Thursday, February 15, 2007

Morality or Corruption in Beverly Hills High School: Our Choice?

I've always been a believer in this country. A couple hundred years ago, we chose to create ourselves, to create a nation where voices are heard, and where truth is judged on its own merits. We even legislated education so that our nation would be made up of an educated populace. When America started, our morals and our values were exactly what was driving and enforcing the laws. We were--we are a stubborn, fiercely independent people and we make up our own minds. The American people have never been sheep. But now... Recently I've seen a change in the court of public opinion–a change for the worse. It is a change that makes me wonder if we are still a nation based on ideals. Now when an attorney loses a case, it appears that public opinion sides with the first solution, the easy solution. When an attorney loses a case, now public opinion sides with the law. Public opinion says, "Well okay, the law says there's nothing wrong. Therefore, it's okay." What case am I talking about? Well, really, I wanted to talk about Beverly Hills High School. This is a litigation that started maybe three years ago and it concerns about a thousand plaintiffs–former students and some neighborhood residents, plaintiffs who attended or lived very close to Beverly Hills High School. Underneath Beverly Hills High School are eighteen operational well-heads. Right next door, basically on the school property, is Sempra Energy, who operates several large cooling towers, and that has been using hexavalent chromium since about 1968—possibly before that time—until about 1992. At the present time one cooling tower still has hazardous levels of hexavalent chromium. It is our right, our duty, our responsibility to protect the school. To protect our children. America's children. Children attending school in a sick environment. In a city who knew that the facility could deteriorate the air. Who knew that the on-shore oil platform could blow up. The South Coast Air Quality Management District sent its own experts out to the onshore oil platform, and guess what those experts did? They all ran off because they thought it might blow up. The inspectors wrote back via email and said that "I would be concerned too if my child attended school here." So there is not only the issue of the chemicals, but there is an issue of a potential explosion. Of the thousand plaintiffs, 409 have cancer. We just finished the trial of the first twelve, which we lost. It's up on appeal. The city was let out on immunity, which is surprising because I don't know how anyone gets out on immunity when they had prior knowledge. ( In 1984, the city of Beverly hills sent the oil industry a questionnaire regarding the oil platform underneath the school. They asked them, "Could this facility deteriorate the air? Could the facility have an impact on human health? Could the facility blow up? AND, the oil company’s response was “Maybe.") The school district has one motion pending. Semper Energy has been stayed. The oil company has been stayed. The 900+ other plaintiffs have been stayed, all pending the outcome of the appeal. I had several interviews on this case lately, and people keep asking me, "Well, what if you lose?" And so I ask, what if we lose? Does that suddenly mean that 409 people don't have cancer? What if we lose? Does that now mean that it is okay to build oil platforms underneath public high schools and not disclose their existence to the parents? to the public? Does that suddenly mean that it's okay to build power plants on top of public schools? I don't think so. I've never understood even in the Hinkley case, the argument about the hexavalent chromium. It clearly causes cancer, by inhalation, and certain forms of cancer. But there are these ongoing arguments about ingestion of hexavalent chromium. How can there be a question about it? Hexavalent chromium is a poison. We shouldn't be drinking it. At all. Science has not caught up with the law, and that’s unfortunate. So the more I work on these cases, the more I watch the outcomes. Some are good, some are bad. We don't know the outcome of Beverly Hills High yet. We have to talk about it. When we don't talk about it, we just brush things like this under the rug, I think this makes us become as guilty as industry. Industry isn't talking about it. Industry is brushing the problem under the rug. Out of sight, out of mind. And that is a real tragedy. Because at stake is our health, the protection of our children. The safety of our children is far too important to sweep under the rug. It's not just a lawsuit to be ignored, and then everyone says, "Well, there was nothing wrong anyway." Something is wrong. So the more I work on these cases, the more outspoken I am moved to become. About the law. About right and wrong. Sometimes decisions are made, and judgments that aren't right come down through the courts. We'll see what happens with Beverly Hills High School. Currently the case is stayed. We'll see the outcome of the twelve in the appeal process. And I will keep blogging about what is happening at Beverly Hills High School. Because I can't help but keep wondering...since we can legislate to remove vending machines because chips and cola could be bad for our kids health, why can't we legislate to protect our children from eighteen potentially explosive well-heads simmering below their classrooms? And I will leave you today with a question. If YOU had full knowledge that your children were attending a school that could blow up, that could deteriorate the air, and could harm your children, would you send them there?

10 Comments:

At 2/17/2007 3:17 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

No, absolutely not.

Anyone who would answer otherwise is a sociopath, which seems to be more frequent in society today.

 
At 2/17/2007 6:12 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear Erin,
I would absolutely NOT allow my child to attend school in a buiding or area that was knowingly contaminated. In addition, if the correct officials were aware of this, why would it be allowed to continue contaminating the environment in the first place? Established business/building or not, what happened to DOING THE RIGHT THING.

There are far too many coverups in society. Coverups that severely put peoples lives at risk.

I think it is high time that we get our priorities straight. Doing the right thing IS doing the right thing, PERIOD. Whether the laws make any sense or not. What I am finding in my own personal experience, is that certain laws don't make much sense, especially when it is contradictory to other laws. It's not about who can win or who has the most money or who can deceive the most people or who is better at destroying critical records. It should be about protecting the public and looking out for one another. What is called, DOING THE RIGHT THING. And just because a court of law isn't willing to look at it that way does not mean it did not happen and that the real dangers don't exist.

My favorite line in your movie Erin is "I might not know s@*t about s@*t, but I know the difference between right and wrong." I wish more people would acknowledge that they themselves DO know the difference between right and wrong and that if we would all ACT on that knowledge think of the possibilites. I guess this is what is referred to as "integrity."

 
At 2/17/2007 7:33 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks Erin,
I, too, am a right and a wrong person. Armed with that knowledge, I would never send my child or any child to a school like that. I am still doing battle over the mold issue from our last home purchase. OUr credit is destroyed and nobody cares. We could not rent the apartment we are in without a co-signor and so far, have been turned down for 4 of the oil companies who supply heating oil so pretty soon, we will have no heat ! Quite a world we live in.....thanks again, Judy

 
At 2/17/2007 8:40 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Erin~

How is it that this topic has stayed so far under the State of California's, heck, even the city of Los Angeles' radar screen?!

Two people very dear to me attended Beverly Hills High School, and they graduated in 1968. I wonder if they even know about this?

You know the old expression "The squeeky wheel gets the grease." Well, Erin, you need to keep squeeking. We all need to squeek. That is the only way we will be heard.

The ongoing war in Iraq and the death of Anna Nicole Smith are receiving the priority attention from our media (Anna Nicole???!!!); have you been at all succesful in getting the attention of folks like Bill O'Reilly, Greta Van Susteren, and the like?

Let me know what I can do to squeek more effectively. I will email my congressman, Ken Calvert, today, and tell him about this. Is there more that I can do?

Please advise.

Sincerely,

Cathy Cross
San Clemente, CA

 
At 2/17/2007 9:25 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

First up, the courts are not about right and wrong but about debt, or in your vanacular, money. The courts, schools, and just about every other item on this planet belong to the bank. If this doesnt ring true, whoes money do you use, and how do they identify you on all their licenses, tax docs, power bills etc. So whats the alternative? Home school? Free energy, Organic foods? People insist on living on top of each other and want less work and more benefits and so they get just what they deserve. And until each one wakes up to this reality, things will only get worse for the sleeping sheeple. Your fight is well understood, like Joan of Ark, but the real battle is within your self. As you come to know the truth and follow the higher law, so will those arround you. when the law ceased to be in the hearts of man, and women, and needed to be put in writing, the decline of civilization began. So if the rithous law is not in the hearts of those so-called judges or attorneys, no amount of written law will change the way they do business, of should i say banking.

 
At 2/17/2007 11:27 AM, Blogger Mississippi Songbird said...

You are right.This is unreal.Of course, I wouldn't send my children to that school. I am so confused. The laws are supposed to protect our children, yet,like you said, it seems the ones that don't care are now in the drivers seat, and that it's Okay.. That's Nuts!

 
At 2/19/2007 11:09 AM, Blogger Mississippi Songbird said...

I had commented the other day, but don't see that it was apporved..

 
At 2/19/2007 12:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

This seems to be the technique used by many corporations and governmental agencies when finding themselves discovered. Once out of the public eye, it is business as usual no matter who is being exposed or injured. As with Weldon Springs where the effect of radiation poisoning has caused the death of hundreds of unborn and infant children with no recourse or knowledge why it has happened.

There must be accountability for these companies when calculating profit as adverse to human health, and with the courts adding another layer of protection for many of these violators, what chance do we have without firms like yours.

 
At 2/21/2007 12:15 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hat's off to Erin for bringing some attention to this issue.

Basically, the media moguls enjoy style over substance because they are concerned with visibly pleasing news tidbits that can be fed to Johnny six pack.

Ground water contamination doesn't nicely fit into that nice little video appetizer package. It is a complex issue that requires a sophisticated answer.

I have learned one thing from my causes; it will take an earthquake to get the state bureaucrats to do anything.

It is a maranthon.

Barb Clark
www.barbclark.org

 
At 2/21/2007 6:56 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you for the message. It makes one wonder where else has this occurred/is this occurring?

Like you, we should wonder...and resolve that (using your words), "since we can legislate to remove vending machines because chips and cola could be bad for our kids health, then we CAN legislate to protect our children from eighteen potentially explosive well-heads simmering below their classrooms." Forward the message to our reps (they have email), tell them it's unacceptable, and ask what they'll do to ensure it won't happen anymore.

I think that if anyone had full knowledge that their children attend a school that could blow up, that could deteriorate the air, and could harm them, they would not send them. I think the same goes for anyone working in such an environment or living (into a new home) in such an environment. If I had full knowledge that my sister's brand new home's water system was even possibly contaminated with chromium perchlorate then I would have made sure she would never have stepped foot into it. Everyone doesn't have full knowledge. Be careful - ask questions.

Again, thanks, and please keep us posted.

 

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