Last week we highlighted the amazing work of the Longview, Washington, community in standing up against coal exports and speaking out for a strong clean-up of a toxic port site in their town. Residents packed a hearing to say as much.
We want to share the powerful testimony from one of those Longview residents, Mary Lyons:
Tonight, July 16, 2014, is an important anniversary for me, in that 27 years ago this evening I was in Intensive Care at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle after surviving a Sudden Cardiac Arrest while playing softball with friends. I was on life support and comatose and based only upon the statistics, the neurologist told my friends and family that I would probably be a vegetable if I ever regained consciousness.
But my friends and family kept telling her;
"Doctor...you don't know Mary."
As you can see, the doctor's dismissal of my role in that prognosis was a crucial misstep. She didn't make an effort to learn about my personal strengths and skill set. She didn't consider that "optimistic energy and stubbornness" could have a major impact on "outcome." That lack of insight caused her name to later be used in our family as a derisive slur for "short-sighted pessimism."
And tonight, I have one phrase to leave the Department of Ecology with as you consider the elements of this Clean Up, and that is:
YOU DON'T KNOW LONGVIEW.
The level of Clean Up the DOE chooses to enforce could have the ability to not only clean up this site, but also this region AND this country as we lead in holding polluting industries responsible for ALL the damage they do. Level 6 is the only level which returns this site to the competitive playing field it occupied when Reynolds Aluminum moved in. And if you think this is a community which will slip back into the shadows and be satisfied with sub-par repairs for damages done
YOU DON'T KNOW LONGVIEW.
The commercial value of this deep-water port so close to the mouth of the Columbia River AND Portland could LEAD the West Coast in its efforts to turn this country into a more economically-powerful and cleaner nation. Lowering the bar to Level 4 models the defeatism of a dying vision and a cynical world steeped in denial of the fast approaching train ahead.
Don't get me wrong: this city will survive, no matter what level you choose for the Clean Up. But here's a tip: Supporting this community as we DETERMINEDLY rise from the ashes of the last fifty years is an investment which will pay off in spades.
And if you don't believe me,
YOU DON'T KNOW LONGVIEW.
Thank you.
Mary Lyons