SierraScape October 2016 - February 2017
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This July Missouri lost a true environmental hero with Tom Kruzen's passing. Sierrans will recall Tom and his wife Angel's years of dedicated volunteer work to protect Missouri's air, water and soil from lead contamination. The degree to which Tom and Angel, as individual citizens, exposed the risks, lax safety and environmental enforcement and community harm associated with lead mining in the state was truly remarkable.

Although battling lead mining pollution was their focus, Tom and Angel worked on many related issues. Most recently they brought to light a risky and largely unpermitted chemical storage facility near the headwaters of the Eleven Point River.

Our sympathy to Angel, their three children and four grandchildren. Tom's life touched and inspired many people. See the MO Sierra Club chapter website and statewide newsletter, Sierran, for more information on Tom's inspiring life.

And if you want to get a real flavor of all the hard work and passion Tom brought to his efforts read his 2006 article entitled The Tale of Doe Run; A Firm Grip on the Corporate Ankle at: www.greens.org/s-r/41/41-04.html. Tom wrote this piece when he was chair of a mining issues committee in MO Sierra Club chapter. You will see that Tom and Angel looked at every angle of the lead mining industry's impact on the planet and human health.