Star Staff Writer
| Personal disputes, rumors and conspiracy theories that had once been apparent only through shaking heads and rolling eyes were laid out on the table for all to see. The group was united only in its distrust of Monsanto’s intention to clean up as the court has ordered— which the manager overseeing the project said was completely unfounded. At the monthly meeting of the CAG, members decided to air disputes and suspicions that have been bubbling under the table in order to move forward with the job. The consent decree is a cleanup agreement between Solutia, Monsanto, Pharmacia and the Environmental Protection Agency that was approved by U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon last August. The meeting’s confrontational tone was first hinted when the Rev. N.Q. Reynolds of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference objected to a recommendation that a committee be authorized to decide what company would receive a contract to produce the group’s web site. "Everything awarded is awarded to white folk and I don’t like it," he said. "It seems to me that we’re back to where we used to be. I fought too long and too hard to break down these barriers. We’ve gone back to the 1960s." The subject soon changed to the group’s infighting, which David Baker of Community Against Pollution blamed on Monsanto. "Monsanto is trying to play Russian roulette with this CAG, trying to get us to dissolve it," Baker said. "They have no intention of doing everything they said they’d do." Solutia –originally charged with paying for cleanup – filed for bankruptcy last year. Monsanto is now paying for all of the Anniston/Oxford PCB cleanup outside of the property Solutia owns. Shirley and David Baker both said Monsanto was out of compliance with the consent decree. "We’re sitting here once a month twiddling our thumbs," David Baker said. "They are way behind in their process. We need to ask the EPA to start penalizing them." William Ivey, a member of the West Anniston Business Council, said Monsanto made a late payment into an education fund that’s part of the decree. Monsanto or Solutia was not penalized for it, he said. At that point, the usually mild-mannered Craig Branchfield, the project manager for Solutia, jumped up like a lawyer in a courtroom drama shouting, "objection your honor". The payment was two days late and the EPA did respond, he said. "Let’s get our facts straight and stop making stuff up," Branchfield said. CAG Chairman Wayne Carmello-Harper suggested the group try to figure out what it could and would do if Monsanto/Solutia was not cleaning up as it agreed. Shirley Baker said the CAG’s job is to make sure Monsanto/Solutia meets deadlines, but some members responded that no one on the CAG has the technical expertise. An independent technical advisor will be hired to assist the group. However, the grant that pays for the advisor was awarded to the West Anniston Foundation and served as a source of tension between members. Community Against Pollution, which also applied for the grant, has said in letters to the EPA and the Department of Justice that the selection process was skewed. At the meeting, Ivey brought up roundabout connections between the foundation and the committee appointed to award the grant, suggesting a conflict of interest. "This is what derails us," Carmello-Harper said. "This splits us as a group and keeps us from focusing on the community." Ivey said there’s no way the committee would not have known who the grant applicants were when they read the applications. "How do you know?" West Anniston Foundation Director Charity Richey-Bentley said to Ivey, pointing out that he had not seen an application. "You have slandered the West Anniston Foundation since the grant was made. You’ve called board members, your church members. You are what’s keeping this community divided." Shirley Baker joined the debate to tell the board about her problem with the technical assistance grant. When Baker said it wasn’t personal, the discussion turned into an argument with Richey-Bentley. Richey-Bentley said some Shirley Baker wrote in her letter were personal attacks on her. "How’d you get a copy?" Shirley Baker asked. "I didn’t send it to you." At that point, Carmello-Harper suggested the group get every festering fight out on the table so that maybe they could accomplish something in the future. Issues board members came up with included rumors of secret meetings among CAG members, which no one could verify. And the chairman was asked not to talk to Monsanto without consulting the entire CAG. CAG members also formed a committee to research the sex and race of applicants for the web site contract. Members also decided to write a list of its clean-up concerns and arrange a closed meeting with Clemon and the EPA. Branchfield briefly updated the CAG on two projects. Chicago-based Entact should start work in August and estimated it could clean 20 properties a month. Work on the 11th Street Ditch would begin soon and be complete by year’s end. "A lot of comments were made about various issues," he said. "I’m prepared to take them on one at a time with respect to the schedule or anything else." After the meeting, Branchfield addressed some accusations. He said Monsanto/Solutia is not out of compliance with the consent decree. Two deadlines were missed, and the EPA fined the companies, he said. The missed deadlines were the two-day late payment into the education fund and a response to the EPA’s comments on a couple of work plans, which were about two weeks late, he said. Branchfield said those violations did not delay residential clean up because the company was waiting on other plans that needed EPA approval. "It’s the objective of everyone involved, including Monsanto and Solutia, to get the cleanup done properly," he said |
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About Jessica Centers
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Jessica Centers, a University of Missouri graduate, covers business for The Anniston Star. |
| E-mail: |
jcenters@annistonstar.com |