Contributed by Teresa de Lima
A Citizen’s Petition
A citizen’s petition to the federal government? Why??? What on earth would possess someone to do something like that? It’s an uphill fight all the way. A Sisyphean effort. But when one has the lofty goal of exposing egregious misdeeds carried out on the populace, one becomes energized by employing the power of the citizens' petition. One hopes that one’s concerns be addressed, reparations be made, and lives improve. After all, the people who work for the federal government are public servants, there to do a job that supports the stated mission for whom they work. Nae- doesn’t really work that way. You have to wait years. One wonders if there is justice. One hopes so. One knows who Karma is. And that other saying about the woman scorned.
I was driving home one evening after putting in a day at work (or trying to work) and afterwards taking care of my parents, Rose and Don de Lima, before heading home to my children. A normal long day for a person of the sandwich generation. I was bone tired. You see, I’d been taking care of my beloved for seven years by then and there were 200+ doctors visits, with a dozen by ambulance to the Emergency Room. The illnesses were staggering. I was listening to the local radio station and a report by KUAC’s Dan Bross came on. The report was about coal ash and toxic chemicals found in coal combustion waste in Alaska. Boy, did my ears ever perk up! As a matter of fact, the coal fired power plant that powers most of Fairbanks and beyond is less than 500 feet from our family home. The next day I went to the Northern Alaska Environmental Center and picked up a publication dated February 2011 entitled “Coal Ash in Alaska, Our Health Our Right To Know”. This publication is available here at this link.
https://www.akaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Coal_Ash_in_Alaska_Feb_2011.pdf
The author, Alaska Community Action on Toxics.
After analyzing our situation, I decided the only thing that I could do for my parents was to move them back to Manley Hot Springs. Neither wanted to go to the Pioneers Home. And thankfully, they had the Manley house. There were two sides to that coin though because of the Manley house and the Fairbanks house, my folks did not qualify for Medicaid and so there were A LOT of bills that were not covered, even with Medicare Part D. (Whatever the heck that means). No private insurance. Thank God in Heaven above for mothers native health care. But that doesn’t pay for prosthesis for your boob or pacemakers or the prescriptions that your dad is on or the custom shoes that have to be made when all of your toes are amputated because the drugs you are being treated with do not effect the condition because the poison is raining down on you 24-7 [twenty four seven]. That poison being Arsenic, Cadmium, Mercury, Lead, Zinc, Barium, Beryllium, Selenium. Figure 7-3 Metals Concentrations in Surface Soil Aurora Power Plant Fairbanks, Alaska from Site Inspection Report dated September 2013 prepared for the EPA Region X by EE&C. Please excuse my run on sentence.
I am a 7th generation Alaskan, born in Fairbanks. I grew up in a town that had a one room school for kids from kindergarten to eighth grade. We were taught social responsibility by an enormously important person in the village. We were taught that mission statements mean something. The mission statement of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is to “protect human health and the environment”. The mission statement of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) is “conserve, improve and protect Alaska’s natural resources and environment to enhance the health, safety, economic and social well-being of Alaskans”. I did not go to college. I do not have any formal training other than that for piloting an aircraft. In my humble opinion, neither the EPA or ADEC are fulfilling their mission statements. After hearing what I have to say, you decide for yourself. I will continue to share my experience with you.
I love my hometown. I enjoyed a quick trip to Fairbanks this week. It was so wonderful to see some of my friends. Some parts of Fairbanks are just beautiful. There are many new restaurants and I look forward to returning. I hadn’t a chance to explore in depth, but what I did see in my follow up to coal ash makes me want to get in a little plane, take some nice aerial shots, time stamp that info and get it to the Feds. Again.
I’ve heard it said before, don’t take it personal, Teresa. Hmm. Really? I beg to differ.
