America’s contaminated communities are places in every state where people’s health and lives have been harmed by chemical and radioactive contamination. Sadly people who do not live in a contaminated community very busy with challenges of their own in their daily lives and are unaware of how much suffering and actual abuse is occurring. People who are suffering the most often live in or near Superfund sites or state cleanup sites, and some get no attention at all. This is worst in remote, rural mining communities where a culture of men being “in charge” and not wanting women to speak out has made protection of children’s health a serious problem.
Unless these stories are told little will be done to help. An example of disempowerment and harassment was reported in a 2001 Seattle Post-Intelligencer article about “Mining in the West.” The little town of Kellogg, Idaho was contaminated by a mining disaster in 1973. Residents were exposed to lead levels 10 times the allowable limit. “Soon children living nearby began to complain about dizziness, stomach cramps and urinary problems. Two were hospitalized. Tests later would show that 98 percent of children living within a mile of the smelter had unsafe levels of lead in their blood -- some higher than any previously recorded anywhere.
Kellogg mother and community organizer Barbara Miller was interviewed about her work to advocate for a better cleanup:
“Despite her criticism of EPA, Miller greatly prefers keeping the federal agency in charge rather than turning the mess over to the state. "The state is the one who for a hundred years looked the other way," she argues. 'I wonder, am I safe?' For urging a more thorough cleanup, Miller has been vilified by many in the community who still honor their mining heritage even if they no longer make a living that way. In recent months, as the EPA has put the final touches on its larger cleanup proposal, anti-EPA rhetoric has boiled to a point that Miller and her coalition, as well as some government officials, say is dangerous. Miller said she has been shouted down at public meetings. A letter to the editor in the local paper suggested tarring and feathering members of her group. At one of her daughter's basketball games, she said, another parent threatened to "get" her.
"I wonder, am I safe? There is a question of personal safety here. You can't ignore it," she said. Nor can she ignore what she and her supporters call harassment by the local establishment. Once she was charged with a crime for voting at the wrong polling place. Though she pleaded guilty and was sentenced to several months of probation, the conviction was later wiped from her record, she said. Twice her dog was impounded even though it was in her yard while others were running free. And a judge ordered her jailed for contempt of court because of a minor child custody dispute related to her ongoing divorce.”
Today, in 2017, Miller’s work with women and their children continues. They are calling for the government to support real health interventions and her program “Children Run Better Unleaded”.
Similar examples of women dedicated and persistent in advocating for the health of their children can be found in other communities. Those of us who care about these issues need to learn from and tell their stories. Governments are stressed by increasing incidents of disasters, so we should remind them of the importance of these special needs.