Given a paragraph, generate a claim that is supported by the given paragraph. 1) The claim must contain information from within the paragraph. 2) A sentence within the paragraph can be used as a claim. 3) The claim should not have contradictions within the paragraph. 4) The claim should be at most one sentence long.

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources records show that Tyco Fire Products discovered soil and well contamination on the Marinette manufacturer’s fire training property in 2013, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported. The contamination involves a class of chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, which are linked to cancer and other health issues. The company was found to have some of the highest known concentrations of the chemicals in groundwater and soil in Wisconsin, according to the records. In November 2017, Tyco, a Johnson Controls International unit, acknowledged that the chemicals had spread beyond its Marinette facility and suspended spraying foam products outdoors. The following month, the company started distributing bottled water to residents whose private wells may be affected by the contamination. Tyco tested 168 wells and 56 have shown evidence of the chemicals, the company said. State officials said Wisconsin law requires companies to immediately report pollution , but the company defended its actions by saying that little was known about PFAS at the time. “In 2013, there was not the level of awareness and information as there is today associated with PFOS/PFOA,” said Fraser Engerman, a spokesman for Johnson Controls International. But scientists have warned about the health impacts and other companies have phased out production of the chemicals for more than a decade. Tyco has also claimed that the company didn’t know about contamination beyond the property until 2016. “It wasn’t until 2016 that we had data that showed we had concentrations of these compounds at the edge of the property, so we then began the series of tests which led us to where we are today,” the company’s website states. Doug Oitzinger, the city’s former mayor, dismissed Tyco’s explanation. “This isn’t news to them,” he said. “They know that these pollutants have been judged an environmental danger .” Janell and Duane Goldsmith have twice tested their well water and found chemical contamination above the federal health advisory threshold. Duane Goldsmith has been diagnosed with gastrointestinal stromal tumor cancer and Janell Goldsmith had pregnancy-induced high blood pressure, according to a lawsuit filed in December. The couple’s two sons also have had developmental delays, the lawsuit states. “They’ve known about this for how long — and they have been using these chemicals?” Janell Goldsmith said. “You don’t expect it to happen to your family and to your community. So much crosses your mind.” ___ Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com
Records: Tyco knew of contamination 4 years before reporting.

The evacuations of workers in Guangzhou followed medical testing that revealed they might have been affected. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said “a number of individuals” had been brought to the U.S. but didn’t say how many were affected or evacuated. A previous case in Guangzhou, disclosed last month, prompted the tests. Nauert also said that remaining U.S. government personnel and their families in Guangzhou would also be able to request testing if they “noted concerning symptoms or wanted baseline screening.” The incidents have raised fears the unexplained issues that started in Cuba in 2016 have expanded. The U.S. government has deemed those incidents “specific attacks” on American workers but hasn’t publicly identified a cause or culprit. Most of the incidents were accompanied by bizarre, unexplained sounds that initially led U.S. investigators to suspect a sonic attack. Symptoms have included dizziness, headaches and an inability to concentrate. The American government worker who previously was removed from China reported “subtle and vague, but abnormal, sensations of sound and pressure,” the Guangzhou consulate reported last month Security guards outside the Guangzhou consulate on Thursday told reporters to leave the area and not attempt to talk to consulate staff. Asked about the latest incidents, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the U.S. had not formally raised the matter with Beijing. “If the U.S. makes formal contact with us, China will continue necessary investigations in an earnest and responsible manner and maintain close communication and cooperation with the U.S.,” Hua said at a regularly scheduled news conference. China earlier said it had looked into the case announced last month but came up with no clues about the cause of the symptoms. The New York Times identified the latest American employee evacuated as Mark A. Lenzi, a security engineering officer at the consulate who left Wednesday night with his wife and two children. Lenzi told the Times he resided in the same apartment tower as the officer evacuated in April and suffered in recent months from what he called “neurological symptoms.” Lenzi’s apartment was in one of several high-rise buildings in The Canton Place featuring restaurants and galleries spaced around a central plaza. Another diplomat who reported symptoms was at a different upscale building near the consulate, the paper said. A U.S. official, who wasn’t authorized to discuss the situation publicly and requested anonymity, said the evacuated American government workers were being brought from China for testing to the University of Pennsylvania. That’s where doctors have been treating and studying patients previously evacuated from the U.S. Embassy in Havana. The preliminary findings of the medical reports on the 24 personnel affected in Cuba showed they had sensory and memory problems similar to the brain dysfunction seen with concussions. The Penn team said the patients from Cuba experienced persistent disability though rehabilitation therapy customized for them seemed to help. Canada in April also ordered families of diplomatic staff in Cuba to return home after mysterious health symptoms were detected in 10 Canadians stationed on the island. Canada said the 10 continued to show unexplained brain symptoms and that “medical information raised concerns for a new type of a possible acquired brain injury.” In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last month about the first case in China, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said China had “said all the right things and have demonstrated their willingness to help us identify the vector which led to this medical incident.” The China incidents affect one of the most important of the seven U.S. diplomatic outposts in the country. The Guangzhou consulate opened months after the establishment of diplomatic relations between Beijing and Washington in 1979 and moved to its new purpose-built facility in 2013. It serves four southern provinces with a combined population of more than 204 million and processes more than 1 million visa applications of all types annually. It is also the only U.S. diplomatic installation in China authorized to process immigrant visas and handle adoptions. People working in The Canton Place complex, a few kilometers (miles) from the consulate, said they were just hearing about the incidents, reflecting a lack of coverage in China’s entirely state-controlled media. Aled Williams, a British teacher at a kindergarten said Thursday that the reports sounded “sci-fi-ish.” “Hard to get my head around how it works,” he said. “Better watch myself.” Linda Chen, who runs a coffee shop in the area, said she was mystified as to why only certain people seemed to have been affected in an area known for its comfort and safety. “For me I feel it’s very strange. But I don’t feel that there’s something to be very afraid of because it’s probably a very special case,” Chen said. ___ Associated Press writer Josh Lederman in Washington, D.C. contributed to this report.
US screens more staff in China over mystery health issues.

In a Mason City church basement, in a meeting with city leaders in racially diverse Waterloo, at a town hall-style meeting in Cedar Rapids and in a packed home in Iowa City, Booker continually likened domestic problems to the denial of civil rights. “You cannot have life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness if you don’t have health care,” the Democratic senator told an overwhelmingly white audience of about 100 who turned out despite sub-zero temperatures. “That’s not justice.” Later, in a racially mixed crowd in Waterloo, Booker bemoaned a criminal justice system that disproportionately punishes racial minorities and “ultimately makes us a country that has a cancer on our soul.” Race is shaping up to be central to the Democratic presidential campaign. Democratic prospects have called President Donald Trump’s portrayal of immigrants racist and condemned his reaction to a deadly 2017 demonstration in Virginia as being sympathetic toward white supremacists. Booker, who is African-American, is starting his campaign for the Iowa caucuses by framing the election in terms of a movement, like those for civil and voting rights more than a half century ago. “We are a nation in crisis that is ripping itself apart with leaders who are pitting us against each other because of our race or our political party,” Booker boomed in Iowa City. “I believe we can light this world on fire again, and put the indivisible back in this nation again.” Jeannie Maybanks, who met Booker during an event in Cedar Rapids, called him “an inspirational figure.” “He’s got so much enthusiasm,” Maybanks added. “He says what he says with such conviction. It’s infectious.” Booker voraciously signed autographs, shook hands and stood for selfies, taking the now-commonplace political glad-handing a step further. Booker repeatedly took the phones of people he met and recorded digital video messages of himself and Iowans, smiling and joking with them. In Waterloo, Booker became the first presidential candidate this year to visit Black Hawk County, where the black population — at 9 percent — is more than twice that of Iowa overall. Booker, a former mayor of Newark, held a public panel discussion in Waterloo focusing mainly on issues facing the black community. Booker touted the passage of the a criminal justice reform bill in December as an act that benefits minority men, though University of Iowa law school student Daisy Cruz said the bill didn’t go far enough. “I thought he sounded defensive,” Cruz said. “He told us what he did, but not what more he’s willing to do.” Throughout his events, Booker sprinkled in references to civil rights figure John Lewis, a longtime Democratic congressman from Georgia. In Mason City, Booker bemoaned the influence of corporate and lobbyist money in elections, and told the audience he would not accept such contributions. However, Booker’s candidacy is being encouraged by a super political action committee started by wealthy Democratic donor Steve Phillips, a friend and former classmate of Booker’s at Stanford University. Booker told reporters he was frustrated by super PACs generally, but he did not expressly call for Phillips to shut it down. “I don’t think super PACs should be in a campaign for anybody, including Donald Trump. So, I don’t support the super PAC,” he said. “I’ve said publicly time and time again, I don’t think there should be super PACs in this race.” Phillips was undeterred. “Cory Booker’s candidacy is the best vehicle for inspiring the kinds of large voter turnout in communities of color that will be necessary for progressives to win up and down the ticket in 2020,” he said in an emailed statement. However, he added, the super PAC Dream United would likely support whomever the Democratic Party nominates. “What we are doing goes beyond Booker. We are doing this for our country,” he said. Booker planned to continue campaigning Sunday with stops in Marshalltown and Des Moines. ___ Associated Press writer Brian Slodysko in Washington contributed to this report.

Booker urges activists, leaders to heed social justice call.