat runoff from the site was put in place before the company closed and that some of the most hazardous material has been removed.

Testimony after testimony pointed to high incidences of cancer among the families living near the site.

"I'm one of those kids who used to play in the 'fluff' piles," Sue Stirgus said, confronting the EPA representative. "My concern is with the cancer question. Why hasn't a health study been done? I'll tell you why not. Because this is a small rural community. That's why."

Residents who addressed the hearing were particularly insulted by one of the stated arguments to cap the waste in place--it costs less than moving it. "You say that removal is expensive," declared Chester Caroll. "Well, all these companies [that dumped] had a lot of money. I have the same question I had 10 years ago. What is the solution if capping doesn't work?"

To derisive laughter, the EPA spokesman replied, "That's a very hypothetical situation."

The meeting was called by the EPA to solicit opinions from the community. A 60-day "Public Comment Period" ends December 16. Many at the meeting voiced the opinion that a decision to cap the waste had already been made by the EPA and Lucent Technologies, the present owner of the site.

"The EPA is supposed to protect the environment, but who do they really protect?" Vicky Mackin, of the Concerned Citizens of Schuylkill County, asked. Mackin pointed out that Lucent and the other companies responsible for the dumping don't want to pay the estimated $24 million to have the material transported to contained dump sites.

"The EPA says it will take 1,200 truckloads to move the stuff, but we're used to coal trucks in this community. You can't put a price tag on our health and lives," she said.

This fight takes place in an area devastated for years by the underground and strip mining of anthracite coal. A large nonunion mining company closed operations last spring rather than comply with EPA sanctions. During the United Mine Workers strike at the Jeddo mine in nearby Hazleton in 1998–99, the miners joined with others to fight a landfill of hazardous materials in a worked-out part of the mine.

Today a struggle is brewing against the use of chemically treated sewage sludge in the reclamation of land destroyed by strip mining in towns adjacent to Hometown and in central Pennsylvania. The sludge has been linked to illnesses among miners and the death of an 11-year-old boy in Clearfield County.

Candace Wagner is a member of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees.  
 
 
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