Comment EI-19478
Received or sent (printed as 1/7/2013)
Please help our communities from the KNOWN toxic complications of shipping coal through and from our cities, ports and by-ways. Our community of Longview/Kelso, Wa.(nestled along the lower Columbia river) is full of cancer deaths! The industrial pollution is huge in our community already and the KNOWN health problems surrounding the coal transfer areas have got to be addressed. When I reached the age of 59(62 now) I developed alergies from grasses,trees and weeds". I have been receiving shots to prevent the symptoms and they are still there, over 15 mos.of shots so far. My Dr. has increased the dosage potency again to get a handle on the symptoms. I asked my Dr. "Can this be from the mills" and he said "Yes it can".I never beleived that I could develope alergies from "grasses, weeds and trees" as my Dr. had told me after the scratch tests because I have been here in Longview all my life (except Nam war) and in this location for 20 yrs..I beleive a change in the pollution structure could have caused the alergies. Millenium coal came into town and started moving large coal piles between the old smelter building and the aluminum cable plant(both shut down now) at the time my symptoms started.The area is going through a huge toxic clean-up at this time. The air from the mills passes over the towns and along the River. The area in which we live acts like a syphon and this canyon full of residences actually has a pulling effect all the way up the Creek to the top of the canyon. I worked at one of the mills for 33 yrs., 20 of those yrs. as the effluent treatment plant operator in which I contained a turpentine/red liquer spill in our diversion pond one time, the standard operating procedure. A day or two later the material gassed-off and the air currents took the toxic odor to Olympia Wa., north of here about 60 miles and to almost Cannon Beach Or.,about 90 miles to the south. When I came home from my job that day, the odor had permeated the inside of our house via our heat-pump system!!! Please help us and prevent the transfer of coal to our community for shipment to asia. We don't need the few jobs and the added toxic pollution will cause asthma,alergies and even death in some instances. Please call me for some info I cannot write about. Thankyou! Sincerely, William Olson"
Submitted by: William Olson
The Board publishes this comment in its environmental-comment table for this proceeding. It is quoted here as printed; nothing is inferred from it, and it states the commenter's own position in their own words, not this record's.
Permanent address docketyard.org/d/FD-30186/comment/EI-19478 · back to the docket sheet