From: jad@ckuxb.att.com (John A Dinardo)
Subject: Part 3, RADIOACTIVE MEAT, MILK & PRODUCE: Supermarkets Selling Leukemia
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Keywords: radioactive meat, milk & produce: supermarkets selling leukemia
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 21:17:10 GMT

         The following article is from IN THESE TIMES,
         August 19 - September 1, 1987.
         Back issues and subscriptions can be ordered 
         by calling (312) 772-0100.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
                         (continuation)
INTO THE HUMAN FOOD CHAIN:
Costner is particularly worried about Kerr-McGee's budding cattle
operation, and the possibility that raffinate-fed beef might soon
be making its way to supermarket meat counters. The NRC apparently
had similar concerns when it said in 1982:

   "The most significant potential impact of using raffinate as a
    fertilizer for forage production is the introduction of toxic 
    materials into the human food chain. Excessive concentrations 
    of the various species of heavy metals present in raffinate can
    be toxic to plants and/or animals."

Kerr-McGee is selling its raffinate-fertilized hay to local farmers
at what it costs to bale the hay. They also give it away. According
to an Associated Press report, last March the company sent the
Navaho Tribal Council at Fort Wingate, New Mexico a gift shipment 
of 300 tons of raffinate-fertilized hay to help the tribe through 
a hard winter. Kerr-McGee spokesperson Rick Pereles told 
the Associated Press:

   "Although it hasn't been a banner year for the company, 
    Kerr-McGee decided to help because of our longstanding 
    relationship with the Navahos, because of mining and oil and
    gas leases in that area."

Kerr-McGee's Quivira Mining Company mines and mills uranium at
Church Rock and Ambrosia Lake, New Mexico. 
Deer-in-Water describes the gift as:

   "a great tax write-off. The tribal council accepted the hay 
    because they have the philosophy that since they have uranium
    mine tailings and are already exposed to so much radioactivity,
    what is a little more."


In 1984, The New England Journal of Medicine reported that Quivira
miners, many of whom are Navaho, have higher than normal lung cancer
rates. Other reports have indicated that animals and plants in the
area have elevated levels of molybdenum and selenium. These
concentrations of heavy metals have contributed to instances of
molybdenosis (molybdenum poisoning) and selenosis (selenium poisoning)
in the animals. Consequently, local ranchers were warned not to
exclusively eat their own beef, since that would significantly
increase their risk of getting cancer.

AN F.D.A. COVER-UP?:
Barbara Synar and her husband John live in Warner, eight miles from
the Sequoyah Fuels facility. They own a 900-acre rance that adjoins
the Rabbit Hill Farm. In 1982, Barbara Synar helped organize the
Warner Area Residents, a group that opposes the raffinate spraying.
In March, 1986, the Synars asked the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) to investigate. Ramona Fache of the FDA's Tulsa office took
samples of raffinate-treated hay which John Synar had bought from
Kerr-McGee, and said that she would get them tested. According to
Barbara Synar, Fache spent a lot of time on the case, but was then
told by her superiors to "lay off Kerr-McGee", since the fertilizer
program was an NRC concern. The Synars have heard nothing from the
FDA since then.  Synar says:

   "People told us not to call her because she could lose her job
    over this whole thing. This happens everywhere you turn. Every 
    time you talk to somebody, they get told to lay off the issue
    of Kerr-McGee."

When contacted by IN THESE TIMES, Fache, now working in the FDA's
Dallas district office, declined to speak on or off the record,
saying that she didn't want to jeopardize her job. Fache referred
all questions to the FDA's Director of Investigations in Dallas,
Ted Rotto. Asked whether or not the FDA had tested Kerr-McGee's
raffinate-fertilized hay, Rotto answered:

   "Yes, we have run some tests up there, but that was so long ago
    that I don't remember. There would be records somewhere."

The FDA is not the only regulatory body that has failed to respond
to requests by area residents for help. Deer-in-Water, Lammers and
Synar mention several state and federal agencies that declined to
go up against Kerr-McGee. 
                        (to be continued)
*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

        If you believe that American consumers have a right to know if
        the food and milk they are ingesting is giving them leukemia or 
        other cancers, please assist in disseminating this story by 
        posting it to other bulletin boards and by posting hardcopies in 
        public places, both on and off campus.

              John DiNardo




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