Subject: (Dumpe) Re Movie -- A Civil Action (fwd)
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1999 023745 -0600 (CST)
From: "Roy L. Beavers" <rbeavers@llion.org>
To: emfguru <rbeavers@llion.org>
--------------------------------------------------
.......In her message below, Bert Dumpe recounts some personal
knowledge and experience surrounding the "A Civil Action" case
in Woburn Massachusetts......
Roy Beavers (EMFguru)
rbeavers@llion.org................
...It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness...
.................PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN PROFITS...............
.........DO YOU KNOW OF OTHERS WHO SHOULD BE ON THIS LIST?????........
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1999 02:13:37 -0500
From: Bert Dumpe
To: "Roy L. Beavers"
Subject: Re: Movie -- A Civil Action
Roy: Are we now seeing the writing on the wall? The movie, A Civil
Action, which I cannot see due to my sensitivity to light (especially
large screen lighting) was actually first a book written by Paula DiPerna.
Paula was a freelance writer for the New York Times and other media. She
was also a play-writer. Paula thoroughly researched her stories, and was
deeply involved in environmental issues as if she was personally affected.
That is what happened when she learned of the leukemia cluster in East
Woburn, Massachusetts.
Paula investigated the situation involving toxic chemicals which were
carelessly discharged into ground waterways that fed the drinking water
wells of the town. The chemicals seeped into the wells, citizens ingested
the water and developed many disorders (eg, gastrointestinal, respiratory,
cardiac).
The chemical companies denied responsibility. The amounts of chemicals
discharged were TOO LOW to hurt anyone, was their claim.
In 1985, DiPerna?s book was published: Cluster Mystery, Epidemic and the
Children of Woburn, Mass; (ISBN 0-8-16-1309-9; The C.V. Mosby Company, St.
Louis, Missouri).
The publisher and DiPerna hoped to someday make it into a movie. Like
electromagnetic radiation (EMR) data, DiPerna?s book was not a best
seller. Its original price was $13.95. Within the year, the price dropped to
$1.98 (which I paid), and publishers and dealers finally discarded it.
I hope DiPerna received credit in the movie, "A Civil Action", for
exposing the toxic waste disaster in Woburn. Her emphasis was that
chemical pollution resulted in 12 children (3 girls, 9 boys), a cluster,
developing cancer (leukemia).
The uphill fight of Woburn residents with industry, and the local
and state and federal governments, was primarily rooted in the fact that
industry strove to avoid the responsibility for its product. The major companies
involved were the WR Grace Company (its president was formerly a counsel to
President Reagan) and Beatrice Foods.
Jan R.Schlichtmann of the law firm Reed & Mulligan was the tort attorney
for the Andersons whose son was a victim of toxic chemical pollution. Jan
was experienced in medical malpractice cases and, as he said, took the
case because he knew he would win.
Among those involved in researching ground and drinking well water
contamination in Woburn were the Massachusetts Department of Health,
Massachusetts Department of the Environment; US Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH), National Cancer Institute (NCI), Center for Disease Control
(CDC). In addition, environmental students at Tuft University volunteered
to study the Woburn toxic waste situation. Finally, the US Congress held
toxic waste hearings in Washington.
How long does it take to bring tort cases to justice? The problem of the
Andersons started when they moved to their new home (1972). They filed suit
against the companies in 1982, DiPerna wrote the Cluster Mystery in 1985.
Senate hearings resulted in the enacted of the Superfund and other
environmental (water and air quality) laws. It is only now, 17 years after
the lawsuit was filed, that the movie has seen the light of day.
This movie, A Civil Action, may be the blessing for which the EMR
pollution opponents have been praying. Be patient.
The gauntlet is down. The EMR revelation day may be nearer than we think.
A Civil Action will surely create uneasiness in those who create EMR
pollution, and permit humans to and their environment to be engulfed in it
and damaged by electro-smog.
Here is a bit of background on the relationship between the Woburn
incident and high-tech electro-smog. Between 1984-1985, I was on a
fact-finding mission through Europe and the United States to uncover the
cause of biological trauma suffered by users of video display terminals
(VDTs), so I could write 'X-Rayed Without Consent.'
The illnesses in Woburn were intriguing in that they bore resemblance to
the maladies suffered by VDT users. To obtain finer data on the Woburn
cluster I contacted DiPerna, Massachusetts officials; the pastor of Anne
Anderson, mother of Jimmy Anderson who was one of the youngest leukemia
victims claimed by the industrial toxic waste in Woburn. (See X-Rayed
Without Consent, pages 138-139.)
Understandably, the pastor was protective of the Anderson family.
Eventually, I gained a better insight as to how chemicals and radiation
course through different paths in the body, but cause the same biological
effects. When my book was published, the Trial Lawyers of America ordered
it.
In 1991, trial lawyers in various states formed a special group in
anticipation of VDT user litigation. They subscribed to my newsletter, The
American Medical Association purchased my book; evidently to refute my
statements, which they never did.
Yes, the chemical industry tried to hide guilt in Woburn. They succeeded
for a while. But the game was over once the public learned the truth and
Congress and other public officials started doing the job for which they
were elected; to serve the public and promote and uphold life, health, and
safety.
When the courts decided against the chemical companies, the EPA and WR
Grace Company tried to come out like nice guys wearing white hats. Senator
Edward Kennedy (Chairman of Human Resources) stepped in and said, "What WR
Grace offers in the way of clean-up does not go far enough." He and
senators from New Jersey (Lautenberg, Bradley), Rhode Island and other
states instituted measures to ensure the incident would never again be
repeated. Were they only referring to the chemical arena?
Look at the EMR issue. In 1981 then congressman Al Gore held VDT and
other health related hearings as urged by the labor unions, and the
parents of a child who was irradiated to death (human guinea pig) to
further space science.
Neither congressman Al Gore or Edward Markey could tolerate the inhumanity
committed against human guinea pigs. Various cluster mystery studies were
conducted by NIOSH, CDC, EPA and other federal agencies to determine the
bio-effects of exposure to VDT and environmental radiation. For instance,
in a study using a population of 4000 employees from BellSouth, NIOSH and
CDC found that out of 3246 pregnancies there were 1632 miscarriages or
abnormal offspring (page 250 of my book).
Look at the havoc BellSouth is wreaking today in Florida and other
states, and in Brazil and other countries. At the Swedish Conference
(1986), scientists of at lest 15 countries reported that many workers
suffered eye, back, and other disorders (my book, pages 213-215).
Congressman Gaydos, Gore, Mitchell, and others winced when several women
at the Toronto Star (Canada) suffered clusters of miscarriages. Yet, look
at what Gore has done. He is touted as the father of technology, father of
the super-highway, father of the internet. What kind of father is this
that would risk the health and safety of his children?
What is the difference between the Woburn cluster and the cluster of
disorders resulting from exposure to electromagnetic radiation in the
workplace and the environment? Money, numbers, goals? The Woburn,
Massachusetts incident involved a few people. On the other hand, the EMR
situation involves the POPULATION of the WHOLE WORLD.
How long can the government protect industry? Do not imagine that the
Trial Lawyers of America or attorneys of the world are sleeping. They
are and have been poised for product liability lawsuits that will surely
evolve from the involuntary exposure of the public, without informed
consent, to every form of radiation. A Civil Action may be the motivating
force in this year, 1999.
Jimmy's mother, Anne Anderson of Woburn, said: "We are raised to think of
scientists as a group apart from us; that they are the one who really know
things. The public admires, respects, and expect scientists to have the
answers to human problems, and address those problems with sincerity and
honesty.?" Can the public still hold onto this trust?
Bert
Archive provided courtesy of WaveGuide, http://www.wave-guide.org
Reprinted with permission of Roy Beavers, http://www.feb.se/EMF-L/EMF-L.html