WebJerry-Russell Bliss, Inc. v. Hazardous Waste Management Comm'n. State and federal officials ignored the Centers for Disease Control when it confirmed that dioxin had contaminated an Imperial, Mo., subdivision and urged in 1975 that the dirt be moved to protect residents. This site that was discovered over in Ellisville was completely new information, he adds. Sitting at her dining-room table, gazing out across the hillside through her glass patio doors, she begins. A few days after it reopened, the city received the results from its soil tests. No (s). Well, you know, Leistner says now, Ive never collected.. Jordan, who has lived in her home for 43 years, recalls the late Odie Greenspon, once operated a breeding farm for trotters at the location of the present park.. He is now 78 and lives just off I-44 near Cuba. When considering deviations from the existing zoning code, the city takes into account several factors, such as the availability of utility services, topography and road conditions, but nothing on the municipal books deals with building houses on top of former hazardous-waste sites. The government estimates there are at least 14,000 hazardous waste dumps around the country that are leaking poisons, and residents in those areas want answers, too. So why were they in such a rush to get the barrels off the Callahan property? asks Shea. At a recent town meeting, angry Times Beachers wondered why, if the chemical is so dangerous, the government didn't supply them with the same protective suits worn by the EPA workers. It would set up a mobile incinerator, a massive metal jungle gym with a giant furnace and a single tall smokestack. Dioxin is considered a probable human carcinogen and is known to cause reproductive and immunological health problems in animals and humans. In May, a second flood hit, a sort of aftershock, and in June, Leistner won the mayoral election, defeating a challenger who wanted to stay. Bliss then mixes the dioxin with waste oil. The person told him he could take his tools, but hed have to leave the supplies. Mr. Bliss contends he was not warned the dioxin wastes were hazardous and that his license has been denied unfairly because of past practices that were legal and commonplace. State officials have cited Mr. Bliss's role in the dioxin case and other pollution episodes over the last decade as reasons for denying his license. Citizens blame state bureaucrats for deadly delay. Times Beach had paid Bliss $4,900 to spray its streets in 1972. In his bid for re-election that year, Teasdale also made a campaign stop at the Bliss-Ellisville site to again ask for Monsantos assistance. To outsiders, Times Beach residents might as well have bubonic plague. Indeed, it borders on negligence. For about a week and a half, that was the biggest topic.. Last Saturday morning, Steve Taylor heard a tapping at his apartment door, a gentle rapping that he hopes to hear no more. Some communities, worried that former Times Beach residents would bring dioxin with them, put up signs telling them to stay away. Some Times Beach residents evacuated, but many defiantly stayed. Russell Bliss was accused of picking up chemical waste from a plant in Verona in the early 70s, mixing it Jerry Bliss, 26, said he should not be penalized for the actions of his father. You didnt have to lock your doors., Velda Pratt, who lived in Times Beach with her husband and four kids, talks about coming back after the flood. But for the average person, its still unwise to smoke four packs a day. The fencing is certainly just an interim measure, while we are preparing the final alternative, says Bob Feild of the EPA. Town Struggles With Toxic Legacy - The Washington Post Jerry Hatcher, the town's heavy equipment dealer, lost a sale when a customer found dust on a tractor tire. Crystals used to make the antiseptic had been found in barn soil later used as fill dirt. Much to the chagrin of longtime residents, a trailer park opened, followed by a second one. People were attempting to determine if Russell died in the accident, which was suspected to be a motorcycle accident. She still blames me. Aside from a motorcycle and a possibly vintage gas pump, the museum contains items that are fairly similar to those in the gift shop, except that these tchotchkes are ostensibly not for sale. WITNESS SAYS DRIVER LIED ABOUT SPRAYING DIOXIN Even so, between picnics with neighbors, river recreation, town dances, and quite a few saloons, life in the Beach, as old-timers called it, was downright pastoral. He simply has questions, questions that he believes were left unanswered by the EPAs reluctance to be forthcoming. Bliss son still lives on a Strecker Road property once owned by his father, from which the EPA only a few years ago finally removed more than 900 But PCBs have been found in the past along with dioxin at the now remediated sites in eastern Missouri. On December 5, the river jumped its banks, and quickly, the entire town was submerged. Within a couple of days, cats, dogs, and birds in the vicinity began to drop dead. She is survived by her devoted Past Addresses: Eureka MO, Saint James MO Now officials worry that they may never find the 87 places reportedly used for dumping of dioxin-contaminated waste oil. As for developer Wurm, he believes the Callahan property has been cleaned up, but hes counting on the findings of state and federal regulators to protect him against any future liability. They found an artificial tree among the debris that the flood had deposited, so they loaded it into the back of a pickup truck and ran it through a carwash. In addition to receiving a firm ass-whooping from his father, Copeland was sentenced to an hour in jail. By mid-1982, the agency was making rounds on the farms and reportedly visited Times Beach as well, but still no one informed the town itself what had happened. The EPA removed the remaining barrels in July 1983. April 28 (UPI) -- A South Carolina woman won a $300,000 prize from a scratch-off lottery ticket just three years after winning a $250,000 lottery jackpot. They were in there in 1981, pulling out barrels and treating them differently from the rest of the waste. She still has her family reunions down here. Bliss showed no emotion during sentencing before U.S. Dictrict Judge Clyde S. Cahill. They remembered birds dying. Only Bliss actually knows how much he knew about what he was hauling. The sense of community, of belonging, made up for any financial lacking. "Only if they said, 'Sid, next week you'll have cancer,' I might worry. She wants to let people remember the good times, and she knows that she reminds them of the bad ones. "I figure anyone who's been contaminated done been contaminated. "Until that time there was only tangential involvement by the EPA working through Missouri state government.". I would move back in a second., After the flood, he and his brothers began rebuilding immediately. OLeary (at right) came back to her house as soon as she could after the flood. Horses became sick, and eventually, Piatt would bury more than 50 of them. Stelzer of the Riverfront Times. Remember Times Beach: The Dioxin Disaster, 30 Years Catching up with Mike Bliss. WebIn his early life, Jerry Hicks had been a circus acrobat for two years in Cuba, and then, beginning in 1948, had toured for 20 years as a musician, master of ceremonies, and comedian. The company's filing status is listed as Voluntarily Dissolved and its File Number is 00205495. Knowing that everybody had to move, sellers in the area drove up prices. The more you smoke, the worse it is for your health. It was an overstatement, to be sure, but one rooted in factat least until the Great Depression. They married in California and moved in with his parents, sharing a two-bedroom house on Forest Road. The second half of the sites name is something of a misnomer, because the locations of the Bliss farm and the other hazardous-waste sites are all outside the Ellisville municipal limits. Those most severely exposed get follow-up physicals. Many have relocated with federal emergency help, but hard-headed "river rats," as they call themselves, are rebuilding modest homes in the "Show Me" state. The problem, however, was that Bliss was also being paid to haul away the sludge from a chemical plant in Verona, Mo., that had stored up dioxin-laced wastes from But nobody from the federal agency has bothered to walk across the street and inform her about the purpose of these actions. The buyers said they signed sales contracts without being told by their real-estate agents that their new homes were adjacent to a hazardous-waste site. Remember Times Beach: The Dioxin Disaster, 30 Years Later. Sue OLeary, 76, lived in the Beach for 20 years. The DNR investigation of Terre Du Lac in the spring of 1983, however, does not appear to have been as thorough as the EPA now claims. In this instance, however, because the highest level of dioxin is believed to be buried more than a foot deep, it has been deemed safe by the EPA. I remember this old guy he used to give us stuff. Under crossexamination after Tuesday's testimony, Mr. Lambarth acknowledged that since Jan. 1 this year he has been working for a waste oil concern that is competing with Mr. Bliss for customers. The walls smelled. I dont know his real name, because he never did say it, Copeland says. Obviously I have to depend upon them to do their job and hope that we do ours.. Back in 1982, she called Bliss and asked him, point-blank, whether he had sprayed Times Beach with dioxin. Taylor thought that sounded like a bad idea, so he co-founded the Times Beach Action Group to oppose the incinerator. WebHIGGINS, Chief Justice. One document that TBAG copied is a verbatim transcript of an interview conducted by an EPA official in 1980 at the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City. Bliss became wealthy spraying it across the state, and he even sprayed it on his own farm, which he would have avoided had he known it was toxic, he has said. The greatest surface concentrations, 169 ppb, are present in a wooded ravine, which is currently being fenced off. Is it in the ditches? oklahoma public land deer hunting Accept X At the time, the EPA considered anything above 1 part per billion hazardous. But it would be wrong to think that nature has only now come under attack in this part of West St. Louis County. Piatt had a hunch that there was something in Bliss' oil and started befriending his drivers and tailing his trucks. Jerry Russell Bliss, Age 66. aka Jerry Bliiss. February 13, 2022 1 Min Read. Mennonites came in to help rebuild. She worked as a receptionist at a dental office and became a Times Beach alderwoman in 1981. So Ill just let the record of decision stand for itself, OK? The only request: wash down the trailers first. The kids all played together, she says, and we had birthday parties and invited all the neighbor kids. She misses being able to ride her bike to the mailbox or the store. After years of trying, Taylor had finally attracted the interest of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Even so, he has consistently denied having any knowledge that the materials were toxic. McClellan calls Bliss an intelligent and thoughtful man, and hes stayed in touch with the erstwhile waste hauler over the years. JERRY-RUSSELL BLISS, INC The EPA, Monsanto, and the Cover Up Evening Standard/Getty Images. By Phil McCausland. So do two of her granddaughters. Russell Flowers Death Cause: How People here tend to talk about the flood more than the dioxin. She traveled the country to countless rodeos, barrel races, and team ropings, often with her husband and daughter by her side. Waste was tracked to the Verona plant. CNN Chicago: Toxic Town: Bliss Transcript In an effort to control the dust, the city hired waste oil hauler Russell Bliss to spray them down, which he did multiple times between 1972 and 1976. "It's literally like trying to piece together a cold trail," said Bill Hedeman, director of EPA's hazardous waste cleanup program. Everyone in attendance says that if the town were reopened tomorrow, they would move back in a heartbeat. Her husband, Grover Callahan, worked as a truck driver for the Bliss Waste Oil Co. in the early 1970s. That the provision of the Superfund law the EPA is using against the environmentalists is normally reserved for attacking corporate polluters hasnt been overlooked. The top level found beneath the surface in Ellisville was 1,173 ppb, according to the EPA. The news, on the other hand, broke on the 22nd of December, with no mention of any accident. The dioxin content in his mixture was estimated at 350 parts per million. Theres a bumper sticker that says Ignorance is Bliss., They tell stories about the flood. The legendary and controversial TV host was 79 years old. The liquor store doubled as a tackle shop, selling rods and bait. Six months earlier, shed met a young man named Jerry Akers, a Marine who was home on leave. He isnt here to argue that the Times Beach incinerator spewed poison from its smokestack. Times Beach was on her list, she said. Survived by Gregory Russell (Melissa McGuire), Barbara Russell, many family members and countless But he was forced to do jail time anyway, on tax-evasion charges, since he didnt report his waste-hauling income to the IRS. If the city allows W.J. The new site also raises the specter that there may be an untold number of other contaminated sites waiting to be found. "When I hear people talking about the effects they're feeling now, tears come to my eyes.". Although Mr. Lambarth was subpoenaed as a witness for the state, his testimony tended to support Mr. Bliss's contention that at the time he picked up the dioxin wastes, he did not know they were hazardous. The townspeople couldnt afford to have the results quantified, so they were given only yes-or-no answers. Her nine siblings have all lived healthy lives. It was so awful. russell bliss | stlreporter The same man was under investigation for spraying dioxin-laced oil on roads across the state in the early 1970s. EPA considers itself blameless. WebJerry Russell Bliss, Age 66 aka Jerry Bliiss Current Address: ETZR Strecker Rd, Ballwin, MO Past Addresses: Eureka MO, Saint James MO +1 more Phone Number: (314) 580- JRRA +3 phones Email Address: n LITE @att.net +2 emails UNLOCK PROFILE Phone & Email (7) All Addresses (4) Family (8) Social (16) Court (5) And More Phone & Email ( 7) You got to do your homework on these pieces, otherwise youre wasting your time. It was during this period that Bliss was trucking some of the sludge to his own storage tanks where he mixed it with waste oil and sold it for dust control. Offers were based solely on square footage, which angered the owners of newer, nicer houses. Monsanto is a big, big company. I think what they really wanted to do was just get people out of the flood plain., Like Sowards, Cheryl Reid Christman recalls how close everyone was. But she was determined to have Christmas. "Is it in the houses?" TBAG started its investigation because it thought there had been a coverup by state and federal authorities on the source and extent of contamination in Missouri, says Taylor. Natalie M. Bliss, 58, passed peacefully on Tuesday, February 2, 2021, in her home with her husband and daughter by her side. On the other side was a small but vocal group of peopleLeistner estimates 50 of Times Beachs 801 familieswho argued that the dioxin wasnt a threat. British man breaks world record with 17 flesh tunnels on his face. I figure I was homeless for a year and a half, OLeary says. The discovery of the Lemar and McDonnell sites came after the closing of the controversial Times Beach dioxin incinerator in June, which precluded burning the waste locally. Leistner rejects the notion that its all simply genetic. Those memories are particularly present today, the final Saturday of September. Former company officials said their warnings were ignored. They were also eligible for relocation assistance; if their new house outside of Times Beach cost more than their settlement, the Superfund program would pay part of the difference. Before Times Beach the most notorious of the sites contaminated by Bliss became a household word, the EPA had already rated the Callahan property one of the most contaminated hazardous-waste sites in the nation. BITTERNESS IS A LEGACY OF A TOWN THAT DIED Chicago The waste oil salvagers list of clients included: Monsanto, Wagner Electric, Union Electric, Carter Carburetor, American Can and the now-defunct Lianco Container Corp., a can manufacturer jointly owned by Libby, McNeil and Libby and Anheuser- Busch Inc. Monsanto created dioxin as a waste byproduct in its chemical manufacturing processes and also exclusively made toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at its Krummrich plant in Sauget, Ill. until 1977. Teachers made them sit at the front of class, away from the rest of the students, in case they were contagious. Its clean as a whistle, says Wurm of the Callahan property. The chemical companies paid him to take the sludge, and then he turned around and sold it to somebody else. Those same officials are now siding with the developers, claiming that the once highly contaminated land is no longer a threat to human health, that it is now safe enough for backyard swingsets and tomato patches. The lots were small, and you needed at least two to build a house. Houses were ripped from their foundations. Scientists disagree about how much it takes to put someone at risk. Finally, Dr. Renate Kimbrough, a CDC toxicologist, suggested testing for dioxin, the only dangerous hexachlorophene byproduct. The Callahan dump was discovered in August of that year. It would be better to err on the side of safety, says Shea, than risk exposing people to more hazardous waste by digging foundations on the Callahan property and inadvertently excavating a heretofore undetected layer of toxic waste. This is especially true for 2,3,7,8tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, which is the most toxic and the one found at Times Beach. But the bridge is closed, so you have to drive back out onto Interstate 44 west, go to Eureka, turn around, and come back the other way. Copeland didnt know it then, but he had inadvertently contributed to wiping the entire town off the map. A Post-Dispatch story dated April 4, 1983, describes the 500 cubic yards of soil stored at the Callahan site as being contaminated., A later EPA inspection showed that the land had subsequently subsided and would require stabilization. The EPA intends to cap that area with soil and sod to limit human exposure and soil erosion. The following quantities of hazardous wastes have been estimated: 1. ", Dave Covert feels bad about what happened. But at this point, I cant really discuss the alternatives. Some even refused to shake his hand. Bliss sprayed dioxin-contaminated oil on unpaved roads, parking lots, truck terminals and horse arenas as a dust suppressant. Times Beach officials called the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, but it said it might be a year before it would be able to test. April 29 (UPI) -- An Australian tourist facing possible flogging after being accused of going on a drunken nude rampage in the Indonesian province of Ache says he felt "almost possessed" at the time. no. Hed take out the trash in exchange for a free pastry. Bunch lived at Cape Cod, a little motel on the edge of town. It was safe. Using a microphone, Burford announced to the people outside that the Superfund would buy their homes at fair market value. Sid Hammer, who was chairman of the board of aldermen, became acting mayor, while Leistner became acting chairwoman. However, we dont have any information that would suggest there would be. Jerry-Russell Bliss v. Hazardous Waste - casetext.com The rabbits died. (He declined to comment for this story.) After Bliss sprayed her stables in 1971, Piatts horses died and her daughter became seriously ill. To gather evidence for her pending civil suit against Bliss, the stable owner followed the waste oil hauler and his drivers along their daily routes. They could smoke four packs a day without any harm.. In addition to the oil that he picked up at lube joints, he also hauled sludge from industrial facilities. In February 1983, Anne Gorsuch Burford, the administrator of the EPA, came to grant their wish. These days, Bliss, whos in his late seventies, is still finding unique ways to make a buck. During the Depression, a lot of the people in the city moved into their homes in Times Beach to ride out the hard times, Leistner says. Anyone can read what you share. Bliss disposed of this waste in various ways. And since the buyout checks were so meager, the residents couldnt afford much, anyway.

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