Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

On Saturday, after a change of venue to the Warren Room at the Massena Library, a talk was given by Larry Thompson of Akwesasne, and Dr. David Carpenter of the University at Albany. Thompson you may recall made a bold statement about the continued storage of toxic waste at the GM Plant directly adjacent to Akwesasne, by taking waste, using a backhoe, and moving it to a train car. Thompson faced a legal battle for some time after but was eventually dismissed.

Dr. David Carpenter has been in the community in some form since 1985, doing a lot of research across a few grants involving the effects of PCB’s on the population of Akwesasne. Carpenter also participated in the lawsuits against the company Monsanto, which produced and sold all the PCB’s produced at their facility in Anniston, Alabama. The net result was two successful lawsuits against the company for the harm it caused the community.

The talk began with Thompson explaining what his involvement was, and why. He cited the health effects that he believes are the result of growing up in Anawate, which was right next to the GM plant, and his family’s land was directly next to the GM plant. Without going into specifics about the various health issues his family has faced, it was a clear motivator. He was displeased with the agreement that the various parties made to remedy the toxic waste and made a powerful statement that more could and should be done.

Dr. Carpenter spoke about the effects of PCB’s as revealed by his work in the community. He was directly responsible for a study, which ran from 1995 to 2000 and included approximately 350 children and around 750 adults. What he was able to show was that PCB’s have an effect on IQ, with those having a high level of PCB’s in their blood performing worse on tests than those with lower levels. He also detailed a slew of other health effects such as a possible link to hypothyroidism, PCB’s ability to behave like estrogen-like compounds once in the body, a link to diabetes, and a number of other health disorders. Carpenter also said he would be happy to come up and reveal the summary of his findings to the community, as one of the items discussed by those in attendance was a need for a renewed community wide focus on the issue of PCB contamination and its effects on the population.

After the talk, discussions were had about possibly holding meetings within the next four weeks to discuss the findings of Dr. Carpenter and raise awareness about the health issues we face as a community. With increased community support, it is possible to elicit more effective cleanup plans from the companies responsible, and the government who’s responsible for enforcement.

If your interested in seeing the talk, it was recorded by Donald Hassig of the Cancer Action NY and can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfOWWPmiR9E.