is jerry russell bliss still alive

It was like everybody was related to everybody, Leistner says. TBAG had opposed the project, saying it was unsafe to human health and the environment. We have to determine what there motivation is.. Only a small portion of the residents ever made it back. The DNR presented further evidence at the same proceeding that linked the chemical manufacturer indirectly to a 1977 incident in which a Bliss driver dumped toxic chemicals including one exclusively made by Monsanto at a site in Jefferson County. In Times Beach, the dioxin level was more than 100 parts per billion. If I thought it was something bad, would I spray it on my own farm where my family is? Bliss asked CNN in 1997, in one of the few extensive interviews hes given. In the short term, the federal agency has settled for containment and fencing off the contaminated areas. ST. LOUIS -- Waste-oil hauler Russell Bliss, who allegedly sprayed dioxin-contaminated oil around the state in the 1970s, was sentenced Friday to one year in prison on unrelated charges of income tax fraud. You want to make sure you do it right, and, in the process of doing it, safeguard the public. But this blue-collar town beneath gray granite bluffs on the muddy Meramec River has become a symbol of a national trauma no one seems to know how to control. Then we left when they drug us out kicking and screaming, she quips. "His loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart and humor will live on," the family said. I figure I was homeless for a year and a half, OLeary says. A Post-Dispatch story dated April 4, 1983, describes the 500 cubic yards of soil stored at the Callahan site as being contaminated., A later EPA inspection showed that the land had subsequently subsided and would require stabilization. There are other holes in the EPAs theory. Many former residents wish they hadnt been forced to leaveand think they werent adequately compensated when they were pushed out. Everybody kindly watched after their kids, your kids, and everybody elses kids, she says. The contaminated soil is being stored in a pile at the site and covered with a tarp. Pratt worked at the Marianist Retreat & Conference Center in Eureka, and the nuns donated ornaments. To broadcast the crimeand thereby maximize the thrillthey stashed their loot atop the towns police station. "This is a war to stay on the land you worked and paid for. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Stelzer of the Riverfront Times. Its no problem. The concern's application was denied in early 1981, but Mr. Bliss has continued operating pending the appeal hearing that began here Monday morning. Though it was rocky at times, their iconic relationship lasted for five years before they called it quits in 1982. But for the average person, its still unwise to smoke four packs a day. The environmental activist, who is too young to remember the Selective Service System, and too poor to be concerned about the Internal Revenue Service, had, nevertheless, received a frightening message from a federal agency. The town is gone, but the people remain. Young wonders if a hysterectomy at 23, headaches so severe that medicine can't relieve the pain, her sons' rashes and birth defects in the children of several neighbors came from exposure to the toxic chemical. WebJERRY-RUSSELL BLISS, INC. is a Missouri Domestic Gen. Business - For-Profit filed on November 15, 1978. Others drove out through the rising water, trying to follow the roads they couldnt see. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Although the state hastened to dispose of hundreds of barrels at the Callahan site in the early 1980s, the EPA did not close its case on the property until last September. The only reference to Times Beach is a single display in a corner of the museum. The dioxin content in his mixture was estimated at 350 parts per million. Some were rescued in boats. As for developer Wurm, he believes the Callahan property has been cleaned up, but hes counting on the findings of state and federal regulators to protect him against any future liability. That paved the way for final approval of the buyout. "What will happen to my kids in 10 years?". One of her adult sons has since contracted a lupus-like disease, says Jordan. The EPA and CDC have each published massive documents detailing the many health hazards associated with it. ), The worst thing is not knowing, Taylor says. After Bliss sprayed the Shenandoah Stables in Moscow Mills in 1971, owner Judy Piatt watched barn sparrows die "by the bushel.". Before Times Beach the most notorious of the sites contaminated by Bliss became a household word, the EPA had already rated the Callahan property one of the most contaminated hazardous-waste sites in the nation. We continue to follow up on any information that is provided to us by the public.. You can see it, deal with it. Bliss disposed of this waste in various ways. The announcement of the new site came only weeks after the EPA and DNR had completed their controversial incineration project at He believes that his grandfathers health suffered as a result of the spraying. Monsanto refused to consider the governors appeal, even though before a federal ban on the chemical the company had been the sole producer of PCBs in North America. In August, the EPA warned Imperial residents of a potential dioxin problem, later revealing that it suspected contamination of 40 other sites in Missouri. Bliss has said he was not told the oil contained dioxin. But as you see, Bliss drivers consistently stated that Monsanto was a client.. These days, Bliss, whos in his late seventies, is still finding unique ways to make a buck. Times Beach was founded, oddly enough, as a newspaper promotion. Crystals used to make the antiseptic had been found in barn soil later used as fill dirt. Mrs. Piatt was followed to the stand by Gary Lambarth, a former Bliss driver, who testified that he lied about hauling chemicals in a 1974 deposition because his former boss had told him ''to keep my memory fuzzy about things like that. Were going to have to weigh out a lot of factors. In both instances, the allegations were not based so much on environmental concerns as they were on the bottom line. As the offers improved slightly, many of the holdouts grudgingly gave in. Join Facebook to connect with Jerry Russell and others you may know. Rock 'n' roll's first great wild man, Jerry Lee Lewis the singer and pianist nicknamed "The Killer" has died. There are few records. April 28 (UPI) -- A bear stuck in a Nevada tree was rescued by wildlife officials and firefighters who tranquilized the bruin and then caught the large animal in a tarp. After dealing with the revelatory shock, the stress, the mysterious health issues, and the anger from all sides, yes, Marilyn Leistner would like you to remember Times Beach. WebJerry Bliss lives in Saint James, MO; previous cities include Ellisville MO and Ballwin MO. After Bliss sprayed her stables in 1971, Piatts horses died and her daughter became seriously ill. To gather evidence for her pending civil suit against Bliss, the stable owner followed the waste oil hauler and his drivers along their daily routes. I didnt have anything to do with their money.. Leistner doesnt go to the reunions. My dad drove up on a little concrete pad and said, The water might get the tires wet. Shoot. I know Monsanto was not a viable defendant in this litigation.. Asked about Wurms criticism, Uhlenbrock says the developer was bent out of shape because he wanted the article to say that the Callahan property never had any dioxin or Russell Bliss on it. Uhlenbrock said he was unable to confirm whether dioxin had been found on the site or whether there was a Bliss connection to the property. It would set up a mobile incinerator, a massive metal jungle gym with a giant furnace and a single tall smokestack. After a 30-day public comment period, the agency will then decide which means of remediation to pursue. It appears that it is possible that certain leads werent followed up on because they didnt fit their theory of where this waste came from.. Evening Standard/Getty Images. During its investigations in the 1980s, the EPA rejected all the sites that Bliss may have sprayed before or after accepting the Verona waste, claiming those locations could not have possibly been contaminated with dioxin from the Verona chemical plant. Tom Whats-his-face at the Post-Dispatch, he didnt have time. During the past few months, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has taken more than 2,000 soil samples from the park, which is located near the North St. Louis County municipality of St. Ann. ", Larry Collier pledges to hoist an American flag in his yard as a symbol of defiance. On any given afternoon, youre bound to see deer wandering in the woods. If the city allows W.J. When a Missouri assistant attorney general asked the waste hauler in 1977 to identify his top customers, the first words out of Bliss mouth were, Oh, I would say Monsanto.. Staff writer Dale Russakoff contributed to this report. April 29 (UPI) -- An Australian tourist facing possible flogging after being accused of going on a drunken nude rampage in the Indonesian province of Ache says he felt "almost possessed" at the time. Natalie faced her 20-year battle with Multiple Sclerosis with bravery, grace, and dignity. "I don't think we're proud of the track record," said Fred A. Lafser, director of Missouri's Department of Natural Resources at one hearing. Former company officials said their warnings were ignored. Leistner has four children, three girls and a boy. Whether the 88-year-old wants to be is another story. A few days after it reopened, the city received the results from its soil tests. During the questioning, inmate Scott Rollins, a former Bliss driver, made a stuttering confession that he had picked up waste from Monsanto in Illinois. Defense attorney Charles Shaw said no decision had been made whether to appeal the sentence, which included fines totaling $8,000. He was 87 years old. Those same officials are now siding with the developers, claiming that the once highly contaminated land is no longer a threat to human health, that it is now safe enough for backyard swingsets and tomato patches. The first offers were made that month. Congress created the nation's first major program to clean up hazardous waste dumps only two years ago. The offers were very low, so we got organized, Leistner says. Her husband, Grover Callahan, worked as a truck driver for the Bliss Waste Oil Co. in the early 1970s. But it was not until Piatt's horses began dying and her daughter became ill that CDC toxicologists believed something was dreadfully wrong. No one listened. April 28 (UPI) -- Animal services officers in South Carolina responded to a home where a resident was shocked to find an alligator in his garage. By visiting our site, you agree to our privacy policy regarding cookies, tracking statistics, etc. "If they had, I wouldn't have taken it. The more you smoke, the worse it is for your health. He spent years lobbying against casino expansion, and hes now the communications director for embattled Rep. Todd Akin. The problem, however, was that Bliss was also being paid to haul away the sludge from a chemical plant in Verona, Mo., that had stored up dioxin-laced wastes from One residence has had to be evacuated because of interior contamination. [5] Outline of AbrahamHicks' teachings Times Beach was on her list, she said. Worst of all, Piatts two young daughters, who played in the arena as if it were a sandbox, fell ill. Doctors and veterinarians were stumped, but Piatt suspected the spraying was to blame. To say that dioxin has never caused anythingI saw it wipe out a whole community, she says. April 28 (UPI) -- A Nebraska high school said it broke a Guinness World Record when more than 1,000 students participated in a water balloon toss event. Although Mr. Lambarth was subpoenaed as a witness for the state, his testimony tended to support Mr. Bliss's contention that at the time he picked up the dioxin wastes, he did not know they were hazardous. It was an abortion. Last Saturday morning, Steve Taylor heard a tapping at his apartment door, a gentle rapping that he hopes to hear no more. The legendary and controversial TV host was 79 years old. There are many epidemiological studies that showed health effects in humans exposed to dioxins, says Dr. Hana Pohl, an environmental health scientist at the CDC. Thats why just about every physician will tell his or her patient to stop smoking cigarettes, Schecter says. He reported a litany of problems: Documents were lost; samples were mislabeled and switched; a chain of custody was not established. And blah, blah, blah. ELR Citation: ELR 20492. Theres plenty of parking, a playground, and lots of picnic tables. The fencing is certainly just an interim measure, while we are preparing the final alternative, says Bob Feild of the EPA. The walls smelled. Sitting at her dining-room table, gazing out across the hillside through her glass patio doors, she begins. Taylors overarching complaint is that the EPAs focus was too narrow. I guess Wildwood is just going to have to look at it from a credibility standpoint, says Shea. On the other side of the road, at 210 Strecker Rd., developer Larry Wurm of James Properties Inc. is proposing to build Wildwood Ridge, an 11-home development on 7.6 acres of land now owned by Jean Callahan. Missouri's problem is different from New York's Love Canal, which Hooker Chemical used as a toxic dump for dioxin until it was discovered in 1978. chemical plant, where the EPA presumes all of the toxins originated. The haul included drums laden with cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). It is also a probable carcinogen. They even had a couple of pool tables, and one time, Minnesota Fats stopped by for a game. Contacted by phone last Friday at EPA headquarters in Kansas City, Martha Steincamp, regional counsel for the EPA, could not provide details on the Bliss-Ellisville cleanups and referred all questions on the matter to Bob Feild, the agencys project manager. So Ill just let the record of decision stand for itself, OK? TBAG started its investigation because it thought there had been a coverup by state and federal authorities on the source and extent of contamination in Missouri, says Taylor. Downstream from the Verona plant, dairyman Bill Davis watched eight cows die after they drank from a river a half-mile from the factory where all Missouri's dioxin was once produced. Even so, between picnics with neighbors, river recreation, town dances, and quite a few saloons, life in the Beach, as old-timers called it, was downright pastoral. Her children helped walk the horses and worked in the stables, she says. Early 1970s: Waste oil hauler Russell Bliss is hired to remove dioxin from the tanks. Trailers were tossed about like bumper boats. On December 5, the river jumped its banks, and quickly, the entire town was submerged. Some folks arent sure its even there. Finally, Dr. Renate Kimbrough, a CDC toxicologist, suggested testing for dioxin, the only dangerous hexachlorophene byproduct. Mennonites came in to help rebuild. Truckers crudely called him the hemorrhoid with the Polaroid. He wrote ticket after ticket. At the time, the EPA considered anything above 1 part per billion hazardous. Offers were based solely on square footage, which angered the owners of newer, nicer houses. I saw people that lived in the community lose their jobs, their churches, their homes, health problems. Remember Times Beach: The Dioxin Disaster, 30 Years Later. Dog missing for 26 days walked 40 miles to his former home. Every year, former residents of Times Beach gather on the site to see old friends, tell stories, and inevitably shed a few tears. But if youre in the market for something called a Menopause Meter, youre in the right place. By Phil McCausland. P.O. The plant was owned by a subsidiary of Syntex, the company ultimately held liable for the eastern Missouri Superfund clean up. They could smoke four packs a day without any harm.. WebJERRY-RUSSELL BLISS, INC., Petitioner-Appellant, v. HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION, et al., Respondents. Theres a bumper sticker that says Ignorance is Bliss., They tell stories about the flood. At a recent town meeting, angry Times Beachers wondered why, if the chemical is so dangerous, the government didn't supply them with the same protective suits worn by the EPA workers. Its a difficult position for the city, says Joe Vujnich, Wildwoods director of parks and planning. She contacted authorities, but their response came too slowly for her. My (goal) is to have a park that is presentable to the public and that is safe to the public and doesnt put them at any risk. In doing so, Taylor argues, the agency ignored the various other priority pollutants present in the soil, including PCBs, some of which might not have originated at the Verona plant. For information about the McDonnell Park and Lemar Drive dioxin sites, call Hattie Thomas, EPA Community Involvement Coordinator, at 1-800 223-0425. published in the Riverfront Times (St. Louis), Aug. 20, 1997. These practices came to the EPA's attention in 1979 and Syntex entered into a consent agreement to clean up the sites. The younger Bliss is appealing the denial of his request for a hauling permit from the Missouri Hazardous Waste Management Commission. Besides giving the site a clean bill of health without any soil testing, the DNR ignored its own warnings signals. OLeary (at right) came back to her house as soon as she could after the flood. Did it get into the water supply? She and Frank Purler, another former resident, are looking through old photo albums and scrapbooks that he brought. Some, he spread across his own farm. Ive felt that the steps that weve taken and the timeliness of those steps have been appropriate, says Hall. Surveyors have also staked out a section of the park near Jordans residence with bright orange flags. This time Teasdale made the plea with the TV news cameras rolling. oklahoma public land deer hunting Accept X I believe that the whole area there is littered with contamination pockets, she says.

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