<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;" class=""><div style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 6px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue';" class="">Ann Rennacker's letter to DTSC re: GP millsite cleanup</div></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;" class=""><br class=""></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;" class="">Dear Tom,<br class=""> I viewed a document on Envirostar that was recently posted by some company I don't recognize - what happened to Arcadis? It does not seem to mention removal of Dioxins and other toxins from the Ponds and wetlands, only the soils near the old Powerhouse. This is very disturbing to me, as dioxin is one of the most toxic cancer causing substances on the planet. <br class=""><br class=""> I have had cancer, and many of the men I worked with at the Mill are gone now, dead of cancers and tumors. I can think of 7 off the top of my head, and since the doctors don't release medical information about deceased community members I don't know how many others there are but I do know that we have a higher than normal incidence of cancer and tumors here. I had a brain tumor, and I know 4 others in Fort Bragg that have suffered from brain tumors. It is imperative that our Millsite be cleaned up thoroughly before they declare that no further action be taken. Yesterday I saw a truck taking soil offsite, and there was a water truck near the Cypress Street gate, so it is starting. <br class=""> I worked in the Yard Office of the Mill for the last three years of my employment there, and drove a white truck with a white hard hat on to all the offices out there to pick up timecards from employees weekly, and saw some appalling conditions. There was a gutter with horrible toxic chemicals and petroleum products draining into the pond, there was once an explosion of a transformer in the plaining mill that spewed PCBs on several workers, but they were told "Don't worry, we removed the PCBs so this is just mineral oil. Wash off when you go home." One man went to pick up his children at daycare and tracked the substance onto the carpet - the result was a lawsuit that G/P lost. Another time I went past the Power House, where they had been burning horrible waste products that got shipped in to burn at night so OSHA would not find out that the emissions were above the legal level and issue fines. <br class=""><br class="">I don't have documentation about what got burned, but I believe there was medical waste, waste products too toxic to burn in other locations, and this is why the dioxin levels are so high. The Powerhouse was designed to burn wood bark but much worse things were burned on the third shift. I know for a fact that whenever the Managers wanted to get rid of something that was problematic, they pitched it into the Ocean or the Pond or they took it and buried it on a remote part of the Millsite or at the Bark Dump by Hwy 20, which the City now owns and built a reservoir on. The City Manager and Planning Commissioner were talked into accepting the land for the Coastal Trail before the ponds are clean, but many of the citizens are wary of it and avoid it, while many others love the Ocean view and go out there daily. <br class=""> For these reasons I am requesting that some new studies of the contents of the Pond be tested again, at a deeper level than was done years ago. The sludge in the Millpond is estimated to be 35 feet deep, and the bad stuff is probably at the bottom, yet a document I saw said the excavation will only be a foot deep. This is inadequate. <br class=""><br class="">California recently passed new environmental ruling that makes the Corporation clean up it's messes, and this is what we need. The property that has been declared "no further action" was not thoroughly cleaned up and so there are deed restrictions and "land use covenants" placed in several spots, and that is a huge disappointment. How did that happen? I don't remember having a chance to object to that, and then the entire site was gated, had security guards keeping the community out, and so when Marie Jones recently gave tours to the public, I was shocked to see that the Pond is filled in with dredge sand spoils, overgrown with cattails, and at a much lower level that when I saw it 25 years ago! I know that we had 5 years of epic drought but I think that there was some filler poured in. If it was just dredge sand spoils, that may account for much of the lead and arsenic, but it does not obscure or dilute the dioxin, which is one of the most toxic substances on the planet according to the EPA studies done in the 70s and 80s. <br class=""><br class="">We cannot rely on "natural attenuation" to alleviate the condition of the soils or the wetlands. I believe that if DTSC insists on a complete removal of toxins, and our community gets grants to restore the buried creeks, we will have a world-class tourist attraction. If we leave things as is we will have more cancers and tumors in our future generations, as well as possibly affecting fishermen and tourists. This is an area where abalone hunters swarm. We are experiencing a possible extinction of our Salmon, the crab season was delayed, many marine mammals have washed up on shore dead and are having their bones taken to the Noyo Marine Science Center for display, and many sea lion pups are found starving on the beaches because their mothers have to go so far out to find food. There is a sea lion rescue center where the poor creatures are taken so they do not die. <br class=""><br class="">The Oceans are warming, there is sea level rise happening faster than was predicted, and we are on earthquake faults with danger of tsunami. For all these reasons I implore you to do all you can to facilitate a complete and thorough cleanup of the last, and worst, part of our Millsite Cleanup.<br class=""> Thank you for considering my comments and opinions. I would like a reply.<br class="">Ann Rennacker<br class="">Secretary/Treasurer - Ocean Protection Coalition<br class=""><br class=""></div><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;" class="">...........................</span><br style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;" class=""><br style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;" class=""><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;" class="">To unsubscribe from this list send an email to </span><a href="mailto:opc-leave@lists.mcn.org" style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;" class="">opc-leave@lists.mcn.org</a><br style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;" class=""><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Light;" class="">To complete the process you must reply to the email you receive in response.</span><br class="">
<br class=""></body></html>