City of Shelton Sued for Turning Blind Eye to Dioxin Pollution

The notorious track record of Shelton, its Mayor Cronce and his minions when it comes to deliberately exposing the town’s health to the extremely pernicious effects of DIOXIN has now finally been challenged in court for violating its mandate to protect the community from precisely the kind of predatory crimes against humanity routinely committed by Simpson (aka Green Diamond) with the city’s blessings.

DIOXIN: bizniz as usual

Shelton & Mason County: Gateway to Dioxin  & Industrial Blight

GaryCronce2

Mayor and Dioxin promoter in chief

The City of Shelton has never officially closed its ‘C’ Street dump after years of accepting Dioxin saturated waste from Simpson and even having been informed the timber behemoth has used the municipal sewers to dispose of its Dioxin waste. After having been caught polluting federal waterways with Dioxin by the U.S. Government, Simpson then proceeded to shift the toxic burden to Shelton’s public city dump and other unregulated ‘private’ sites near the Matlock area, et ux, as it sought a cheap but illegal means of disposing of its poisonous wastes that are as seriously toxic as the Hanford site, perhaps worse.

A handful of local citizens wouldn’t take no for an answer from their elected officials trying to dodge the issue and responsibility. Washington State’s Dept. of Ecology had offered Shelton funds to study the extent of the pollution in the city’s dump and environs. Rather than accept the gift, Cronce and the city council opined they’d rather refuse the money than possibly be held accountable for cleaning up a hole they were not only instrumental in creating, but continue to insist on digging (more incinerator permits to the very corporate dog that bit them in the 1st place). There is currently NO state sponsored mechanism for monitoring the Dioxin already present, leaching into the city harbor, or being emitted from current/future operations on the waterfront…nor are there any plans to remedy that lack of monitoring in the future or require Simpson (‘Green Diamond’) to do so.

Cronce & Co. are prime examples of the principle that in the public sector, incompetence is as pernicious as corruption. Unfortunately, we get the government we deserve. Incredibly, Cronce was recently narrowly reelected to a position he’s unqualified to hold.

Shelton easily remains the cancer capitol of Washington State.

garycronce

Herr Cronce

CITIZEN ENVIRONMENTAL LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST SHELTON

Cc: Greg Wingard
Subject: Press Release: Citizens’ Group Files Suit to Enforce Cleanup and Closure Regulations at Shelton’s Historic Town Dump

Citizens’ Group Files Suit to Enforce Cleanup and Closure Regulations

at Shelton’s Historic Town Dump

Contacts: Greg Wingard, Waste Action Project 206-849-5927 gwingard@earthlink.net

Meredith Crafton, Smith & Lowney 206-860-0858 meredithc@igc.org

December 23, 2015 (Seattle, WA) – Waste Action Project, represented by Smith & Lowney, PLLC, has filed suit against the City of Shelton, Washington to enforce closure regulations at the City’s historic C Street dump.

Owned and operated by the City of Shelton, the ‘C’ Street Dump, also known as the Shelton Landfill, began operations around 1928 at the site of a former gravel pit. The ‘C’ Street Dump is unlined and operated as an un-permitted open dump, receiving and burning industrial and municipal waste, including sewage sludge, bag house ash [primary source of DIOXIN], industrial and military chemicals, and residential waste until at least 1986.  The dump site has not been properly closed or covered violating numerous state and federal solid and hazardous waste regulations enacted under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 42 U.S.C. § 6901 et. seq. (RCRA). Toxic substances including dioxins, furans, solvents, PCB’s, acetone, petroleum products, tributyltin, pesticides, semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), wood waste chemicals, and [heavy] metals (aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury and zinc) contaminate the soil and, likely, groundwater at the dump, which is located in a critical aquifer recharge area.

“With plans for the proposed Shelton Hills Development, we want to ensure the City of Shelton fulfills its obligations to protect our citizens and their children from further exposure to toxic waste dumped here for decades,” said Will Durham, Waste Action Project Member and Shelton resident.

To ensure proper closure of the toxic site, Waste Action Project filed a civil action for a declaratory and injunctive relief, the imposition of civil penalties, and the award of costs and fees under the citizen suit provisions of RCRA, specifically Section 6972(a)(1)(A) on December 21, 2015. This action was filed in Federal District Court for the Western District of Washington one year after Waste Action Project notified the City of its intent to sue to enforce closure regulations applicable to the ‘C’ Street Dump.

The Washington State Department of Ecology and the City of Shelton have recently begun a process for assessing the site and for remediation under the State Model Toxics Control Act. However, this process is notoriously slow, and both the City and Ecology have failed to acknowledge an accurate history of the site and closure requirements.

Waste Action Project is a non-profit, public interest, environmental advocacy organization with members who are concerned about the health and safety of their communities, environment, watershed, and sea life.

Greg Wingard, Executive Director of Waste Action Project, stated “After nearly 30 years of failure to meet landfill closure requirements and protect residents and the environment, it is long past time to hold Shelton responsible. That is what this litigation seeks to do. Proper closure and cleanup of this site is crucial.”

Federal Lawsuit filed against the City of Shelton—>01-0 WAP_Shelton_Complaint
(Waste Action Project v. City of Shelton)
[Case 3:15-cv-05930-JRC Document 1 Filed 12/21/15]

Meredith Crafton, Esq.
Smith & Lowney, PLLC
2317 E. John St.
Seattle, WA 98112
Office Phone: (206) 860-2883
Direct Line: (206) 805-0858
Fax: (206) 860-4187
meredithc@igc.org

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Opposed to politicians who equivocate about air quality & BioMassacre
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22 Responses to City of Shelton Sued for Turning Blind Eye to Dioxin Pollution

  1. DB says:

    The ground area around where surftek used to be should be thou roughly checked by the spa around behind the main building, they used to dump multiple chemicals back there that would cause the ground to smoke while the mixture ate the earth

  2. C.Simpson says:

    The waterways around the industrial waterfront areas within Shelton city limits are hazardous to life forms within and without the water. Estimates of dioxin levels are arbitrary and I have no faith in the he governmental oversite or testng of the land and water of Mason County.

  3. Thomas Howe says:

    We live about 5 miles outside the shelton matlock road.the city of shelton sprays its left over waste
    From its wastewater teat ment plant, via truckloads.

  4. Debra Dozier says:

    What research are you referring to here: “Shelton easily remains the cancer capitol of Washington state?” Where did you get that information?

    • admin says:

      Centers for Disease Control (etc.)
      http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/healthInfo.php?locIndex=24996
      http://socialcapitalreview.org/washington-combined-cancer-rates-tops-in-western-counties/
      This site is a news reporting service, not a research service. The editors would appreciate readers doing their own. It’s on the internet. Google it.

      • DHarris says:

        Sure…..”I read it on the Internet, it must be true” No….if you are taking on the role of providing information leading to legal action it is YOUR responsibility to base that information on scientific and verifiable evidence, not “do your own research.” You are going to lose support for your position taking a stance like that. You have a strong case here but don’t go all anecdotal on this thing!

        • admin says:

          This publication is not responsible for or intended to provide readers their remedial education. Mason County has the highest cancer rate in the State. That’s a fact. The Mason County Blog isn’t going to engage in debate about whether the world is round or pi is an irrational number. These facts are hardly ‘anecdotal’, but are public and easily determined. The links, in an overabundance of consideration, were even provided. You want a book? We have libraries for that. Even there, one could challenge the author’s research. That’s a troll’s paradise, but isn’t productive. You’ve offered no counter-statistics or reputable research contrary to the assertion and provided source. If you choose to ignore the data and eat the local shellfish anyway, bon apeti’t!

          • D Dozier says:

            Dear anonymous Admin,

            Thank you for your considerate reply and your overabundance of professional journalism by providing links to your sources in regards to your published statement “Shelton easily remains the cancer capitol (sic) of Washington State”.

            First of all, Shelton and Mason County are not the same entity. Neither of your links include information from Shelton since cancer statistics are compiled by county.

            Secondly, your links to http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/healthInfo.php?locIndex=24996 and http://socialcapitalreview.org/washington-combined-cancer-rates-tops-in -western-counties/ cannot be considered current and reliable scientific evidence. The epodunk link uses county statistics from 1999-2001. The social capital review cites the National Cancer Institute State Cancer Profiles Database with data compiled from 2005-2009, published in 2013 by Danning Chen, again not current information.

            In conclusion, please consider using a reputable source such as http://www.statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov. You may consider the information from this link to be a reputable resource that provides current and robust scientific evidence.

            Thanks to DHarris for demonstrating an understanding of professional journalism and scientific inquiry.

          • admin says:

            The site you reference uses data from 2008-2012, does not provide a breakdown of areas or localities, nor any counter examples. Additional hair splitting questioning the difference between Mason County and Shelton (its only incorporated city) where it is most polluted and densely populated is just that. You’ve made no case at all for Shelton not being the cancer capital of Washington State. It’d be nice if there was the $ for more regular monitoring of the Dioxin and associated illnesses (many long term ones), but the data that does exist, somewhat dated though it might be, does not appear erroneous in any way. The samples measured for Dioxin contamination are more recent and would make the case even in the absence of the cancer statistics. Quibbling/nitpicking the data doesn’t make Shelton a healthy place to live or mitigate the Dioxin contamination riddling Mason County…most concentrated in Shelton!

        • Katherine says:

          I for one appreciate being provided with the information here! I thereafter take it upon myself to inform myself further, to confirm or disprove what I have read here. There is a substantial evidence concerning the pollution in our town and county, and our standing as one of the communities in Washington with the highest cancer rates. This is not new information and has been brought to the attention of our citizens on a number of occasions over the years… try to stay awake; try to pay attention; or try doing your own research as the administrator of this site recommends!

  5. DB says:

    Mayor Cronce simply inherited an age old problem. This is no different than Asarco in Tacoma. WE of this age end up being blamed for the sins of the fathers…

    • admin says:

      Mayor Cronce is hardly an innocent bystander/inheritor of the long history of crimes against humanity by Mason County’s resident corporate robber barons, but a chief, if incompetent cheerleader, of unmitigated pollution and industrial blight despite having been repeatedly advised of the problem. Read the lawsuit along with relevant links/searches on this site. It’s not that he didn’t know or should have known…it’s that he didn’t care AND publicly said as much. An honorable Mayor would put the people’s and environment’s welfare first. But not this mayor. His arrogance and incompetence won’t allow for it. Numerous other examples of the same could be cited here, but the lawsuit spells out this particular issue well and persuasively. Read it and become enlightened about your shortened (and family’s) life expectancy and birth defects. Cancer would be virtually non-existent but for exposure to environmental hazards. Dioxin is bio-accumulative, mutagenic, carcinogenic, destructive of cognitive ability…most particularly in the young or unborn…in parts per QUADRILLION (ppq). It is present in Shelton harbor sediments in 904 ppt (parts per trillion) …thousands of times higher than the law allows due to its extreme toxcity. Yet Mayor Cronce and his bunch continue to extend permits for more of the same to the very criminals who have already victimized the public while Mayor Cronce seeks ways to evade mitigating the existing damage.

    • Katherine says:

      Would you have us kick the can again to another administration and Mayor?

  6. Katherine says:

    See Terri Thompson’s documents on this matter. I am pretty darn sure that Ecology and Simpson entered into an agreed order in the 80’s (if I am remembering correctly) that address the cleanup of this site… any lawsuit should include those two defendants as well. Presumably the City’s attorney will bring these parties into the lawsuit when they answer the Complaint. Thank goodness this mess is finally in federal court, where local judges won’t get to sweep it under the rug… some more…

  7. truthseeker says:

    Another article filled with diatribish junk… Report the whole truth for once in an unbiased manner, and maybe more people will believe this crazy crap you continue to spill forth.

    • admin says:

      And just what do you think the truth is, Truthseeker? That the lawsuit is specious/baseless? That our local elected officials who insisted on continuing the harm suffered by the community and environment shouldn’t be excoriated? This publication doesn’t pretend to be ‘unbiased’…which doesn’t genuinely exist in journalism in any event. However, it does have a STRONG bias in favor of the ‘truth’ and letting the chips fall where they may. Shelton is not a healthy place to live. We have our elected officials to thank for that fact.

  8. DeGraaff says:

    I am curious just how much money any attorneys would stand to make off this? It is the people in/of Shelton that should be compensated, I feel that the Federal Government should not be involved in this, and that this is a state concern.

    • admin says:

      Jurisdiction is a multifaceted and sometimes controversial point of contention. It’s also true that many local judges are incompetent in all but the most routine of cases. In the public sector, you get paid regardless. Federal judges oftentimes have more experience in complex cases.

      While the states have exclusive jurisdiction over real estate ownership and probate disputes within their borders, the federal courts have jurisdiction regarding federal waterways and environmental laws passed by Congress pursuant to the Constitution’s commerce clause. Mason county, as it so happens, is a perfect counter example to your argument for exclusive local control. Local officials are even more incompetent, irresponsible, and easily corrupted than their federal counterparts, at least in general.

      In this case, actual monetary damages weren’t sought. That may have been in an effort to avoid the delay and expense of exhausting administrative remedies after a 34 year hiatus.

  9. Pingback: As in Flint, Shelton’s poor (you) get Polluted | Soul Snatcher, Productions ™ Democracy Wall

  10. Bella says:

    And we eat oysters from this bay? Hmmmm.

  11. Iner says:

    Drinking rain water is better than what you get from the tap, we get from the city of Shelton. And my bill is still there ever month? Who manages this, help is better than none dip stick.i

  12. Roe says:

    Shelton is crooked from the co missioners to cops to lawyers etc. But killing people and kids off and covering it up is a low for them. How and why wasn’t this taken care of long ago. The entire town of Shelton should be closed down. No wonder we have sub standard medical care here. No wonder they do everything in their power to keep the population low. Bunch of sick people in power

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