1. |
Lois Gibbs - Interview
01:25
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2. |
Buried At The Love Canal
05:07
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22,000 tons of chemicals buried at the Love Canal
And that’s not accounting for the city or the army and all that they hid down
Then the company sold the land for only a dollar down
And a few lines of warning to the folks at the school board, warning them to not break ground
And when the ground was broke the chemicals seeped right out
And when it rained and poured in their back yards, the barrels floated out
Still the children were sent to school in the middle of that very mound
And it flooded the basements, then the milk of the mothers, and the people gave a shout
That something must be done, we gave over our trust, look what it’s gotten us
So now it’s up to us to bring forth justice, we cannot be silenced, we will not back down
The families and the folks of the homeowner’s association firmly stood their ground And informed the press, still the city neglected to move the families out
So they took their own direct action and poured colored food dye down
In the sewers that led to navigable waters got the federal coast guard out
In ’78 the state agreed to move some people out
But they stayed in solidarity with the remaining majority for justice to be handed down And right before the election the President declared Love Canal
Was a state of emergency, to move all 900 families, it’s how Superfund came about
And though the feds stepped in the people didn’t win back their health, their homes Their chromosomes were damaged
One out of two babies were born with birth defects
There were 421 chemicals found in the air, the water and the ground
And in the last 30 years we’ve seen how Superfund has played out
The idea of the government watching over industry is just not working out
So it’s up to you and me to call the culprits out
Still after 30 years some of those residents are still fighting to stop another Love Canal
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3. |
Larry Gibson - Interview
02:06
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4. |
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I looked for the mountain
There was no hill on it, no peak on it, no lookout off it
Yeah I looked for that mountain but the coal is all I’ve found
I looked on the mountain
For the trees and forests, the forest creatures, the streams and the hollers Yeah I looked for the mountain but dust and rubble is all I found
First they bulldoze the forests and scatter the fauna With dynamite blasting they fill all the valleys
And burn down the cabins of those who oppose this A coal fire rules this town
I stood on a lookout with a man of sixty
Who grew up on the mountain that is now a memory, and we stared at its ghost In four years they brought it down
And so he stands in protest with many a people
Losing their homes, losing their clean water
But at the risk of losing money the coal companies would rather kill them out
That 900 acres of dead land is humongous for my eyes to take in
But it’s really nothing compared to the 6,000 that’s next in the destruction Or the millions of acres that have been destroyed by now
You can’t blame the workers for wanting their jobs
In a place with no industry how can you feed your own
And so the citizens proposed a wind farm
Yet their politicians passed on this beautiful windfall, they’d rather blast it off
And so I looked on the mountain
There was no peak on it, no windmills on it, no life upon it
Yeah I looked for that mountain but greed’s senseless destruction was all I found
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5. |
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For more information on the Lone Tree Council visit: http://lonetreecouncil.com
For more comprehensive information, op-eds, and news archives about this situation visit the Tittabawassee River Watch site: http://www.trwnews.net
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6. |
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If you don’t know what’s been put into the Saginaw River
And you can’t tell what’s gone into the Midland ground
And the people that put it there don’t want to tell you how poisonous it is And the people you put in charge don’t care to make them do right by you
Yet the state says you can’t eat the fish or you’re 4,000 times as likely to ingest a carcinogen But according to the press, there’s nobody fishing and the company says there is no threat
The state department has admitted the danger is beyond debate
The EPA knows all about the hazards that dioxin creates
And yet Dow hid the facts and dangers from the folks they contaminate
And neither of the governing bodies have made the company pay just restitution
And you can’t tell if your safe, cause the state says screening comes out of your pocket and not the company’s And you can’t sell your place, that’s even if you owned it, and if you rent you have almost no say
How is a city’s biggest corporate sponsor also the city’s biggest polluter?
Dow company’s recent toxic spill is the most severe in this country’s history
It’s over a thousand times higher then the federal government’s action level
The state’s declared that 22 miles of the floodplain’s now a hazardous wasteland
Yet their court won’t rule a judgment on the case of the 2,000 folks
That’s been tied up since the beginning of the decade
And you can’t afford to complain if you fear they’ll take your job and they control the city you live in
And you can’t tell if your safe, cause the state says screening comes out of your pocket and not the company’s But according to the press, there’s nobody fishing and the company says there is no threat
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7. |
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For more information on the work of Citizens Against Toxic Exposure visit: http://cate.ws
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8. |
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If in the center of your town are homes and schools and churches
Yet in the middle sits a mound of contaminated earth
It’s a pile as massive as a mountain that’s been poisoning for years
With all the knowledge that we hold now, I’m thinking why’s this happening, how’s this the best effort
That state or country can do
It took 20 years just to move some dirt around Then it just sat there cause the money ran out
Here’s a despicable familiar story of institutional racism
A treatment company dumped drums of toxins and feared no repercussions
Folks of color live closest to this mess how race plays out in this country
How the government is not equipped or interested to help its people and I’m frightened where the real answer lies
This is a definite pattern
No isolated coincidence here
This is happening in some city close to you no matter where you live
And there are citizens against this toxic exposure
Who hoped they would be safer when the government took control Who want back their community, not an industrial park in Pensacola And after years of fighting, some are still no better off
Some folks weren’t chosen for relocation
Or weren’t compensated enough to afford new homes
This all had something to do with the color of their skin, in this modern day and age
When men in moon suits came and dredged up the soil only arms-lengths from children at play They sent the poison up into the air, let the wind carry away
This special potion that results from wood treatment leached the poison into the water
You know the company don’t pay a dime to check its neighbors health or to help the one’s that are dying
You shouldn’t touch the soil
You cannot grow your food, you can’t drink or fish No you shouldn’t even breathe it in
Seventeen years since a retired school teacher led her neighbors to demand just aid
While the government tried to pull a fast one cover up and fix it cheap
They classified the site to circumvent the people’s rights, no ear for public input
And when the limited funds ran out they put a five-year tarp on the pile where it sits now
And that was fifteen years ago
The new plan is to dig a big pit
Fill it with concrete and just bury the pile
But now the community stands divided because there are not enough resources to go around
And even though they may all want justice for all it’s hard to give up yours without feeling you’ll be left out Its cruel the way short sited promises are dangled as the only support being doled out
Just imagine you had built your life, someone you didn’t know destroyed it
They got rich and you got sick or you got homeless and/or worse
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9. |
Ed Wiley - Interview
01:11
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10. |
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When I was eight years old
I didn’t have to worry none About coal dust in my school Or being washed away
One-quarter mile from the school to the impoundment A tenth of a mile from the plant that scrubs the coal
200 feet from where they train out from the silo With dynamite blasting in the strip mine right above
A dam failed in ‘72 Killing 125
One failed 9 years ago 300 million gallon flood
Just last Christmas time Another failed in Tennessee 50 times the size
Of Exxon Valdez
Billions of gallons in this leaking impoundment
Just one-quarter mile uphill from the school
Families have pleaded with the Governor to move the kids He must be in bed with coal cause he turns a deaf ear
From the black waters above
3 billion gallons of toxic sludge That is leaking as I sing
It will fail in time
16 people were arrested for protesting his refusal
To relocate Marsh Fork School out of harms way
So the families take collection, take the matters in their own hands Collecting pennies for the promise of their kids
Ed Wiley marched 500 miles to Washington
He won’t rest till his granddaughter’s school is moved
He started the collection to ensure their future’s better Cause it seems Governor Manchin only cares about the coal
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11. |
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12. |
Poison In The Well
06:16
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Harry Holt’s daughter is not standing down
Though his life has been taken by the poison in the well Sheila Holt’s the harbinger of new times ahead
Where one’s color or finances don’t mean life or death
She’d see you in the town You who checked the water Plenty of times to tell
There was poison in the well
She’d see you in your store She’d see you Mr. Mayor Plenty of years to tell
There was poison in the well
She’d see you in the town You folks who were told Wouldn’t you want to share There was poison in the well
Harry Holt’s father bought the family farm
Where the folks of color’d lived since slavery’d been o’er The county turned their only park into the county dump All the places this could be in this land of ours
Harry Holt had lived his life in service of God and man He could not believe the deceit dealt to them
He sung, “When I come down to the end of my journey I just want to take my rest,” but this is not what he meant
Harry Died last summer 20 years since the first test
On their poisoned water, should’ve been taken off right then But it wasn’t till twelve years later, after drinking from that well 29 times above safe guidelines for poisons in the well
Sheila Holt has cancer from the poison in the well Like her aunt and father, uncle and cousins
Most of their white neighbors are still in good health Put on city water after their first tests
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13. |
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14. |
Invisible City
03:55
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I look in the sky see the smoke When I drive past it on the road It’s not a place I’d ever gone
But I send my trash to your home
Oh invisible city you’re just twelve miles down the river
And yet your problems don’t seem ours
The air we share looks clear and safe when it reaches my home Yet so polluted you’re trapped in yours
Besides the garbage from our homes It’s trucked from Jersey and New York 3,000 tons in flames each day
As well as industrial waste
Oh burning city you’re just twelve miles down the river Suffering on our behalf
Your rates of poverty mortality and blood lead levels Are not what you should be known for
And oh how you’ve had to organize
And fight just for basic human rights, just to keep your windows open
Your city’s fluoridated water
A waste product of fertilizer
No outside interests really aiding you Compared with interest in your stadium
Oh poisoned city you’re just twelve miles down the river
Your county and state sold you out
But oh how many struggles you’ve organized yourself to overcome And keep the new polluters out
And oh how you’ve had to fight
I hadn’t known the things I took for granted could be taken away knowing lives are at stake
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jm (fka Joshua Marcus) Providence, Rhode Island
jm loves cooking with and for friends, all things musical, making art with shapes, and getting out of one's brain. and the ocean. and genuineness.
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