The machinery costs money. Many of the workers in his plant had died of throat cancer. The bag-houses for filtering dusty air were regularly turned off, except when an inspection was coming up. After the inspectors left, the bag-houses were again turned off, and the contaminants spewed into the community air. In many instances, the Marshall County governing body underwrote the bonds used to pay for clean air devices at a very low interest rate, to accommodate the industries.
Environmental justice appears to be almost unknown by Kentucky officialdom.
We are convinced the failure to strictly enforce the environmental laws in Kentucky is the reason for the plague of illness seen here. Environmental justice is not a black issue, or a white issue, or an Hispanic issue, or even a rich or poor issue. The dioxin spewed out of LWD's stacks and other incinerators goes out for thousands of miles, according to an atmospheric scientist. The chemicals dumped into the Tennessee River daily by the millions of gallons all go downriver to poison children as far away as New Orleans. The radioactive contaminants dumped into Big Bayou Creek go downriver.