1 15 18 https://www.nal.usda.gov/exhibits/speccoll/files/original/d128b77b3f1f8b6e56ffaf3abda17c6f.pdf 1fdbac0d9243fc57f74edb7cd1be4f20 PDF Text Text Rom D Number 0233 Author Angeletti, S. ° Corporate Author RODOrt/ArtldB Title Typescript: Public Information System and Exchange of Information Following Chemical Accidents Journal/Book Title Year 1982 Month/Day November Color Number of Images D 31 Descplpton Notes Monday, September 24, 2001 Page 2330 of 2337 �ICP/RCE (903 (20)16 Addendum 1. A R E G 1 0 N E L O M B A R D IA Officio Spscis'g d! Sevesa Via S. Carlo,'4 - 20030 SEVESO (Ml) PUBUC INFORMATION SYSTEM AND EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION FOLLOWING CHEMICAL ACCIDENTS by S. Angeletti \ v �LIST OF CONTENTS - - MASS MEDIA INFORMATION - OPERATIVE PLAN FOR THE CONSTITUTION OF AN INFORMATION CENTRE - The basic objectives of the Centre - The content of the information - The recipient population - The organization of the Centre - Personality, duties and aptitudes of the journalists in charge - Activities of the journalists working for the Centre \ - Information and experience transfer - - SPECIAL REPORTS -PUBLICATIONS - MANUALS AND TRAINING AIDS - INFORMATION FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - PUBLIC INFORMATION AND RELATIONS �Mass Media Information Mass media information largely determines che public opinion about the treatment of chemical accident consequences, as well as the opinion .of consistent part of local community directly involved. Evidently, chis is often the only information on chemi- cal accidents, which reaches the general public. Moreover, part of the local, community for various reasons may encounter difficulties in obtaining, underst-ading and .ccapting direct information from the rehabilitation team (Chis aspect needs particular attention -from rehabilitation team). In any case, mass media information exerts a consistent influence on population also in presence of direct information. . . . . . . •' It should be borne in mind that mass media information may represent; the "reality" for most of public, sometimes independently of the effective reality of objective data and monitoring results. On, the other hand, scientific-technical information needs to be appropriately diffused to have any affect on population: that'is, it needs in. general to pass through mass media. Therefore, mass media, information has a vital 'importance. ' . . Some' difficulties may be encountered in providing information , , ' „. _,; : • . to general public. First, a chemical accident has evidently a considerable psychological impact; only in part consciuos, on general public. A chemical accident may appear as the, failure of official science and technology. As a consequence, in particular immediately after the' accident,, official explanations, previsions and evaluations may be sometimes accepted with a low degree of confidence. Among, the goals of rehabilitation'team,, also- the objective of overcoming this possible lack of confidence may be included.yEfficiency in rehabilitation management and reliability in information provision may be Che best ways.in this case too. interest, of success ia che rehabilitation effort I pressure exerted by the local populace as well as by larger segments of che public can influence the decisions of politicians and pulbic administrators to .various degrees, even to some considerable extent (remember chat at 3eveso any solution involving incineration was rejected as a. result of pressure from the local population, who were far from thoroughly informed ! >— .pn_ the subject). • , �A considerable effort is necessary, in order to initiate a rational discussion with public, on what happened, what has been done and what has Co be done. In other words, the accident consequences should appear to the public opinion as they really are: not as something of incomprehensible and. uncontrollable, but as a problem, which has probably difficult but possible solutions. A second difficulty may be encountered: the message diffused by mass media has its own structure.and characteristics, generally different from the structure and characteristics of a scientific-: technical report or publication. For this reason, the information provided by rehabilitation team iaay be often analyzed, re-structured and. re-written by mass- media operators, to carry out a message fitting for mass media diffusion-. This' aspect has to be appropriately considered in preparing reports and data for mass media, to • avoid possible misinterpretations, omissions or over-estimates . .. . of insignificant details during this editing step. In particular, in reports prepared for mass media most relevant information has to be appropriately pointed out, opinions, and objective data distinguished, certainties and uncertainties'se~ ; parated and measurement possible errors indicated, and discussed. . -. . . :-• : ,- . X.-.- - . \ Whenever possible, provision of uncertain data should be avoided. ' .. v Sometimes this may be difficult: available data may be temporarily limited and uncertain, and different interpretations possible. In this case, reasons of uncertaintj.es should be accurately, explained, possibly'making use of simple-examples. Possible alternative hypotheses should.be presented and thoroughly analyzed whenever necessary. Eventual changements in rehabilitation planning and management, due" to the collection"of new data and ideas, should —— — • ••* not'appear to the public as consequence of errors, but as the lo- II �?/*** In this context, always prepare articles in advance, "sum- / * marising the situation preceding the new one and using the for\ mula: "As you will remember..,'1 —- -or . J , .. n. gical result of an increasejof knowledge^ As a rule, Che scientific-technical information for mass media^Xvxfshould include a large sec of comments, examples and references to make it fully comprehensible also by people without a scientific-technical culture. This is a characteristic requirement of Mass media information: if experts of rehabilitation team will not indicate the appropriate examples and references useful to •• the field the effective meaning of consequences of chemical i" u u • e o o w T-t CU g-j •3 o e <a UJ 00 I 4 4 KM o •3 U JS »» »4 ft ^j ~ . -o 1i 7j • M ni •o0 S n « n I *J 1 It Q <Q 3 O coord! and effects should be made whenever possible, in fact, the simple 10 •H have to be communicated, a clear reference to well known risks, appropriately cl-arify to people without a specific culture in o « 4J U U U evaluations concerning risks and health or environmental effects scientific-technical datum may be sometimes insufficient to <s journal completely understand the material provided, someone else, proba- ; ,O i ' * 5 bly will do this (maybe in a worse manner) '^In particular, n - o T* u V u ja. •o ., c V accidents.. For instance,, whenever possible., eventual residual risks still remaining after the emergency phase might ' be compared with known risks, as professional risks in industrial 4J cu <3 O. o U £ o 4J 2 >> S «• fJ5 I u t • • *0 f and agricultural wqrk, risks connected with heavy smoking or § alco.hol abuse, risks connected with roadtparfic and so on. In Comparisons with other, previous accident consequences may d o o 0 o t* be also included. tJ In any case, this information on risks, exposures and possible effects of the chemical-involved'should 'enable the local community to take rationally, consciously and serenely the . • per- sonal decisions required by the situation. Mass media receive information from many sources: evidently, rehabilitation team has to expect be not the only diffused. its own information to This is in general a positive and desiderable aspect,, essential for freedom of information. In general, it should be expected that scientists, technicians and people with some culture in environmental science, who disa- £ Q A u O 9) <u D cr u V 1-4 0, 3 n u O (8 o S e u ^ (^ ^f "M Q 3 "« *ii ^^ •^ . r* 0 (9 5 « •o •H a 03 t, . 0 44 ^^ *v 0 . •H ca u Q. \* £., �4 gree with rehabilitation management, would manifest their opinions and criticisms directly-to the rehabilitation team or through the common scientific channels before to diffuse them through the mass media (this should be the correct way to provide an useful contribution of ideas). Anyway, some mass media diffusion of contrasting opinions and ideas about rehabilitation management, neither discussed in advance at the appropriate scientific-technical level nor communicated in advance to rehabilitation team, is sometimes unavoidable. The characteristics of mass media and the continuous request of data and opinions, often arising after chemical accidents, may be the causes of this fact, as well as an inadequate information exchange system (in particular from 'and to rehabilitation team)-. In atiy case, it is vital to maintain an appropriate scientific level and style in the discussion and to avoid its transformation in a rough debate, aimed to stimulate emotions rather than logical thinking. Often, this may be obtained by setting up an adequate communication network with the scientific-technical, coimnunity interested to the problem and with the opinion leaders of . . . ... ._ the directly involved population. In fact, the local population may sometimes select its own experts, not necessarily.coinciding with the experts designated by public authorities and the official institutions. This aspect (well known in sociological studies) requires a particular attention. A continuous information exchange should guaranteed whenever possible with local experts, who enjoy the confidence of directly involved community. In conclusion, when criticism and disagreement are manifested, in particular by mass media, the rehabilitation team should be in condition to immediately accept the discussion through a suitable communication network, whose characteristics (adequate scientific level and style) would guarantee an appropriate and useful approach, aimed to solve problems (and not to raise the reputation of some expert or to assert the power of a faction). . . �For instance, scientific meetings or round tables might be quickly organized, open to a .xvide number of scientists and technicians, as well as to people representative of local community opinions and needs. Press conferences, reporting the conclusions of those meetings, might be the x-ray to provide information to mass media, about aspects on which opinions diverge £ln some cases, expe from other countries might be interviewed oji the debated points. From the organizational and practical point of view,'some aspects need t o b e stressed. • • • • . ' . • - • • 'First, only a well determined person in the organization dealing with rehabilitation should be charged with information provision for the public and in particular for'mass media. This is essential to avoid-lacks of consistency and solutions of continuty in in- u o c o •o formation provision. Moreover, due to the importance of the matter, the expert dealing with information for mass media should not * I** & \l-r* be charged with other tasks. Whenever possible, he should get in !C direct touch and establish a positive co-operation with most of | journalist following, rehabilitation progress: whenever possible, i"* C^ of written paper: photographies, graphics, diagrams and draxjings are in general necessary. This material is essential to give a synthetic idea of the problems under study, as well as to facilitate the comprehension of diffused material. Moreover, this kind of information fits very well for mass media structure (this' is obvious in the case of..television) . Furthermore, graphic information is rarely altered and misinterpreted in trasmission. 4> ^ ii 4) 3 u) 4J !c o 3 J3 any case, he should-be consulted when new data are required. Evidently, the information to be provided not only consists ^ I 1) '.'O \ for diffusion. u 1*2 new questions and problems should be first submitted to him; in ded in the rehabilitation team to prepare communiquas and material c i-l • c3 I In particular cases,, a well experienced journalist may be inclu- ^ a «• \ \ «» 0) U u c u » 9) - u c. u - ca ta ^ w «• o.. . sa •J* o s. •3 4) a w . ^^ 3 0 ^4 •rt 0 �Lastly, as well known, graphic information attracts people attention more than written information. On the other hand, most of data carried out in treating chemical accident, consequences intrinsically need a graphic representation •(for instance, maps, time trends, diffusion patterns and so, on). Evidently, a reliable service able to immediately produce graphic information is necessary. In conclusion, information for mass media has to be reliable, consistent, easily intelligible and whenever possible complete. In particular, this information should represent a help for involved population and general public to overcome the difficulties caused by the accident. ' • �AiN«jfcJ_triM VU CuMltidanio, 11 . Tsl. 6J72906 MILAiNO OPERATIVE PLAN FOR THE CONSTITUTION OF AN IHTrORMATION CSTTRE FOLLOWING CHEMICAL ACCIPEHTS THE BASIC OBJECTIVES OF THZ CENTRE The main purpose of the Centre's activities bears ref* erence to the three following objectives, to be stated in the decree instituting the Centre: . 1) To provide/the population, in the most appropriate form < and by the most suitable means, with clear, punctual, precise and thorough information on whatever steps the Region is taking to solve the problems faced by the population of the stricken area, on the short and long-term, implications of the prob- . lem, and on the content and state of progress of rehabilitation and medical programmes. 2) To create a readily available point of reference for constant communication with the representatives of the local, national, and foreign press, in order to provide them with complete information and news in the interest, also, of preventing the interested parties, for lack of such a service, from seeking .information from other sources which may be ill-informed or tendentious and in any case not in a position to satis'fy the need for information completely and comprehensively. _^—-— 2) To indirectly place itself at the disposal of the citizens j to help them gain an understanding of the methods proposed for rehabilitation, and also to advise, guide and assist them, with particular concern for the means and procedures re- �— lating to medical care and the provisions for social and economic assistance stiuplated in the programmes. 2) In particular, the Centre must immediately be in a position to answer questions concerning: 1) Assessment and verification of the state of pollution of the land, water and vegetation, and steps to decontaminate and rehabilitate land and buildings in an effort, also, to prevent further contamination. * 2) Medical tests and ascertainments, medical care and, • in general, defence of-public health in the stricken areas; tests, controls and steps in the field of medical and veterinary prophylaxis and veterinary care.- _..^' 3 ) Social work. 4) The rehabilitation or reconstruction of public structures and -•• irrecoverable dwellings, and the conducting of operations necessary for'the re-establishment of living conditions satisfactory in relation to the particular circumstances of the stricken area, as well as the restoration of ahe productive capacity of the agricultural terrain involved. 5) Steps in foavour of single or associated agricultural, artisan, tourist and hotel businesses, both-industrial and commercial, which have suffered damage as a result of contamination by toxic substances, OPERATIVE STRUCTURE The functioning of the Centre is to be ensured by the �following personnel:. — Functionary with the task of coordinating the activity of the Centre in close collaboration with the two consulting journalists and particular emphasis on the work of the personnel employed in tha Centre. - 2 persons responsible for relations with the Press and, other local and national channels of information. - 1 social worker. - 2 shorthand-typists. -•_ 1 clerk. - 1 driver . . . . ; . , , . . . . . , - . The above personnel will work jointly and in synchrony with the government offices operating in the area and especially with: . . ? — the Coordinating Provincial Physician . — the person in charge of rehabilitation projects — political authorities, local administrators and their collaborators, in natters concerning social and scholastic aid, the rehabilitation and reconstruction of public buildings and dwellings, as well as concerning measures in favour of single or associated agricultural, artisan, tourist and hotel bu~ " . sinesses. .Special care shall be taken in the choice of this personnel, who oust be selected not only on the basis of their prior experience and specific knowledge, but >with particular regard �to their aptitude for relations with the public. A special training course and constant updating will be necessary, and can be 'accomplished by means of an initial series-, of meetings and successive periodical updating sessions during which the personnel will be made to feel personally committed to and responsible for their work. The above obviously in relation to all aspects of DOCUMENTATION AND INFORMATION benefiting, first and foremost, the inhabitants of the stricken area. ' ' '" : 4) THE CONTENT OF THE INF05HATION '• The informative and documentary activities undertaken by-the Centre make it essential for. the Centre to have at its fingertips, on its "own premises, all the documentation produced and available in regard to the points stated in the institirrg decree. J * , " During, the first stage of its activity, therefore, the operative structures of the Centre will undertake the COLLECTION,' ANALYSIS and CLASSIFICATION of all information available from the various public organizations and scientific institutes, national or local. In order to function correctly the Centre must begin by coordinating information from all the public authorities involved (State, regional, provincial,municipal, scientific, military, etc.) and by studying procedures designed to absolutely prevent the dissemination of any news from offi* cial sources that might leave room for contradictory interpre- �tation. Although this is a difficult goal to accomplish, this point is fundamental and prerequisite to those that foEow. At the same time, all the appropriate links with the abovementioned bodies must be activated in order to ensure the steady flow of all subsequent information and documents to the Centre. For this purpose, a- functionary wij.1 be appointed from each of the interested organizations, responsible for sending such information to the Centre. This functionary will act as the point 'of reference for the Centre, responsible for answering any request for information or clarification that the Centre may be called upon to supply on request primarily of journalists but also of individual citizens, committees, associations and public opinion groups. As for the towns and other bodies active in the area, contacts will be maintained with the persons directly in charge. The Centre will also have other objectives in addition to its documentary and informative activity, the fulfilment of which, in practical terms, will come as the result of the operations conducted on the premises by the Centre as a whole. In effect it will be possible: 1) to convey information of an immediate or urgent character about new .facts or developemnts that may arise during the application of"the abovementioHBd programmes. 2) to work towards the creation in the public mind of a �positive image of the work being done by the. various other organizations involved.. 3) to encourage the resumption of productivity on a psychological plane as well as through concrete initiatives and promotional activities. 4) to collaborate, upon request of the health authorities, in the promotion of mass health education programmes in the schools, factories and among the populace in general. — In order to Implement these objectives, in terms appropriate to the demands of the population and the local administraotrs, the Centre must not act (nor must, it be understood to do so) as 'a. beaurocratic, authoritarian structure imposed from above, but as an element reflecting and expressed- through local reality, one which looks upon its function as instrumentla. for the public good. Consequently the information it conveys will be simple, clear and timely, and will not be denied to anyone who requests it. • Only on this premise can a relationship of trust be built between the Centre and the area it serves. 5. THE RECIPIENT POPULATION ' • vflaile the collection, analysis and classification of the documentary material is proceeding, the recipients of the information are being identified on a concrete level. Information will be communicated on three different lavels, each requiring the individuation of different methods and �the use of different means of communicating the information, while the content of the information will remain the same. In substance, the Centre must avoid making the mistake of trying to use undifferentiated ways and means, and must, take account of differences in cultural and social echelon that re- sul in linguistic differences and in different levels of comprehension of the elements comprising the communication, be they written, spoken or visual. The three levels may be specified as follows: " 1) On. the-first level is the world of'communications and .the press. The Centre, and this is the very reason of ias existence, will become the point of reference for all interested journalists, but beyond such contacts the Centre must build a series of direct relations with local information operators, be they correspondents of local newspapers or magazines, edi\tors of periodicals and publications published in the involved area, or local radio or television broadcasters operating in the area. . ' '' -' -— -<^2)- The second level comprises all public opinion groups .working within the Centre's radius of operations, with directresponsibility for the formation of public opinion. We refer to local political party ccemittees, neighborhood groups, parents' associations, local union groups, school and religious associations, teachers, and so forth, who must be informed about the activities of the Centre and must b« able to turn to the Centre �whenever they need information of any kind. 3) The third Level is that of the general public. The information they receive must be more carefully screened, in the interest of getting them to cooperate in the fundamental rehabilitation effort. Here we are dealing with information in popularized fora; the general public,- once aware of the existence of the Centre, must, be • able to tu^n." freely to it for complete information on the programmes mentioned in point 2 a's well, as on the work of the Centre itself. . /~-9s In addition, there-is yet another s^tor consisting of a very particular segment of the public: this includes all the local administrators and all the local authorities in charge of officially coordinated activities and progrmmes.. The Centre must isanediately. supply them with clear, complete information as soon as it is available* ' v Bear in mind," also, that the communication of\ inf orma— tion is-never a --one-way street. ' Through contact with local administrators, public Opinion groups and the general populace, the Centre can become aware of the various needs, aspirations and attitudes that should be-conveyed to those technically {and/ politically)responsible for the area. Having defined these levels of operation, the interlocutors themselves must be identified and lists of names prepared, divided according to the levels mentioned above, with the obvious exception of the general public. Such lists, insofar as �concerns the second Level and the sphere of mass media, should include the home addresses of the individuals listed, complete / with telephone numbers for the communication of urgent information. Once the Centre has been set up» the start of its activities and the definition of its objectives will be communicated to all interested parties (mass media, administrators, sci- ' entists) by a letter of presentation signed, by the highest representatives of the public body responsible for its constitution.. 6». THE ORGANIZATION OF THE CENTRE : -•-...-••• 'The Centre, must have particular characteristics, including those-pertaining; to its physical premises, that will make it possible for it. to accomplish its' objectives. The work areas must be separate, from those designated for the reception of the public and as assembly rooms. The offices must be fully e— \ quipped so as -to be able to operate quickly and efficiently. v. They must' have: ' — 'Card catalogues with the collection of the complete documentation concerning the measures taken by the various operative bodies; - Card, catalogues with copies of all the articles that ' ' X " ^ have appeared in the press, both national and international, at the time of starting work, as well as those that appear while the work is proceeding, classified by topic, — Card catalogues with the addresses classified by level of information, as defined above. �10 * - a' machine for making address plates - blank forms and letterhead stationery - a high-capacity photocopying machine (Xerox 4500)5 -- a mimeograph equipped for making type moulds; " - an addressing machine - two tape recorders (one reel-to—reel and one cassette) -• recording equipment for transcribing tapes and cassettes -.stationary and movable bulletin boards for posting notices - an automatic telephone answering machine - video-recording equipment for the recording of discussions, speeches by specialists, scientists and public authorities and their presentation to the public* Copies of such videotapes will also be made available to national and local television channels, free of charge, . One particular problem is that of the hours- at which the Centre will be open to the public. Opening times will have to.include holidays or non-working days, as well as some hours in the late afternoon or evening, to allow journalists on eve~ ning duty as well as every other citizen access to the Centre. The documentary materials will have to be catalogued and filed according to precise criteria,for easy consulting and identification. The mailing List will have to be transcribed on supports suitable for use with a rapid address—reproduction system. Such a system must permit 'the selection of addresses by category. �11 From the moment of printing the letterhead stationery, an artist will b« responsible for the coordination of the visual image of the material issued by the Centre. Concerning the blank forms: repetitive-type problems must be identified. And the graphic design of the blank forms will also be. entrusted to the artist. Concerning point 7» the immediate preparation of "cards" _on the—following subjects is proposed: -. . - .- what is the toxin in queaion, and what risks docs it entail? ' X' • • • ' • - results of activities undertaken in previous emergencies -. health precautions to be taken on a personal basis . ; — summary of the operative reclamation plan , .-, summary of the operative health plan - .-- . . .•.-'.' - summary of the operative social work plan - summary of the economic assistance plan / .. - summary of the restoration or reconstruction programme Accessory equipment will include:/a collector/dispenser for the publications issued by the Centre so that journalists and any other interested parties can pick them up easily and .informally. - large bulletin boards for the display of posters, not- ices of meetings to be held, press cuttings, etc. "~" ~-^ - a book and periodical library containing the most rscent publications on chemical pollution (induing those voicing critical views). �12 . A rapport of constant communication with-the local-pub- -• lie, especially in the absence of a locally operating press, can be created through the age. .cy of a bi- or tri-weekly publication issued directly by the Centre. In order • to interest the population in a direct diarlogue, such a publication should not only be informative in nature, but should also raise questions and propose outsid* contributions, to the point of becoming a true journal of local life. This naturally implies the constitution of an edi- torial staff including some local people, under the. supervision of the two journalist press consultants. Personality) dutiesand aptitudes of the journalists in charge The plan, calls for two journlists to work with the Centre, because it would be difficult for a single one to embo- dy all the essential requisites, of experience and professional qualification. There must be: . One journalist specializing in scientific reporting, preferably in the fields of biology and medicine, accustomed to \ elaborating' scientific data in articles accessible to the layman. A journalist accustomed to attending scientific congres\ ses and capable of directly preparing from them articles accessible to the general public and at the sane time not open to criticism by specialists - on the contrary, approved and appreciated by them» It will be well to ensure the services of a �13 journalist of national renown from whose articles the public know they can rely on getting clear, correct information, and who enjoys the respect of his colleagues. His reputation a- lone should be a guarantee of the accuracy of the information he reports on the subject of the chemical accident. Such-a journalist, all other considerations aside,, will probably already know. and be known Ijy more than one. of the scientists involved in the environmental reclamation and medical programmes and be used to .dealing with such people, as well as having up-to-date experience on the subject matter in hand, : . The second journalist should be. a reporter with a fairly long career to his credit on the staffs of newspapers oper-_ .' ating in the region involved in the chemical accident, accustomed to reporting his news in the maftner most appealing to tee man in the street. Such, a professional, given his lengthy career, will also have, built up cordial relations over the years with many colleagues on the staffs of the- various newspapers and radio and television stations. Such, personal relations, based on trust and good faith, will be very useful in naking sure that the news is issued by these media in the focra desired by the Centre. While the first journalist, thanks also to his possible (and desirable) role as a correspondent attanding the most important scientific meetings, can act primarily as a part-time consultant, with his attendance guaranteed, however, at deci- �sional meetings and in supervising the writing of scientific texts, the second should be in full-time attendance at the Centre; an agreement between the two will make it possible for them to be in constant contact, fcven if one or the othsr is away from the Centre. Activities of the Journalists working for the Centre In addition to the obvious task of collecting the naws coming from the various medical and rehabilitation sectors and* possibly tunning it. into press communications and/or articles in the Informative bulletins issued by the Centre, the *• preparation of which will come under their supervision, the two journalists will have to organize periodical press conferences (at. least once every three months), preferably in the form of seminars, to bring the mass media up to date. During these conference/seminars, not only the specialist speakers but all " the other journalists as well will have the chance to speak and, comment and ask questions; this makes for much greater par» ticipation and compliance on the part of the mass media, As we have said and reiterated, it is very important that the information be coherent and unambiguous, and for this reason, not only on the occasion of the press-conference/seminars, but also prior to personal interviews by public administrators, politicians or scientist's operating in the fields of rehabilitation and public health, the two journalists of the Centre, or at least one of them depending on the topic in question, �15 . will-meet with, the Interviewee and agree with him on the terms of. the interview. This will serve also to identify any words or phrases that .may be difficult to understand or subject to misinterpretation (accidental or otherwise) in the interviewee's speech, and to choose clearer and more definite ones. To systematically obtain news and data from the various departments .concerned with environmental reclamation and health -or-ganizations, the two journalists will have to both make and receive regular telephone calls to and from the people in N. _ charge of the various sectors, at regular, almost weekly, intervals. • . - - • • . - • • • . . - • ••; . . • -. •For the internal written transfer, of information from the various sectors to the Centre, a standard form should be prepared, stating clearly the person referring the item, the statistic data related .to"'the item, the reason the sender feels /__ it to be important, and whether the sender is. available to be interviewed on., the subject. An important consideration to remember is that in such x^ cases the two journalists working with the Centre must be looked at as if they were defence lawyers. They must always be told the whole truth, so that they and their sources can agree on "*•"• --o the best way in which to acceptably feed it to the public, even when A reserved item leaks out. Nothing will make the two Centre journalists lose credibility in the eyes of their mass media colleagues like not allowing them to always �16 be in a position to answer questions on reserved news that has leaked: an "official version" must be prepared in advance, so that they will not be caught unawares in the case of indiscretions and so that they will be able, at any time, to clear up embarassing situations. In other words, there is nothing stupider than to conceal information from the consultants who are supposed to help communicated it in the most desirable form, even items which it would be preferable not to broadcast but which one may be forced to reveal nonetheless, Information -and experience transfer . • : - .- The creation of a Centre such as the one mentioned here is essential, moreover, for-the dissemination of information not only on the activities having to do with, environmental rehabilitation, health programmes and economic aid, but also for the possible prevention of further chemical•accidents. Both, during the years of rehabilitation and at its conclusion, the spirit of the information given must always be that, of striving to create greater awareness in both the public at large and in the public and private administrators, in the interest of greater caution in handling chemicals. In this context, the organization of the abovementiotied periodical seminars for journalists is to be advocated, as is the participation in national and international congresses, with appropriate reports, of specialists working on the rehabilitation programmes. �17 Important, too, is the distribution of explanatory dossiers on how the accident happened and what broader-reaching consequences might have come about than the ones that ac. tually did occur. For the- environmental reclamation sector, the filming and videotaping of all the salient stages of the work, in addition to the written technical descriptions, is important, so that, it can, be shown to others. In the health sector, the organization of concise debates and interviews among the specialists involved, to'be distributed abroad as well as at home, would be useful. Special reports • • • • • '• '.,.(*„.'--" Special reports may be needed to inform the involved community, the involved authorities, agencies and institutions, as well as central and national organizations connected with the problems under study. Moreover, special reports may be needed to adequately describe and analyze relevant techniques, methods, findings and inferences. These latter i reports are general^ addressed to field qualified experts. Evidently, completeness is vital: all details, have to be included, necessary to transfer a d-evei-s^^x. "know-how". As a. rule, special reports are aimed to meet specific information needs rather than to give general information. Moreover, they in general deal with a matter to which particular and defined kinds of people are interested, In conclusion, a special report should" be prepared- taking appropriately into account the characteristics of the^iriforaation receiver, as well as the purpose of the .information exchange. An suitable language should be therefore used. structure and �.Publ i cations, As already mentioned, the rehabilitation of chemical accidcncs ye- • nerally representsaraatter of high'interest, not only for the field experts, but for the .general public too. This means that what has been done and what is being done in 'rehabilitation management has to be appropriately published as soon as possible. Publication in scientific reviews will stimulate a fruitful discussion and a possible'contribiition of new ideas. Evidently, pubblication is also essential for transfer of experiences. Clearly, a correct and efficient scientific-technical activity "automatically implies the publication of data, procedures, results achieved arid difficulties . encountered. It should be pointed out that a lack of publication of data and results will possibly give rise- to a negative attitude" in people requesting information. In any case,, it should be borne in mind that also temporary and limited" results and preliminary data may be of interest and fit for publication.. Evidently, it is not necessary to have achieved final goals before publishing what has been done. Detail^'may be often of interest.' Scientific information, concerning* rehabilitation progresses,, should c35u be published in newspapers and as non-specialized reviews, as well • appropriately diffused, by mass-media. Scientific columns in newspapers and scientific surveys in reviews, as well as specific radio-television trasnissions, may represent the channels suitable for a qualified popularized'--diffusion and, publication of results. The same information, provided through scientific publications, should be given through these media, making use of a'clear and easily intelligible language. In any case, as already mentioned, consistency, reliability and completeness of the information published at various levels and through different channels is a vital point. �Manuals and training aids As.already mentioned, two basic aspects can be identified in transfer of experiences for training purposes. The analysis can be addressed to a "case study" or to a"technique study" or a "procedure study".' Monographies reporting the whole hystory of the particular accident and •of the consequent rehabilitation activities should be always prepared.A .,,.•- . t•••• " * - » " . " • complete description of all aspects is needed.-(including organizational aspects, resources employed, equipment and apparatus used and so on). Drawings, fotographies, tables and arrays of data have to be reporteji... la other words, a publication of this kind should represent, the appropriate answer to the question:"what is necessary to do in an analogous case ?". "'' " ; "~ : ^•••"••^••••::-••;••• — " ;• . - • • - - v . - -, " . ' '. "' T .-.''• . .'.-.. - - .- .. ....... On the other hand, techniques and procedures successful in a previous • experience, nedde to be widely diffused.. Manuals and handbooks could be prepared to the purpose. A national or international organization . / . . . , . . . . - • • . • . should be enraged with this task. Evidently, such manuals should be easily intelligible and should include all necessary practical details. The reader should be enabled to easily master the natter reported. In particular, safety measures and precautions should be accurately described: personnel involved in emergencies and rehabilitation may have a limited experience in this field (in particular in the case of new chemicals) . A proper manual >:an. provide basic help in limiting or avoiding risks. Various subjects could be indicated, to be examined • • • • -Co b (L c^d^rvZz*^' in a manual: i..e., general safety measures'"'in a contaminated area, '•. "% toxic material removal and storage, soil scarification, monitoring strategies, simple statistical, methods for environmental data analysis and so on. Other didactic aids can be used: scale models, series of photographies and drawings, films, computer displays, tape recordings and so on. - ". �V .. Information for public partecipation Adequate information must be continuously provided to public authorities, :o the local community and to the whole public.. Evidently, new relevant data need to be ircnedisrely • comunicatad to involved authorities. The public • • • . . . - . ind the mass -media may -tfe informed J •. . • afterwards. -.— ^ A. chemical accident has in general a remarkable social-psychological impact on the community. A social, demand for information generally 'arises, about the effects and the causes of the accident, the rehabilitation resour. • *• ces and efficiency and the possibility to avoid- future similar cases. A rehabilitation information system needs to be able to provide such information. It is vital to establish a collaborative atmosphere, in particular with the ., ; .• . .•-.- • ... . • -- .. ^ . • '• X local community. Local community has to be clearly informed about protective measures, required to minimize the residual risks, and about rehabilita- tion goals and daily progress-.. Maps, diagrams, drawings, pictures and other icono graphical material can be of help.. Information system should be .'cble to * * • * - . " ' ' quickly provide them. / ' -" ' "" • *• ' •, •"'••'"""•../-'.'''"• .;.'•. - . " .' - -' - '•- la any case, information has to be. clear, complete,, reliable and consistent. 'A simple language, should be used, intelligible also by people without a' specific- scientific-technical culture. To this purpose, the advice and the help of an expert in _coramanication should be available. Whenever possible, uncertainties' should be avoided in data provision. Sometimes this may be difficult: available data can be temporarily limited *» and uncertain and different interpretations can be possible . Particular care . ' has to be taken, if information has to be provided before the elimination of uncertainties. In such a case, reasons of uncertainty and of possible variations in rehabilitation plans arid execution, should be accurately explained in order to avoid a decrease in confidence in rehabilitation management Cpco~ pie in general expect certainties and definite choices from official science and technology; it can be necessary sometimes, to recall that absolute certainty nay be nan-scientific) . y~ .- - •. ; . ? �have the best, interests of tr.e population at heart. w,ac tne personnel wording on-site may regard as trivial alterations, the public may take in a completely different spirit, since they ace not ocivy to the day-to-day management of operations from the inside. A simple solution to the spcaad of suspicion is the flooding of the area with information. This' can be quite deliberately cone: at the outs'et.of an emergency, many of the impacted copulation will vant \ all the information they can acquire; but, as time'passes, if they „• • • . . .v know that a lot of information on every aspect of the situation is •» freely available, much of the public will stop bothering to enquire. The 'oast way to disseminate this information and to stop rumours is to set up a "rumour centre" as part of a general media centre. •* Here again, the balance must, be kept betve-sn putting out as much \ " ' - _ " . - ; > • - ' ' - ' information as possible, and ensuring that nona of. it is ' * ~-~ ~ • cantracictorv. At the, b-eainning of an emersencv, it is obvious that % - \ - -- ••: " this will be a more than full-time job, and a Media Officer wxll be required. As longer term .remedial actions begin, some liaison with the media should be maintained, to explain what is being undertaken,. . and to anticipate 'future~~concerns. It is vital to have someone V.T.O is continually prepared t.p__jsay, "How will this action look, be understood, or be misapprehended by the public?". At some point, decisions may have to be made about the extent o£ public participation in the remedial process. Typically, the public is seen as an uncontrollable faces or a marginal concern, with the �Public i n f o r m a t i o n ar.d relations Relationships with other agencies can have a direct impact, or. i i relationships with the public. Seveso and Three Mile Island are • examples of incidents where confusion' among the constituted,... authorities translated itself into public uncertainty about the nature of the risk (Whitsside, , 1979) .' public information- is the cornerstone of the agency - public relationship, especially in a remedial activity that may take years to be completed. • Confidence, once lost, nay be impossible to recover. • * •. , Tor this reason, a single sourca of information to the public is • preferable to any ether kind of information dissemination, This requires, in turn, control over rumours, leaks of information, . and a commitment to presentation of believable truth by spokesmen. In. many incidents, disputes over technical questions are inevitable, but the —- da:r.aae caused to the image of certainty can ba. minimized in a number .„ ''N, "• of ways. Tirstly, it can be stated at the outset that there is no absolute certainty posited by the responding agencies. .. -• Secondly, tr.s disputes car* be contained within tha larger management scheme.'.'... . 'N overseeing the operation. Thirdly, a large number o.f technical , . -. disputes can be anticipated, and the public can be warned to expect. „---''""'•• ' - • • . ^acne disagreement. • •r Zxperiar.ee has shown that the public near an impacted site is very quick to spot anomalies and sleepiness in remedial actions. This can undermine both faith in the crccess and faith that the authorities • �' r e s u l t that u c g a n i s a t i c r . s are reluctant to consider a l o n g - t e r m involverasnt of the public in the process. VJhile there a r e valid i reasons for this reluctar.ca (e.g. intermittent interest, lack of expertise)/ a lot can be lost of value through excluding the public. y.cst importantly, the public is an inexpensive source of information..,.For example, in determining the boundaries of a ch-emical spill in an area, local residents may be able to Give a good account of the flow of groundwater through an area, which can serve as a check, on professional hydrsgeologic surveys. Further, local residents can be ' * ^• . used- as monitors of deterioration in an ecosystem: .they are always on-scene, and thev have a vested interest. '•* * -\ • \ \ \ Management of this kind of information is, of course, . fundamentally a cuescion of separating out tha wheat" from the chaff, but there is no doubt that traditional knowledge may have substantial • value. There is a secondary benefit: local people feel themselves to be part of the remedial process, and are therefore less likely » polarize, into "us" versus "them". .A tertiary benefit, though more .-complex, is the mutual interaction of agencies and public, resulting • in a less abstract and more concrete set of rehabilitation goals. * - Or.* last_ benefit can be noted. will -nove in and out of a community. »^ In a long-term operation, people A community-based i n f o r m a t i o n system n a t u r a l l y educates newccmars into the g r o u n d - r u l e s of tne operation ( e . g . tcnas of access, prophylactic measures) is they ]Oin the community. This eliminates the necessity of re—education on the part of the authorities over and over again. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange Description An account of the resource <p style="margin-top: -1em; line-height: 1.2em;">The Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange comprises 120 linear feet and spans the late 1800s to 2005; however, the bulk of the coverage is from the 1960s to the 1980s and there are many undated items. The collection was donated to Special Collections of the National Agricultural Library in 1985 by Dr. Alvin L. Young (1942- ). Dr. Young developed the collection as he conducted extensive research on the military defoliant Agent Orange. The collection is in good condition and includes letters, memoranda, books, reports, press releases, journal and newspaper clippings, field logs and notebooks, newsletters, maps, booklets and pamphlets, photographs, memorabilia, and audiotapes of an interview with Dr. Young.</p> <p>For more about this collection, <a href="/exhibits/speccoll/exhibits/show/alvin-l--young-collection-on-a">view the Agent Orange Exhibit.</a></p> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Box The box containing the original item. 093 Folder The folder containing the original item. 2330 Series The series number of the original item. Series IV Subseries IV Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Angeletti, S. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-11-01 Title A name given to the resource Typescript: Public Information System and Exchange of Information Following Chemical Accidents Subject The topic of the resource public opinion government publicity popular press Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange Description An account of the resource <p style="margin-top: -1em; line-height: 1.2em;">The Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange comprises 120 linear feet and spans the late 1800s to 2005; however, the bulk of the coverage is from the 1960s to the 1980s and there are many undated items. The collection was donated to Special Collections of the National Agricultural Library in 1985 by Dr. Alvin L. Young (1942- ). Dr. Young developed the collection as he conducted extensive research on the military defoliant Agent Orange. The collection is in good condition and includes letters, memoranda, books, reports, press releases, journal and newspaper clippings, field logs and notebooks, newsletters, maps, booklets and pamphlets, photographs, memorabilia, and audiotapes of an interview with Dr. Young.</p> <p>For more about this collection, <a href="/exhibits/speccoll/exhibits/show/alvin-l--young-collection-on-a">view the Agent Orange Exhibit.</a></p> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Box The box containing the original item. 089 Folder The folder containing the original item. 2274 Series The series number of the original item. Series IV Subseries II Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Young, Alvin L. Title A name given to the resource Letter: from Alvin L. Young to Robert H. Huffaker, October 9, 1985 Subject The topic of the resource BSOB public opinion risk assessment ambient air sampling https://www.nal.usda.gov/exhibits/speccoll/files/original/79523c65d7b708254c79ce2d6d814b3a.pdf f7cbd85dfd9a35bf2a1da19e87b5d710 PDF Text Text Item D Number 02219 Author Corporate Author RBport/ArtlCiO Title Clippings: various newspaper articles, January 30 to Februarys, 1983 Journal/Book Title Year Month/Day Color Number of Images D 22 Desoripton Notes Thursday, September 20, 2001 Page 2219 of 2293 �^F'tfv* - — • , . • M fMt, _ _ . :. |VV'' '- •' I'iiiui^JTf-'^- :-.-s'. *#9. •• I-.'''"-' '*•'•• • i . - « 4HR«sg£jfci^ ^ ded Jl'SWiSsIsm^*----* I 22IE.5"! **fc «• JPAw»«»toJt stttrofnct r Binghamton State Office Buildi* !! . Jonj^car, the city streets and sidewalks were de- , her lastroundsbefore calllof her jobs was to monitor the (d «he bad record! that it was ,'vt Stationary ^sigin&f1 Michael Dear the control board in the base,;!.'. 'V''^; •' 'i .•li^;rt>'VV"*!".-l'' " -• ..~ jiugut had been routine. Decker and Whittemore had had the building M themselves since 1 to a.ra4whei)tbea^htdeanmg' '' 7 "ftboutaJB***-^" '--^ ;... ^ffi',0"? floor beJ | ':' WSF^^nitothat .' neatina n;pr» «„!_.. L^- • - SS!w^**B r; »«nr«jSHl<'*»£1^-i &A'ft£*&&SSt --'SSSBBs^— \\-ap*K!^Sw«s*5fta off in the, tusiance'huf ^.— / j —-»• «iu«ucr «mes. SmokSmTbl^tt ^Veral huodr^ *e thuds, and Iw hWe8S,g308e5°nds^r Whittemore knows xthat in those few seconds, the t quiet of the night turned into, chaos: elevators on the main floor, refused to. move. Cars on upper floors moved with hesitation, thea stopped. Lights on the main floor began to dim. 4 "All the electricity was going spaoo," Whitteraoresaid. : ' . ? - . . Decker ran up from the basement 'as Whittemore ran fonan office to check out the alarms. Pecker 'told her: "The machine room is on fire." * .Decker's face reflected horror, Whittemore recalls. His eyes were bluging ; his face was white. Next door to the State .Office Building, a warning light'blinked on the alarm panel of the Binghamton Fife Bureau. At first, off icials thought little of the alarm; the 10-year-old building occasionally had a ' malfunctioning alarm system. .• 4 few seconds later, though, Whittemore called the tity add told them there was a fiwin iritfF -»•}'• ' • . ,, ' - !'\Jit| Fire Chief Donald E. Faughnan heardlhe thuds Whittemore heard as he walked down a ramp at the rear of the building to answer the alarm. But to him they mere explosions the likes trf which he ' hafl never heard before, nor since. At least three explosions made the building quiver. After a few minutes, the explosions ended. UUP blast ripped a large hole in the circuit board. To Faughnan, it looked like an artillery shell had been f irea through the panel. _,_ ^_; _ u,i ____ K **-* ^ ttLttara tu ^Jtei^^tt.?*^' ™^ £te?^^gBr,a*! �^he pungent odor of vinyl'chloride filled the base meat where the firefighters waited. Faughnan knew the smell came front binning electrical insulation, He ordered his men to suit up with special breathing equipment. New York-State Electric & Gas Corp., the power company, was called by .the fire bureau at 5:49,. afyut 13 minutes after the alarms. Power was shut off at 6:20. , JSp, for almost 50 minutes, the electrical arcing ' continued in the mechanical room as two dozen Binghamton firefighters stood outside, waiting for the power to be turned off.. ' 'Temperatures began rising as the fire burned. In the middle of the switch gear, temperatures probably reached 3,000 degrees Farenheit, Faughnan said. In other parts of the room, it was well over 200 degrees, he said. The fire didn't amount to much, Faughnan said later. But the heat caused by the electrical malfunction continued to build as the firefighters waited for thepower to be shut off. The heat, was so intense a porcelain insulator cracked a few inches' from the top of a General Electric Co. transformer at one side of the electrics' The Sunday Press _JaaJO._1jM33_» Binghamton, N.V. Lois Whittemore . . . security guard panel. The transformer was not in use at the time. The crack allowed about 180 gallons of 1,100 gallons of Askarel cooling fluid in the transformer to leak onto the floor and over the super-hot electrical circuits. The oil contained polychlorinated biphenyls, & chemical compound used for 40 years to Keep transformers cool. PCBs, as they are called, don't burn, and were used in large quantities for electrical equipment. In 1979, the use of PCB oil as transformer coolant was banned by the federal government but the ban did not apply to transformers already in use, such as the one in the State Office Building. The Askeral oil did its job Feb. 5,1981: it didn't burn. It did something far worse; it vaporized, or pyrolysized. Pyrolysis is a chemical process that takes place in the presence of extreme heat or electricity, converting one chemical into another substance. , In this case, the new'substance was an amalgam of chemicals which included several varieties of dioxin and furan compounds, including the version considered the most toxic substance made by man -r tetrachlorodibenzodioxin or, in the chemist's lingo, TCDD, Officials didn't know until a .week later that the chemicals were-formed in the fire. They didn't reveal the fact until three weeks after the fire. The fire also turned the plastic insulation around the cables and wires on the switching gear into a black soot which mixed with the vaporizing oil. The result was a greasy, black film of soot that turned into a black cloud in the mechanical room. Tucked in a corner of the room was a small ventilation shaft with an opening 2 feet by 5 feet wide. It stretched from the basement to the roof .passing through the men's restroom on each floor. The cloud of toxic chemicals was sucked into this shaft by air currents as the hot air in the room tried torise. • ••; • The soot cloud entered the shaft and rose through the building, passing through the open ducts in the restrooms and ceiling crac'^, A fine mist of soot slipped through the oathrc ' doors .into the hallways and offices. Faughnan said he found something unusual when the doors were first opened. Instead of smoke pouring out through the opening, it appeared to be pulled back into the building. . "This is contrary to the way smoke usually behaves," Faughnan said. The ventilation shaft working in concert with the two rooftop smoke hatches on top of stairwells created a draft in the building, like a chimmney. The open hatches, leading to the cold night air, sucked the warmer air upwards. «, , Once outside, the escaping toxic cloud was caught in a low-level temperature inversion, a weather phenomenon that traps air close to the ground, that meant that the cloud hung relatively close to the building and when it did disperse later in the morning, it probably stayed in the lower atmosphere and fell closer to the building, in the downtown area. Crews wearing protective garb entered the room and quickly put out the lingering fires, then waited for the molten metal to cool down. Within a hour, the electrical chaos and the chemical production process was over. By sunrise, a new • crisis was just beginning. �l>rcss Questions on open shaft linger along with toxins Questions about th6 construction of the 18-story State Office Building persist two years after the fire. Most questions center on the ventilation shaft near the mens1 restrooms, Which served as the main es, cape route for the soot contaminated with with dioxins.furansandPCBs. • Was that shaft supposed to be open? Fire investigators and a building construction expert said it was unusual for such an opening to provide access from the .machine room directly to every floor in the building, ','Ive never seen a shaft that hasn't been blocked near a mechanical room," said Steven L. Biegel, director of program planning, National Institute of Building Sciences, based in Washington. Biegel said construction practices require me,'chemical rooms to be sealed off with cinder block w$fs that can withstand two hours of fire. ' 'Donald E. Faughnan, deputy chief of the Binghamton Fire Bureau, and Philip Lomax, a fire ini vtestigator for the state Department of State, said such* a shaft should be sealed near a mechanical robin. *If that shaft had been closed, we would only have had a basement fire," Faughnan said. jftew York's current building code requires such protection, although the code does not apply to public buildings. However, most state buildings con- form to the code where possible, said Francis A. McGarry, state fire administrator. Officials of the agency in charge of state buildings have'not provided evidence on exact plans for the Binghamton building. "We don't believe there was any code requirenent to have the (shaft) closed at the bottom," said Harry S. Stevens Jr., director of design and construction for the Office of General Services. ^Stevens said he has not seen the plans or checked the codes in effect when the tower was constructed. 'Other officials demur when asked for details on the accident, which occurred two years ago this Saturday. "It was just a series of circumstances," said David K. Seiffert, principal mechanical construction engineer, Office of General Services. Seiffert said the original plans are not detailed enough to show whether that vent should have been blocked. Seiffert and Stevens said the equipment was inspected at least once a year. The previous examination was in Sept. 1980. However, neither man has checked the report since the fire. . To make any determination more complicated,the electrical panels were ripped from the building a few days after the fire and discarded in a secure landfill near Niagara Fall*. -STEVE GEIMANN �!fl>'- t';..'lj;;! ) • • : • • f ':/. . -•' <|| « major hazard Ms *e«t, Preif fi9 ftueise (his utay. hot .**^ to <i* SMtriom hatitb .turf egritmmeattfuimfftmn/ ttat rwwto, Totiay's.&rs, tbe tecamlte » series, review* tbe gfteatiOe litentoe M dbxio, deadly obemictliaowe topuu. . . . . - -;j <••••&..i"f ,~-***m ««Kun«,niitl • V '; . . ' , i . A chemical called dioxfcj Ms become America's environment*] #vi! of the '«te, eclipsing harmful pesticides s»rfj as DDT or deadly poisons such as arsenicwsadangertfrhumtahealtb. i^^-<^ Scientists now think dioxin is a far greater villian • than polychlorinated biphenyls, which acted as tbe catalyst in the two-year-old Bingharoton Stale Office "Second,*dk>ans :hive;Bo use. The chemical is an unwanted ingredient in 'the manufacture of pesticides and is also formed when other chemicals are exposed to!extremely high temperatures or electricity."' " * ' . . . . : , Although unwanted and unused, the .cheroJcal exists ia the'nooks and crannies of the 18-story state office building, creating anxiety.for workers, uncertainty for the community and a monument to technology gone awry. .—"-<ln his budget to be presented to the state legislature today Gov. Mario M. Cuomo is expected to ask for the re-appropriation of , $5.6 million for the decontamination and reconstruction of. the Bmgbamton State, Office Building. .. No new money J> expected to be soagfit for the clean-up in Cuomo's budget. ~t ,,:The fears in Binghamton are not lintque. Homeowners in Times Beach, ty., at .Love Canal in Niagara Fills ih"' Slcveso, Italy, have first-hand experience with dioxins. The presence of dioxin in the soil forced many residents from then-homes. , . Vietnam,veterans were exposed to the defoliant, Agent Orange, which contained traces of dioxin as a contaminat• ing ingredient, A recent film on Agent Orange underscored the uncertainty about dioxin: "Doubts are more cruel .than the worst truth." , -,i,In Binghamton, officials believe only trace amounts of dioxini escaped from 'the state off ice tower after an early Ktonung fire and explosion almost two ,jrears ago. The bulk of the deadly chemical is inside the building at about, •'1^3 parts per minion.' i . ; , : Despite several industrial accidents with extensive biological testing and frequent scientific papers in journals, the exact dangers of dioxin remain unclear. :. -- — \ .. .. , , . ; . /.; malf mfff Building chemical crisis. < . •,• First, dioxins are deadly. A litUe bit can kill an animal and cause an array of biological problems, from abortions to crippling tbe immunity system. The effects in humans are less documented. Researchers recently claimed three workers at a chemical factory exposed to dioxin died of a rare, • «nft.H««H»-«aiw«w»>« «" — — -* - " i~iji_ organs together.' tu :, See DIOXIN, Back Page _ «n«<7 man two years ago, when the combination of 3,000-degree heat and transformer oil cooled with PCBs formed significant amounts of dioxin in the soot tower. bat has fouled the 18-story —For example, scientists know a 2S micrograra dose can kill a two-pound chicken. A mlcrp-^- " . , f r m e n t s on animals using dioxin . tp its pure form have failed to produce conclusions accepted by other scien• tjStS. : " •*> i ^urift IWJV exhibn less id^S results. ffita1ySitTsevere unxMweu, chief, chemibranch, National Instl, »™=wnwuai in North CaroUna. - • -I*His view is disputed by Dr. Bertram I>arnow, occupational health consultant £«$id adviser to Dlinois railroad workers >>i» recently won a large settlement ;J«tfter being exposed to dioxin. -,: i*tjCarnow examined 47 men exposed to l J jJlioxin -• .'i'V-— • in soil at 80 tattt nw »«> �• IUJIUW, .-. heard from people suffering psycnowgteal problems, with a corresponding in crease in alcohol and drug use. New York state denies BMkine « . -—u.ji^tt« those claims and has been rebuuea m «»» more information from the citizens. H-i McConnell said the best evidence of -i nell e likely to come from r ' effect in humans is ent uiseveso,«*»j, ' utrial accident in Seveso, Italy; munity **P. °f • '•fen from the Ty ScWbol-aa< wr by a Wisconsin researcner. ; Dr. Alan Poland of the University of Wisconsin's iMcArdle Laboratory for „ Cancer Research, reported the most 1 poaionous diotin, 13,7,8 tetrachlorodi; benxo-parjhdioxki, or TCDD, promotes ; cancer tumors in mice. '^Poland applied TCDD to the skin of treatea wiin uua-icw.. amounts »«. •. mice treated "•with a non-letal1 rases. • - -»-i—— I« •Mknat . , . , --"Hairless mice repeatedly administered high doses of (dioyin) have skin /.' which is easily damaged and may det 'vetop absceeees 'tbout the lace," Po; land wrote in tte Nov. 18,1862; inue of Nature, a British scientific journal. ' "V "The animali assume a humped slat, ure,'with the back arched above the • shoulders,,and they move about poorly,"Poland added. --:• Poland'said his tests may apply to humans because the effects seen on the skin of mice is similar to the effects on human skin during one-time exposure. ^ A U.S. scientist at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences found TCDD fed to rats caused a decrease hi the absorption of nutrients from food, but no cancer or death. Dr. Louise M. Ball working with four others reported the rat's intestines were unable to absorb simple sugar amino acids, a basic nutrient, and glucose. A Dow Chemical Co. scientist reported in the Journal of TOJHC Environmental Health in June 1981. a majority of the laboratory animals died 26 days to 46 days after & massive dose of TCDD was applied. , As for PCBs, information on its lack of toxicity is becomming clear. A major posionine in Yusho, Japan, in 1968, and a similar incident in Taiwan, in 1979, involved more than 1,000 who cooked with rice oil cont high levels of PCBs. Most suff • cbloracne. :• ' . - . - - . • ' . ; , .,'•-. •-"' - - • ' - >• At first PCBs were thought to be the principal pbsion. Tests reported in Dec. 1961 and Feb. 1982 found that polychlorinated dibeuzofurans, similar to the compounds found in the Binghamton soot, were responsible for toe prob-, lems.' -.• ;•' • ' .. - . /•'-"•• '•':.'•'.' General Electric Co., which made the . state office building transformer, questions the role of PCBs in causing (11ness. • • •- '•••*••, ' ..;..Robert S. Friedman, manaeer, environmental issues affairs, said tests on GE workers exposed to PCB» in transformer factories show no/•Hie• • • • - ---A_iui-«M«i*i*». "'i rsszss*^""* ** sas?i35ri*v5 iJssssassrfiMjt • •s±sr'atta?s Tomorrow! State buaglet heatth mottHorinK program' for worker*, - — - i -«•«_- .u._i..| �reed quickly to admit the analysis was faulty ana «ded more research and study before a conclusion Monument in the making Official? now concede the swift analysis was degned to allay nubile concern. Instead, it fueled Iblicdiitrust. < "We were under pressure to get some information it/' said Dr. Susan J. Standfast, a state epidemic!gst assigned to the health surveillance program. Each person now will be studied in light of the me they spent in the building. The 'first analysis raped people exposed for a few minutes with peoe who spent more, than 23 hours inside the lower. •aai mixture, the etate admits,: threw off the final suits. • • • •••-••• . The new analysis wot not begin until late FebruEDITOR'S NOTE: This is the third in a series of stoy,iww«ver. .. ' . ' -•• .'•>•• '" • •-ries re-examining the 1981 tire in (lie Bingbaiatoo At least one expert claims everything the state State Office Building, Today, /Importer Steve is done is insufficient to tell what's .'happening to Geiutano looks at what steps the stale look to monitople exposed to the chemicals. ',. , tor workers exposed to chemicals after the bluzc "No one seems to know what constitutes medical broke out. rveillance," said Dr. Ellen K. Silbergeld, chief xicologist for the Environmental Defense Fund By STEVE GEIMANN id chief spokesman for the citizens xommtttee on It's like trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle without s state building."It's very vague." J knowing the shape of the pieces or the design of the SUbergeld fear* time has run out .for the state. picture. lemlcal levels in those exposed nave probably decIn scientific terms, toxic chemicals are a vast uuled dramatically, from the days after the fire, she known. Each new medical or laboratory discovery id.:,:.. .'„• •-. *,:,.'.:.„. .,-,, ;v .. .': adds a little more to the portrait scientists are trying "There is some urgency for the state to make up to make of the biological effects of such chemicals mind," she said,, ; , .... . •., as dioxin and poly chlorinated biphenyls. .1 October 1981, Dr, Richard Oka, former deputy Especially important, scientists agree, are tests rector !of the state Division, of Laboratories and - from humans exposed to the chemicals. Those studjsearch, quit his job to protest the. way the state ies are the only way to make conclusions about a as handling the testing. ., ..... •..", J .\ ',.• chemical's health and environmental effects. Medical surveillance is the only way epidemioloFuture scientists may have problems, however, in $ts can judge the toxic effects of unknown cbemidetermining the effects of dioxin contamination in Is^jke dioxins, dibenzofurans and PCBs. Those the Binghamtoii State Office Building. Private sts results 'are the same as laboratory experir health experts said the state's health monitoring snts on animals,,,,, ; . , . . , . : ,, program for state workers exposed to toxic chemiiduals exposed to dioxin and ojs related toxic cals has been bungled several times. ' often survive the initial exposure without For example, blood taken from exposed workers Bungled tests added to toxic tower delays Chose tests often tegin within a few months of exsure and can continue for months or, hi some ses, years. Chemical worker* exposed to high levi of dioxin at a Monsanto Co. chemical plant in jst Virginia 50 years ago are stilt being studied., 5e.wraT fiingharoton residents, notably former unty Health Commissioner Dr. Arnold J. aecter, have insisted on lifetime tests for those «t seriously exposed hi the building, citing the ig waiting tune to see signs of contamination. ',... UK medical surveillance program, a key element any effort to reopen the state office building, mjlly involved only .those people who volunteered tp tested. Later, the state actively sought individiit knew were exposed. , tUbergeld, who is also involved hi the dioxin coioination incident in Times Beach, Mo., said tie untary approach was wrong. ,: : ,, . . . • "he state had a responsibility, 'she said, to trade I anyone who was .exposed and tj> take a bloijd ~nple. .' ./•-•, .* .'-.I,-. ., .. . . ;.•.. , lie state collected blood from SIS persons wo nt inside the state building and SOS persons who rked in the county and city buildings. A portiih, )ut 185 persons, spent more than 15 hours inside s tower. ..,.-_- ...... : : .,.. • ' . ; _ .. : The state's handling of the cleanup) 1 ' after the Feb. 5,1981, fire was lost or broken and stored alongside lunches and soft drinks in a com! munity referigerator in the state Health Depart ment. Some blood samples collected by Broome County in the first week after the fire were sent to a New Jersey laboratory that was not certified to analyze PCBs, state officials said. • People who may have been exposed were not, in every instance, tested and irregularities were detected in the first samples from a Wisconsin laboratory, further delaying final analysis. Several months after the fire, a state Health Department physician assigned to work on the chemical crisis quit to protest the state's handling of the health monitoring program. "It's a lousy deal," says Lois Whittemore, a state security guard who was on duty when the fire and explosions occurred. Whittemore and 480 persons who went into the 18story building after the fire or thought they were exposed became part of the surveillance program in late 1981. A single blood sample from each was taken. . One year later, on Dec. 9, the state reported the results, concluding the tests showed "no evidence of any PCB-related health effects." Challenged by a citizens' group, the state was See TESTS, 6A *M EDITION FINAL �••Fab. 1,19831 money is same -' 'V'.V. - • ' By STEVE GEIMANN Gov. Mario M. Cuomo will not seek an increase in money to clean the chemically*contaminated Bingharaton State Office Building this year. ' ,; Cuomo asked the legislature today for $3 million in 1983-84 for the cleaning, & reallocation of money appropriated last year and the year before, out not spent .;•••» "I'm told we need $3*million," Cuomo said at a briefing in Albany yesterday. "That is all we need for the moment «,. '. "It's not a Cutback, we're going forward,' Cuomo stressed. "We'll spend whatever it takes." The state has appropriated $11.1 million since the Feh, 5,1961, fire and explosion which closed tiie office tower. All but $3 million has been spent or is under contract. ' . • Officials working on the cleaning predicted last week the office building will remain closed for two years while contractors rebuild substantial portions of the inside. ,,-Cuomo daid the cleaning and decontamination remains a top priority of his administration and he said he wanted positive proof the building is «afA l\af/u^ tu/v**lrA(*e Mifitpffi in ttuktl* i/tKe "We'll do what we have to do," Cuomo said. "We're talking here about life and health." Cuomo said he .will be "assiduous" in asking Health Commissioner Dr. David Axelrod to assess health risks before deciding whether the building will be reopened and reoccupied by the state workers. Cuomo'said based on information from the 12person expert panel and the health department, the cleaning "is going well." Cuomo told The Evening Press the health of the workers will be his primary concern: "I have to be sure no one is going to get hurt. I nave to be sure no one is going to get sick." Cuomo aides said the state will have spent or contracted to spend $8,6 million by April 1, the start of the fiscal year. „ Former Gov. Hugh L. Carey asked for $7 mil- < lion last year and $4.1 million in 1981-82. Cuomo needs Legislature approval to spend the remainder in the next fiscal year. �Four Sections FINAL EDITION C leaniipTIeavesltower| shell of its former sell EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the fourth fa • MS tkf off lories re-examining the 1981 fire in the Binghamtoa State Office Building. Today Reporter Steve Geimaiu looks at the state's huh dlingo/the cleanup. By STEVE GEIMANN ' What was mice a typical office building of offices, desks, potted plants and water coolers now resembles a stage set from a Samuel Beckett play. Since the disastrous fire at the Binghamton State Office Building two years ago, every piece of furniture, every decorative feature has been removed. Huge holes have been made in the walls to facilitate cleaning. The floor tiles have been ripped up. The only workers who come out of the elevators each morning wear white body suits and air masks. The sound of typewriters and office chatter has been replaced by the whirr of vacuums. The workers are in the demolition business, but without the dust and noise normally associated with tearing down a building. They're slowly demolishing the Inside of the state office building to remove soot with toxic chemicals, including deadly dioxins, which has kept the building closed for two years. The job has kept 60 men busy for a year and cost New York taxpayers $8.6 million, with another $3 million to be spent this year and untold millions more in the future. "We'll spend whatever it takes," Gov. Mario M. Cuomo said this week as he unveiled his 1983 84 state budget. Since the fire on Feb. 5,1961, the state agency in charge of the building — the Office of General Services—has had one aim: to clean an unprecedentedly dirty building. That aim has at times brought OGS into Monument in the conflict with the state Health Department; whose charge is to protect the public nealth. -N The cleanup, though controversial, has. given scientists a rare chance to experimeol; with techniques to clean up wastes and check for deadly chemicals like dfantuu and dibemofurans. . • > N For example, a new method to collect air; was developed to measure for dioxins and dfe benzofurans, the two most poisonous cbemR cals found in the building. '•' A revolutionary new test to duplicate the bit of human skin 15 being devised to see bow much soot is absorbed by the skin from desk*tops and floors. Conventional measures either fail to collect enough soot, or too much nut* rial. . . - . . - . - • •• :-,-.,;. Each day, the cleanup crews use paper towels and push special vacuum cleaners to trap" particles of contaminated soot from the flooTj wall and exposed ceilings on every floor/ '. Workers also use paper swabs dipped in an industrial detergent known as Triton X-100. a cleaner resembling a super-strong FantastikVto wash down every exposed surface, from the non-asbestos insulation above the rippedout ceilings to the floor and walls. The paper "cloth"' is discarded at the first sign of soot and is not dipped back into the soi lution. •; Robert A. Westin, senior chemical engineer of Versar New York Inc., a private firm hired to oversee the cleanup, said the work has been w successful, except on the floors. * See CLEANUP, Back Page/ ' �Cleanup. Four Sections Continued from 1A Tests last year showed up to 396 micrograms of polychlorinated biphenyls per square meter on waxcovered vinyl tiles, The wax apparently absorbs the PCBs and makes it impossible to wash, Westin said. Vinyl-covered walls are 10 times less contaminated with up to 36.8 micrograms per square meter while desk tops showed 46 micrograms per square meter, Westin said. A test in January showed measurable levels of PCBs in the insulation. "We're getting loose soot," Westin said in an interview. A report submitted by Versar last year concluded: "Repeated efforts to clean the ceramic and vinyl floor tile with detergent solution have not been successful." Other chemicals are not being measured. Officials have devised a ratio to keep track of the dioxins as the PCBs are measured. High PCB levels on the floors recently prompted the state to abandon the tiles on all 18 floors. It's less expensive to replace the tile now than spend more money to clean it, especially since the worn-out tile would have to be replaced in several years anyway. The tedious cleaning, which began in February 1982, has cost about $1.5 million, with each floor taking about 10 days to two weeks to vacuum and clean., Allwash Inc. of Syracuse has been hired to provide the crews, the equipment and materials for the cleaning. As of yesterday, the firm had vacuumed and washed from the 18th or top floor down to the 9th floor and vacuumed between the 9th floor and 3rd floor. The cleaning is slated to end April 1. Versar received $2.1 million for developing cleaning plans, monitoring the cleaners and providing a dozen security guards, and for air tests in the baseDuring the cleaning, workers moved 930 desks, 1,950 chairs, 850 file cabinets, 522 tables, 200 typewriters, 325 bookcases, 50 couches, 40 adding machines, 20 postage scales, 15 copier machines, 15 computer terminals and 100 lockers to the underground garage. Hundreds of thousands of records and files with even miniscule amounts of black soot were discarded in a special landfill. The state is reconstructing those records. "It's just like a warehouse," said David L. Mummert, Versar health and safety officer. The 60 workmen (for health reasons, women of child-bearing age are not allowed) spend a normal day inside the building, although their job is anything but normal. Drinking, eating and smoking must be done outside the building. Each worker must strip and shower after removing his white spacesuit and then pass through a special trailer in the basement before returning to the normal world. The state's biggest expense was,right after the fire when it employed emergency methods to do an immediate cleanup. A temporary power system was installed, a toxic clean-up crew from Connecticut mopped up spilled PCB oil and maintenance workers more accustomed to dirty floors and overflowing waste baskets swept up the soot. Those emergency contracts cost just over $1 mil-. lion. The state also spent $113,000 to renovate the former Columbus School on Hawley Street, which was turned into the new home for the displaced workers. The state pays $5,000 a month in rent. : • •', In the first, frantic days after the fire; the state's ' rush to clean and reopen the building resulted in mistakes, some of which may have allowed contamination from the tower to be tracked into downtown Binghamton. After the fire, state officials ordered workers into the building to begin vacuuming to reopen the tower "within a few days." State crews from Watertown, Buffalo and Albany went into the building wearing only thin protective suits while some locaTofficals began worrying about the toxicity of the chemicals. The state admitted only that PCBs were in the soot, while local health officials like Dr. Arnold J. Schecter, then county health commissioner, privately warned more dangerous dioxins and dibenzof urans might be found. State documents reveal the state, too, knew highly toxic chemicals might be in the soot, but did not say so publicly or stop the cleaning. "There was no reason to stop as long as the safety plan was being followed," Dr. David Axelrod, stale health commissioner, said a month after the fire. Admitting other chemicals were jpresent might have caused unnecessary alarm, officials said. Before the dioxin was found, state officials said, the cleanup workers walked through Binghamton City Hall in their work suits and toilets containing toxic soot were flushed. , , There were also subsequent admissions that the health and safety plan developed for cleaning PCBs was violated as cleanup workers walked around downtown still suited up. John F. Hudacs, executive deputy commissioner of OGS, concedes the cleanup got out of hand; but he insists the response wan annrrmriate eiven the information in hand. Tomorrow: The tttte tries to rebuild to Image tudtbe building. �- "A* „ &*&: t. 'l . 2.1383. op • Binghamton.N.Y. "A . -,- ,"*•/ State still ducks issue chemicals the opportunity to voice your opinion, as was suggested after the CBS report. I have read with interest the articles Now you have no excuse; we're au lisrelated to the contamination of the tening. State Office Building at Binghamton The <• facts speak for themselves. with dioxins and PCBs, and the reac- These chemicals are silent killers, tion of the state to the CBS report ,con- known to harm exposed persons and |,ceroing this issue. I read a lot about ; "doom and gloom" for Binghamton,. road. How many people have to develbut nothing about the real issue: cur- op cancer, skin disease, neurological ;. rent and long-term healthJbazard for at problems, leukemia, etc., before any; least 500 persons exposed to the chemicals. ; '. • *•• •• "• > •••-• Woen a similar incident occurred in i Hie state accusations of, nonprofes- The Netherlands, officials encased the sional journaligm seem dim in light of building in concrete and dropped it into • the apathy exhibited by officials of New the North Sea. The State of New York .Yorlc state concerning certain ques- appears to have encased the dirty SOB tions that remain unanswered for at in a shroud of political propaganda, ! least one taxpayer—me. and dropped it into the lap of John Q. ±-,:New. Yorlf, here's -your chance to Taxpayer.;. • clear up rumors circulating in my , ...,„!' LYNNR. TERRELL neighborhood. Perhaps you haven't had. Harpursville �Monument in the making Tough state taskRestoring faith EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the Btt* put in * aeries tatrkiag Ote second aaulveiwyofthc mi On that contaminated the Bujgbamtoo State Office BtdUiag. Today's ttory exunion bow information about the potential daggers- was aaadled by tite state. New .York has two jobs to do before it reopens the contaminated Binghamton State Office Building: rebuild the structure from basement to roof and rebuild its own tainted image. Both tasks can be expected to take .months, even years. State officials predict 'that reconstructing the building, piece by piece, will take another 2 to 2% years. Regaining credibility, which will play an even bigger role in determining whether the building ever reopens, may take longer. "It will be the people (of 'the community) who will make the decision on whether it's acceptable (to return to the building,)1' said John L. Buckley, Broome County's consultant on the cleanup. Or. Robert H. Huffaker, director of the state Office of Public Health, has acknowledged a credibility gap and recent statements indicate he is taking steps to build bridges with the community. ;•• GOT. Mario M. Cuomo, who assumed responsibility from a somewhat flippant predecessor, Gov. Hugh L. Carey, said the decision to reopen will be his and his alone. "I have to be sure no one is going to be hurt," Cuomo said in Albany this week. "I have to be sure no one is going to get sick." e decision to reopen, he said, will not be made until he has "solid Four Sections proof the chemicals are at levels deemed safe by the expert panel. However, there are still some public-relations rough spots. The state has, in recent weeks, appeared to time release of new information to blunt criticism from citizens.' For example, the first blood test results were distributed on the same day last December that a Broome County ad hoc, citizens committee met to discuss the crisis with outside experts. The group had criticized the state for delaying the release of information. Several weeks later, officials issued a press release on a new air test in which they were optimistic the building could be cleaned and reopened. The release came several hours after a CBS News report cast the cleanup in an unfavorable light. State officials describe the two incidents as coincidental. Huffaker tried to treat the wounds last month by arranging an informal meeting with representatives of the citizens group and appearing before a joint meeting of the editorial boards of The Evening Press and TheSun-BuDetin. However, such wounds take time to heal. The state's credibility suffered initial damage in July 1981 when the state withheld information on tests showing chicken embryos died or were deformed when injected with soot from the building. Though it was apparently known soon after the fire that the soot contained highly toxic chemicals, the I state did not release the information until three weeks after th? fire. Broome County officials, who suspected the soot was contaminated See IMAGE, Back Page FINAL EDITION THURSDAY I Feb. 3,1983i �Image— Continued from 1A with more than poiychlorinated hipbenyls or PCBs, urged the state to discontinue the cleaning until tests were done. The state kept the cleaning crews working. -Problems with the medical surveillance program, which has taken more than a year to set up, further weakened the state's position. The s, at first understated if not minimized by the state, have now been recognized to the extent that a psychological program is being considered to ease the Tears of workers. Then there was Carey's famous offer, when asked about the dangers posed by the building, to "swallow an entire glass of PCBs." That, to the state image-builders, was like a wrecker's ball turning a ramshackle house into a nimble of splinters. It instantly undid what little good work had been done. In addition, leaders of'a citizens committee formed six months after the fire charged the state had a conflict of interest because the agency running the cleanup was in charge of the building. The state is both regulator and regulated, they claimed. The state, while not acknowledging any conflict, formed an advisory panel composed of scientists not employed by thestate. , Part of the state's reaction appears linked to the past, when a public relations debacle at the dioxin contamination crisis at Love Canal in summer 1978 stirred national at."Some of the same health department officials reacted skittishly in Binghamton, trying to avoid public trances and statements which t arouse a worried populace. problem frustrates both the citizens and the state workers, and the officials involved in the cleaning: the lack of clear understanding .about the chemicals in the tower. "This is one of the most diificut things to overcome/' admitted John F. Hudacs, executive deputy director, Office of General Services. "I never get any real answers that I wanted," said Patricia A. Zemanek, a local union official. "I didn't get any answers I understood." To win back public confidence, the state is planning a series of informal meetings with small groups of employees to answer individual concerns. Those meetings have begun and their frequency will increase, Hudacs said. As the state tries to win the minds of workers, the 18-story building will be rebuilt as slowly as it was dismantled. "Rehabilitation of the building is in the discussion stage as to what kind of repairs will be needed," said David K. Seiffert, principal building engineer, Office of General Services. The state may use the opportunity to give the building a new look inside, using modular office furniture, for instance, if the original furniture cannot be cleaned. Also under consideration is a complete overhaul of the ventilation system to cut energy However, the state cannot do anything inside the tower yet. The 198384 state budget has only enough money to complete the cleaning, not the rebuilding. Semantics also plays a pan when the state's informational role is discussed. For example, Hudacs and David R. Rings, executive coordinator of Office of General Services, stress the building will be "refurbished". The dictionary defines refurbish as "brighten or freshen." State officials now estimate the rebuilding will take 18 months to two years beginning in the late spring. Such a timetable would push the reopening into early 1985 Tomorrow: The citizens got aagry 2.23 �. state the people^ ^,f...... cons hasn't given that information people. .-.»•:• ;•;••, test is, as-has been reported,,a ical "procedure done under BOildingln them more information about fat -anesthesia, What is'perhaps less well . __^_ _. "'*no»nis that it!can involve theremovave Been a topic of debate> :of as much as 100 grams — roughly" ~4>f acup—offati '". since.a dt|zeias' committeem from'the risks inherent in the of anesthesia there is also a risk of after the surgery. One The" ^aaSS^f& S ^I^^y ^iderablldisc^forL, the stAe,ditflast year are mvalid*. Most troubling, though, is the.:fact ~e PCBtiwould, by now, have;1; *bat no matter what level of PCBs is from the blood into the fatty tis- found in the fat, there is no treatment ojrae~t)6dyTThiB"state says the for it. The state can do no more .than ' tests are valid. ' •" recommend that those with hightevels . We have urged the state to pay for 'of the chemical in their fat avoid furle group of those ther jexposure to PCBs: As if- they need- > „ -^ •-.»«. f - . - ? • - ' ' at the office building ed to be told.'* ^rhe^iciais said they wHi try to ac-' _„. ^believed Jo: have <|spmmodate sany vof .those 479; people' • srant^nek ;;;;; * 4«bQ;w;aflt toiave the testdone. That's ' ttiinkfjthe^tate should4jick ..*** enough. |The-state shoulcl make tffc fop fix ilat ^biopsies, but available to v: them information about ' ed by some information^Jitbe-pros anti;cons of the test.-And the" that was made available :i.jState^fc-infonhatiou should be accom1^- ^^"- ^^5*intmeet-i panied.by: a statement on the subject •tfot^eSun-l from;)an^jtpert selected by|the "'" left wondering why f zenS'.commlttee. > | �5WE OFFICE LETS GET aivce. 5:00 P.M SQUARE Usr Thsy ALL INVITED V ' HORS -S.O.B.C4K6 '5 coMMiiree OM SIATF OFFICE �Feb.4,1983 tower flowing' an oiniversary, state-officials involved with the building's cleaning acknowledged that they have a major public relations camttttvSecobd^anniversai? of the paign ahead of them. They seem, as jfire lh«U»ntominated the StateOffice weuVto be learning that they can do ifalpbghamton, a fire that more to restore public confidence in prompted oiw of the first state of ficials the state by meeting the public's quesfcjio" arrive {Wf!l;be....8cene to say that it tions head-on than they can by avoid; might be seviaral days before the buUd__i it intensifies its effort to clean the I 't^eraH&^'1 has turned into two building, the state must also intensify .syears. Now;,$reiare told it will be two its effort to keep information flowing to more;yearewforejhe building can re- , the people of this community. Any reti* ~ "* uarantee f Even then; -Oiere's DO guarante cence on the state's part to answer the peojae will want to go back into it public's questions will, justifiably, be In a rpoent meeting with the editori- taken as a sign that it has something to al board; <1 ffce Sun-Buflefin,lsoine hide^ t; *' �VOL. XXXVI, NO. i SER VING BINGHAMTQN'S UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1983 SOB One Year Later: The Debate Continues By Fred Handle 'Tommorrow marks the second anniversary of the transformer fire that left the 'Binghamton Slate Office Building the largest contaminated building in the world. After two years no one knows how dangerous it is. no one knows if it will ever he safe and no one knows how many have been hurt already. On February 5. 1981. an unknown electrical malfunction caused a fire in the transformer room of the SOB that raged for fitty minutes before service was shut down. T h e lire caused the transformer's c<-.<>iant, u n oif heavily laden with pulyehlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), to leak out of the machine. The oil leaked across switching gear that, according to firelighters, reached temperatures as high as 3.000 degrees Farenheit. 1'CB oil \vas used in transformers until i's prohibition in IV79 because it dues not burn What PC B's can do. howexer. when exposed to intense heat is vaporixe. I hi-, is w h a t happened in the SOB. When PCB's vapun/e. they break down into: •a series of other chemicals. In the SOB some of these chemicals were: • PCB's themselves, known carcinogens banned in w o r k p l a c e s by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in any quantity exceeding trace amounts. •dibenzofurans. one of the most deadly chemicals known to man. •2,3,7,8, tetrachlorodiben/.o-para-dioxin (TCDD) the most deadly chemical known. The building has been closed since the fire, and many scientists and citizens have questioned the wisdom of ever reopening the building again. Former Broome County Health Commissioner Dr. Arnold Schectoi, commissioner at the time of the fire, said that residents of Times Beach, Missouri, were told recently by the US Center for Disease Control to abandon property contaminated with dioxins in concentrations of 1 part per billion or more, but that after the fire the SOB showed contamination levels of 10,000 parts per billion. In other cases where buildings have been contaminated by dioxins. said Schector, the - buildings have been abandoned. "This would be a reasonable solution from a health standpoint," he said. The SOB is the largest building in the world contaminated with toxic chemicals. Broome County consultant on the SOB Dr. John Buckley is optimistic about plans to open the building. Buckley SPH! test results ha 1 , e shown great improvement over t he past year ;is state crews have cleaned the building and solution from a health standpoint," he said. The SOB is the largest building in the w o r l d c o n t a m i n a t e d with toxic chemicals. Broome County consultant on the SOB Dr. John Buckley is optimistic about plans to open the building. Buckley said test result ha\e shown great improvement o\ r the past \ear as state crews have cleaned the building and removed contaminated furniture and building materials. Moreover, Buckley said that the tests have shown that acceptable levels of dioxins are w i t h i n tin. measureable range so that the buildisij. 1 can be checked alter the clean-up i.completed. Buckley said the standard that the state is using for the reopening of the building is ! 500 of the highest conceni'ation that luis noser K e n -r-.ov.ii < o caii-c fie!! mvnM: hf.:!!'i •.•"eels IP limr.. ..-. •.•: .mi m;iis Buck'.'*, \\as h u e d by the ( • u n u u> m o n i i c r lor Stale Cican-ii)- Piocedurev (I'tiiii'd on page 211 �< CK SOB fti. mf" ,^: r.'Rs >^.\ m? ;&$**4- r^l irr M 55 (Cont'd from page 1) Clean-up - Almost immediately after the fire, initial .clean-up efforts began. At this time health officials believed that the building was merely contaminated with low levels of PCBs. On February 25, two weeks after the , presence of dioxins and furans were discovered, said Schector, the county and state released this information, and. clean-up efforts were halted. The building was then left empty until April 19 when the clean-up resumed; this time with the intent to totally gut the building of all furniture, artifacts, and removable building materials, including floor coverings, ceiling .tiles, wallcoverings, and partitions. This, clean-up is still going on, . combined with sophisticated methods of cleaning and vacuuming techniques designed to minimize the quantities of dioxins and other chemicals; some of which have penetrated as far as six inches into the basic concrete of the structure. The cost of the. effort to date is $8.6 million. Governor Mario Cuomo has asked for an additional $3 million in ^clean-up funds for his 1983-84 budget. Cuomo said that the state will spend whatever is necessary to • make the building safe. The original cost.of the building in 1973 was $16.8 miHion. The total cost of the fire will not be figured until the price . of rebuilding the gutted structure is added in. Buckley said he considers the clean-up to be progressing "satifactorally." "As number of d e v e l o p m e n t s seem promising"he said. "The air tests are promising, the PCB levels are much lower than they were in the beginning and approaching those that would allow the building to reopen" said Buckley. . A member of the Citizens Committee x o'n the SOB said, however, that she was concerned about the fact that the tests the state has used recently are taken from air samples, not smear tests. She said "the air in the building is stil! because the ventilating system is shut down. Dioxins and the other chemicals in the building are heavy and would tend to show up in smaller quantities in still air." Buckley countered that the tests so far have been preliminary and that air te^ts with the ventilation system on would betaken soon. He also said that a new form of wipe test was being developed for the SOB to mimic the actual rubbing of skin against surfaces. He said this te.st is desirable because dry wipe tests pick up less material than the skin and wipe tests using solvents pick up much more. Public Health L a r r y Rosen, of the C i t i z e n s Committee said his main concern is for more comprehensive medical surveillance. "The state has assured us that if the building is ever reopened it will be safe. That won't be another two years anyway; the question now is what happen to the people who have been exposed already?" said Rosen. The cleaning workers and carpenters who were sent . into the building immediately after the lire were exposed to large doses of the chemicals and were given blood tests and medical care on demand. Now the state has followed up the original blood te^ts with a second set. On the. basis of greatly .lowered concentration of PCBs in ,the blood samples and the absence of any physical illnesses directly attributable to the fire, the state plans to discontinue tests and surveillance. "It puzzles me that first stage surveillance has ended" said Schector. "The idea that if you don't have health problems you don't have to continue surveillance flies in the face of everything we know about the study of carcinogens," he said. The Citizens Committee on the SOB has asked for: •More blood tests, which test for PCBs • Fat biopsies, which test for dioxins • Urine tests, also helpful in determining levels of toxicity. �Binghamton. N.Y A *v«--j citizens second-guess and sue state EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the sixth part tat series muting the second anniversary of the transformer fire Out contaminated the Binghamtoa State Ofttce Building. Today's story examines citoca reaction to teestate'thandlingoftnectisn, By STEVE GEIMANN It's a peculiarly American confrontation — a small band of citizens locked in a David-and-Goliath battle with government over an issue of public health. • . ; . . . "^ The adversaries, in one case, are the Citizens Committee on the Binghamton State Office Building and the State of New York. The issue is the threat posed by the contaminated building in the heart of downtown Binghamton. Every so often, the group aims a roct at the heart of the bureaucracy. More than once, that rock has scored a hit, convincing the state it should change its position. . . . ... '".,' . . . ,, ; Monument in the making Another group of people chose a different battlefield, aiming instead at the state's pocketbook. Their battle is waged in the courtroom with more than $930 million hanging in the balance. ' "• *The citizens'> committee — alarmed at what they consider an inadequate response by the state to the health hazards — has taken on the role of watchdog. They have not been reticent in their criticisms. "People on the committee are alarmed," Charlotte Moran, a member of the committee, told a group of state officials last mouth. The committee, for the most part, has been a quiet force. Although a string of spctkesmen have criticized the state about some decisions, the group of state employees has shunned publicity, fearing reprisials by the state. . < Tonight, the members and others will gather at The Markert Place to observe the secona anniversary, complete with a birthday cake shaped like the " J ! g , right down to the windows; See CITIZENS, Back Page �Four Sections itizens. • • " ' " ' Continued froni 1A I The committee was formed late in 1981 to begin nolding the state accountable for its actions. Several meetings were held, but the group's criticisms soon became little more than background noise. * Last year, the committee appealed for help from 'Dr.JSllen K. Silbergeld, chief toxicologist for the En;vffpnmental Defense.Fund in Washington. Silbergeld stays in contact with the citizens and has been 'named to the t2-member expert panel formed by the state to study the cleaning and decontamination, another smaJJ victory for the citizens. .Silbergeld appeared at one meeting of the citizens' group, and this week asked the state to schedule an-, other meeting of the expert panel to discuss the . medical surveillance , UK program has failedprogram, Silbergeld claims ir to monitor the health of 480 people exposed to the toxic chemicals. .~. .She committee has also turned to Dr. Arnold J. »t; Schecter, former Broome County health commissioner, who, in his persistent questioning of the state's actions, has become something of a folk hero to committee proponents. . • ficbeeter describes the state's risk assessment program, which set levels for safe reoccupancy, as a ''black art" and has demanded a more thorough surveillance of health effects from exposure to the building's toxic chemicals. J'l guess as long as Amie Schecter is around, we don't have anything to worry about." said one state worker who did not wish to be named. : i Schecter was not always so well liked. In the first weeks after the fire, Schecter was at first supportive of .the state and issued statements minimizing the health dangers.,. •Twelve days after the fire and explosions, Scbecter joined the state to remind residents that f"njrthing is completely safe." ^-Schecter, who has become the leading critic of the itnedteal surveillance programs, once said the pro; gram was "just a precaution." JP However, Scbecter's troubles with his boss, County Executive Carl S. Young, and his removal as -health commissioner turned his loyalty into opposition. ,7. :••'..:•..... . •' •-'A recent meeting between state Health Departme& officials was dominated by Schecter, who Fed Official* with wwnmoirfe' «~l -..-•*« al panel d i s o n on rans and polychloribipnenyls as an expert on the Binghamton ac;^u o' •...•' ' •' -•VlUWIV.i"'." '• ' •„ ;5:Scbeeter will be in Helsinki, Finland, next Septemrjltor to discuss the occupational hazards created by y PClBs.dioxinsandfurans. : •• '*>"tast year, Schecter went to Severn, Italy, to dis;«»>4ne.W7» chemical-acddent in that community, faqd has participated in several panels in the U.S. on jytiwfo';.- -. • " . . • '—•-- FINAL EDITION i Feb. A. 1983 r Perhaps a more central concern to the state are the civil lawsuits spawned by the accident. . T h e state has been named as a defendant in law- suits totaling about $938 million. The litigants in" elude a cross-section of state workers, city employees, people sent into the building to make emergency repairs as well as businesses which suffered Most state workers claim negligence by the state • for ordering workers into the building without warning of potential health risks. City employees claim _ their health is in jeopardy because the state allowed > cleanup crews to track the toxic material into City • Hall. • Yesterday, Broome County sued the state for ^$55,445.11 to recover $28,653 in wages lost while the : 'county office building was closed plus $21,852 in lost • revenue from parking. "**• In a similar suit, the City of Binghamton sued the '"state earlier this week for $200,000 for damages caused by the fire. The claim includes workdays lost •and other costs related to the city's role in the days •after the incident. In December, New York Telephone Co. filed suit seeking $218,308 for equipment lost after the fire. *; Less significant but perhaps representative of the problem is a suit filed by a group of city and county workers who lost prime parking space. They have filed a class action suit, seeking refunds of $300 and $400 for workers forced to find other parking. The biggest claims were filed shortly after the accident by four maintenance workers for the Office of General Services who were directed to re-enter the building. They're seeking $480 million from the -A^L*. •Michele E. Weidman, a city worker who was pregnant at the time of the accident, is suing for $310 million. In the original suit, Weidman sought $80 million ' -for her unborn child. The state has already settled $50,000 in personal • claims for personal property owned by state workers and lost after the fire. • The state, however, claims it is not planning to file any lawsuits on its own seeking to recover damages. "There is still too little evidence to determine the cause of the fire," said Nathan Rile-y, a spokesman lor the state Attorney General's Office. "No litiga, jtion is planned at this time, and it's even less likely I we'll file charges." .,'. The state hired two electrical engineers as con'sultants after the fire to help defend itself from near, ly $1 billion in lawsuits and to prepare any lawsuits ' .on behalf of the state. Tomorrow: An uncertain future looms. �Four Sections FINAL EDITION Feb. 5,1983' Tower's fate adds to enigma rrTtrw^iivin ...~t,__ . . EDITOR'S VOTE: ThiF is the last p»ri in a serief marking the second anniversary of the transformer fire that contaminated the Bingbamton State Office Building. Today's storr looks to the future. By STEVE GEIMANN Two years is a long time. It takes just under two years for an elephant to ive birth, for a community college student to earn a egrce and for Mars to circle the sun. It ,-ilso has taken two years to clean half the floors in Binghamton's contaminated state office building. Two years ago today, the 18-story office tower was contaminated with highly toxic chemicals after a fire and explosion in basement electrical equipment. Today, its future as a downtown office building remains uncertain; officials are only sure they will continue the cleaning process. Instead of being the home for state'government in S ower. 1 '*<» ' *•• * Monument in the making *; ?^ ** /%••'.- '^''-'.;i ' Broome County, the office tower is a Iandiuuirt0> :. chemical foul-up, a monument in the making: £••£•<? " It's still not certain what triggered the series W . electrical malfunctions that began shortly be&ire . dawn two years ago today. The only evidence'was nastily discarded during the initial cleaning. • „•:- ;"• „* Officials still don't know why an airshaft nearlb* ,men's bathroom was open in the room with the eke- ?trical transformer. ', ';i^' -: S*e TOWER, Back Page 1-1* . . Continued from 1A after the fire, officials issued an interim evacuation ; Binghamton architect John B. Cummings, chief policy that is designed to avoid repeating mistakes : architect of the project, said the shaft was not open made in Binghamton. . ' -• '-+>&} in any plans he approved. His firm did not inspect The policy, issued by, the Office o! General Ser€* the building after it was constructed. vices, requires full tests and consultation with the' Questions also surround the future of the building, which once was the landmark of a new downtown Department of Health before a building is reopened., > ; "It (the Binghamton accident) was a learning ex-f Binghamton: perience," said Officials have not said how clean floors and desks director, Office John F. Hudacs, executive deputy .of General Services; "If'this hapmust, be before workers will be allowed to return. pened again, we would do this differently.", *•'& A citizens watchdog committee is worried that a The state health department slip-shod medical surveillance program will serious- tests on the building and people.has spent $886,200 for'•v Of that total, 189,000' ly hamper efforts to monitor their health. was spent to analyze blood samples for polychlort* 'j State officials recently estimated the building will nated not be clean until this summer, and will be not be re- SOOt. biphenyls, the main chemical- foundf. in the • . , : , , ., . .••.->:,3 built and ready to open until early 1985, four years New York's lesson has not been ignored by other v after the fire. states and State workers and city residents exposed to the face the countries, or by firefighters Avho might • chemicals face an uncertain future, wondering erfire. same hazard in another building transform- '; ' about their own health, and the health of their famiDeputy Binghamton Fire Chief Donald A. Faugh-* >' lies. nan, who-was in command two years ago today, nas-r- '• received calls from around the-country asking for-; fl; In two years, doctors and scientists have been unadvice. Faughnan has provided such help more than . able tp answer questions about the effects of the deadly chemicals produced when oil from an electrionce. . , *• •./.-.'-: Officials of Versar Inc., the consultant hired by cs! transformer was vaporized into dioxin and dithe state for the decontamination, have received in- v. benzofuran, two of the deadliest chemicals known to man. quiries from as far away as Finland. . Robert A. Westin, chemical engineer, said a rep-'" One costly lesson has been learned in two years; resentative of the Soviet Union, working through a •-.. the state and its taxpayers have spent at least $8.6 million to test air and surfaces. third party, has sought information about Binghamton. Attempts to learn more about the Soviets' interThe lesson was not lost on the slate. One month est have j* "•n unsuccessful. '-*/£*£* *...=jtiti s'rT;^'f*'¥,. ;-"Cll : !9Ste �I Bingharnton, N.Y. '' ""' t - r* - Employees mark l shutdown of tower By STEVE GEIMANN A downtown Binghamton bar turned into a smoky party room last night when a large crowd marked the second anniversary of the Binghamton State Off ice Building contamination crisis. The crowd of about 125 persons, including many government workers, sang a song written by a critic of the state's work and ate a cake shaped like KBTHHITCWNS ice building. Government workers prepare to cut the cake while marking the second anniversary of the the state off of the 18-story tower domiThe fate shutdown of the State Office Building yesterday. . nated conversations at the party, held at The Markert Place, 81 State St. By STEVE GEIMANN There were no speeches, just a song It's been 723 days since the Binghamton State Off- written by Patricia A. Zemenak, an acice Building was fast open for business. It's likely to tive member of the citizens committee remain closed for at least another IS months. Here on the cleanup, who criticized the are some significant dates in the downtown toxic state's work and Gov. Hugh L Carey, chemical crisis: who once offered to drink a glass of PCBs. 1981 In a related development, Zemenak and Lois Whitternore, the security Feb. 5: A predawn n're in equipment which distributes power in the guard on duty the night of the fire, critistate of'ice towpi damages a transformer coe'ed with pofychlorinated biphenyis, causing about 180 gallons of liquid to spatter on the floor, cized the state's cleaning effort during walls and ceilings of the building. The tire ti first detected at S;35 a.m., an appearance on WSKG last night. and the two workers 'n«de art evacuated. By 7 a.m,, thp state, county and city buildings are closed. Zemenak said the state's assertion Feb. 9: City Hafl reopens. The county building reopen the following that at least 100 grams of fat tissue is day. The cleaning inside the office tower begin* with state maintenance workers. required for a biopsy of dioxin contamiSeePCBS, 2B nation is 'misleading." Tainted tower's cleanup calendar Zemenak said Dr. Mary Wolff, environmental health expert at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York, claimed only 10 grams is needed for such an analysis. However, Wolff told The Evening Press a 100-gram fat tissue sample was not unreasonable. Whittemore said the state had spent too much money cleaning and not enough money to check people's health. _ "1 think those people are a little more" important than a building," she said. As for the song, former radio person ality Phil Markert, the bar's proprieter, led the group to the tune of "On the Sunny Side of the Street" with the following words: "Grab your coat and get your hat Leave your PCBs on the doorstep Just direct your feet To the cleaner side of the street We used to walk in that place Before it was such a disgrace Now we'll never show our face They blew it! They knew it! If we never ha ve a cent We won't drink with Governor Carey No soot on our feet On the cleaner side of the street. �Pcbs. - CaatfaraedfroralB rW 14: Tests reveal soot and ash on every surface of the building contains 10 percent PCBs. The cleanup continues. Feb. 17: Binghamton firefighters are called to The Fairbank* Co. on Glemvoud Ave. to extinguish a fire in a PCScooted transformer on the roof. Feb. IS: The intense cleanup starts after the fire is halted after tests confirm the presence in the soot and ash of two highly toxic and potentially letal chemicals, dicxins and dibenxofurans. Modi S: Gov. Hugh I. Carey earns himself a reputation by offering to "swallow an entire glass of PCBs" and help dean the building with a few willing hands. Man* IB: U.S. Environmental Protection Administration fly to Singnamlon to inspect building. However, federal budget cuts prevent more active involvement. ', Mart* It: State spends the first $1 million. April I: Versa? Inc. of Virginia hired as special conslutan:. April 3: Thirteen experts in dioxin contamination and PCBs meet at UGuardia Airport in New York City to discuss the crisis and suggest solutions, they suggest more tests. April 27: Fire in a capacitor at City Hall spills a minute amount of PCBs, forcing the building to be dosed. May 7: First of two dozen lawsuits filed against the slate claiming negligence and seeking $900 million. hme 24: Broome County Executive Carl S. Young decides not to reappoint Health Commissioner Dr. Arnold I. Schecter, but will retain Schecter as special consultant. Av}. 10: Slate and local government leaders meet in Binghamton for the first time since the fire to discuss the crisis. Sept B: Special air fitters are lifted by helicopter 10 the top of the onke building. pet 1: Broome County legislature votes 11-7 against hiring Schecter as $12,000-a-vear special consultant on the contamination. Two weeks utter. Young appoints John I. Buckley, an environmentalist, as S30U-a-day consultant. Oct. 7: AHwasli of Syracuse Inc. it hind by the Art to', remove soot and ash and to decontaminate tower. -:"• Oct»: Or. Richard Ilka, state health department analyst, quits claiming the state has boggled the cleaning and health monitoring. . . Oct 22: Carey makes his tint trip to Binghamton in almost a vear and indirectly apologizes for flippant remarks. Carey declares: "We win not do this on a bargain basement basis." Oct 2fc Citizens Committee on the Binthamton State Office Building, an ad hoc group, holds its firet meeting to keep tabs on the cleaning. Oct 34: Slate begins medical surveillance program for 475 people exposeo to chemicals inside the building. The first results are mailed more than a year later. Nov. 4: State KeaHh Commissioner Or: David Axdrod promises second citizens committee meeting the office tower will be cleaned and workers will face no greater health risks than workers in any other buikling, Dec. 7: Broome County parking garage reopens for the second time after extensive cleaning. 19S2 Ian. fc Green icicles form from the slow leakage pi fluid from the floors ot th« building are noticed outside the tower. The same day, 13,000 is reported missing front a Mat* safe. Feb. 1: Air is released from the ouilding using a complex filleniw system. March 17: Hundreds of thousands of records are buried after stale decided (he pipers cannot be decontaminated. . March 19: City officials report finding PCBs of the type used in state office tower transformer. March 29: Experts reconvene in Binghamton to discuss the progress of hearth tests and to consider reentry guidelines devised by the stale. Some experts criticize state for not beginning animal tests promised a year ago. May: Workers involved in the cleaning report incidents of crabs and Ik? from using the same protective-gear. Mtter-'of respirator masks lefts MM the wrong kind of material!* being used. pat Ifc leaden of labor unions representing state workers oils for an independent federal acency. National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety, to assume control of hearth monitoring. .(aty 14: State reverses position and begins releasing test and other information about the success of the cleaning. Jury 22: City fcids two small leaks in the subbasement of City HaB near the connection with the state office building. The leaks allowed PCBs to flow into City Hall. Aug. 10: Two workers fall from a scaffold while working inside the building. Both are decontaminated before being taken to Our lady of lourdes Hospital. Sept 14: First of more than 1,200 barrels of toxic waste leave the office tower for a' secure landfill in Niagara > aiis, Oct. 21: State releases preliminary analysis of blood samples showing no adverse health effects from exposure to PCBs. No tests on dioxin and dibertzofuran. Oct. 23: Citizens committee sharply criticizes state and its plans tor health testing, calls for fat tissue biopsies to detects PCBs and other toxic chemicals. Dec. I labor union leaders, a gublic interest group and the ad hoc citizens committee denouce the panel of experts as biased in favor of the stale. Dec. *: State issues final report on blood samples, claims no ill effects. A Washington lexicologists vtwllenges state results, claims the- analysis is invalid. 1983 tan. *: First tests of air from deadest floor in the building show signs of deadly chemicals. State declares thr cleaning is working and predicts the building will reorj*n. 1*1. 10: State officials decide to rip out i to ifoor tiles no all icials 18 floors of the :ower. PCBs cannot he removed, despite repeated washing with m industrial solvent. Jan. 12: CBS News broadcast account of Hiotin contamination in Binghamton — first national publicity since the fire. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange Description An account of the resource <p style="margin-top: -1em; line-height: 1.2em;">The Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange comprises 120 linear feet and spans the late 1800s to 2005; however, the bulk of the coverage is from the 1960s to the 1980s and there are many undated items. The collection was donated to Special Collections of the National Agricultural Library in 1985 by Dr. Alvin L. Young (1942- ). Dr. Young developed the collection as he conducted extensive research on the military defoliant Agent Orange. The collection is in good condition and includes letters, memoranda, books, reports, press releases, journal and newspaper clippings, field logs and notebooks, newsletters, maps, booklets and pamphlets, photographs, memorabilia, and audiotapes of an interview with Dr. Young.</p> <p>For more about this collection, <a href="/exhibits/speccoll/exhibits/show/alvin-l--young-collection-on-a">view the Agent Orange Exhibit.</a></p> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Box The box containing the original item. 088 Folder The folder containing the original item. 2219 Series The series number of the original item. Series IV Subseries II Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Clippings: various newspaper articles, January 30 to February 5, 1983 Subject The topic of the resource BSOB popular press public opinion citizen action group https://www.nal.usda.gov/exhibits/speccoll/files/original/ec91ee0f8addbbb28aa066f839b4f6cc.pdf 9fc3a260350efa3ab3b937be610e13dd PDF Text Text Item D Number 02217 Author Corporate Author RODOrt/ArtiClB TttlB Typescript: Meeting Notice, Citizens Committee on the State Office Building, January 17,1983 Journal/Book Title Year Month/Day Color Number of Images D 4 Thursday, September 20, 2001 Page 2217 of 2293 �M&ttCB THE ST&TS OPPSCS D&TBs January 17* 1-9*3 : TIMES 7s.3tJ - PLAcSs Opportunities for Broome^ tnc* 5$ Whitney Avenue Blnghamton, Hew York 13901 AGSHDft ITSMS 1, Plan an activity to coincide with the anniversary of the fire at the State Office BuiMing, The fire otccurred on Fefo, 5th* Suggestions* to date, are to have; A* A awaas demonstration at noon time on Feb. 4t-h? B. A mass demonstration on Saturday, the 5th. » 2, Follow tip on the demand* made as .a result of the Dec. 9th meeting Which was attended by approximately 120 persona. {A copy of those demands are attached*) It is .necessary to follow Tip .on the successful meeting «rf Dec, 9tlu If there IB an interest In this health posed by re-opjenitig the State Office Building, must show it, For further information call; Hike McGalra T97-«9M - evenings Kelly Lynch 723«$4S3 - days Me isa 723-7B42, �C1TI*EB>& COI4R1TTBE OI9 THE Bll*GffAWT0J& STATE OFFICE ^ ^ » . PRESS BBLE&SE PQLfcOW W OW fm PUBLIC F0K0K Off THE KHSGHftRTOJ* STATE* OFFICE HELD OK DECEMBER 9th, BIRGBBWJOR BEW YX)ftK He almond immediate transfer of the medical surveillance to> anappropriate academic groo? with, expertise in the area. The committee £* concerned witfe the conflict of Interest created by the State which is the polluter and defendant and in. charge of medical surveillance, in addition, the surveillance as developed by the defend cuts is unacceptable, Medical surveillance of exposed persons should be life long, jtrst a* would be indicated after aft&estos exp0*wre or expo&ure- to- other chemic&lsj w&icb. remain. f» the bodfyv Fat Mopsjr for f uj-aost PCB^&> biphcnylenee , and dioxrinu , and other special tests should be perforated on exposed persons who it, ThiF «-ho«ld inc-luaSe persons working*" in or part*: of the Srtate Office Bvildi»g> the parking° City H«^l» or Coimty Of fi.ce B^iMinf * 2* The first priority of the State imi»t be to the health of those exposed. To date, many more dollar* have been allocated and pendted by the state on the bwildin? than on- person* exposed to the deadly cheitdcalR found within the State Off fee !fu tiding^ and al«o in the parking garage and in City H&11, which, as indicated last night by the City*& consultant Dr. VerMt> was contaminated by the explosion* 3» We accept the invitation of tlte State- to. have the Citizen* committee appoint a- representative on the State panel. We appoint Ellen Silberseld of the Environmental Defense fund to be our•»•represent*tive at this time. The unions which, represent the workers- affected should appoint representatives to the State's expert panel., One of these representatives must be an expert «fio can accurately * assess the psychological probleme that h&ve and shall arise-, 4* David Kings* Office of General Services, said last night that the State is in, the process of developing psychiatric tneanfF to prepare tfte* workers for re-entry to the barildi»?r Wt reject tfeir position and are affronted by R^ngr^s efforts at roauipulation, ,< worker ssliowlsS not 'be forced to enter the barildin^ ai the threat / of the lose of their �6. indicate* ttet the Stat^ i, t»tot*«* " f tor. ^ are allied *w*rei* *tte^t& on tte. f**t crfT the State «,d Bros** cttmty H»*2tk W*r**UF tte *erio^ft«twreof »* State MMtm: erf *e*»> r^«rfed to them, ^hi,, c*owmftt^ «» of teftltft. r to 6t*te ce tte �___ .*- *& not iwwre of me#le#l proW^ms that, are related? to the fire. H5p *rc appalled £>JF apparent attempts oi» the part of tfir State »n<$ ftroorae Coimtjr jfe«ltfe Departwwitt to> tlwr teriouE ftftture of toxic etaKfevJ* and- thef r *&*• state r*f&*«* to AcknowJetfge- the «Mjfjitcae» . effects which hAve> i^c-fl reported to theru., TWs- conmiif tee is awnrf of £ue«lt& prDlOrms- w&ich, occuretf to persons wh<x were tire Bingftamton. State Of ££c* StrJMJnf tlnce tike St»te- jnuet a^X^owJ^ff^ t&*t there ifr IJftJc fnfcnnationi ei» tfte ef f ectB of most of the c&cmic-«J» found Jt» the £t*te Office. tbe pwk/r^ g-wage. City H*Ji. Midi the County Office 1'hc Con^.f ttc-e demimd* a» expantJe* Wftccsmeut of ri&fc «JJ the *«oim effect* ceE tjto** chemicaifir If th« re-opened the»efrtwirfardK.mtmt fre- «rati«f.f The cownittee on the St^te Off-fee BoJldiny freJfew* thet there a£» w»y t^*t tftc bttildlft^ c*n.^frc clcimed «md rc-opcn««3t ff the starter fiojd* to Bar* K* Kim"*, *^ficswnent. Kr. Rfngt »g»ift riigJxt t&e St*tefs committment to cie«n »J1 we«r of to- the sftfnr I«veJ» &* iii otAejr JNzlJdfffgsr*. Tftc Committer agrees wf tft Mr, Rings «nd 4%fn»nd« th*t tbl& cononlttroent mu^t alec be The Commfttec on the STatt? Office BuiJdinjgr i* eupported byt Local ^94r county redcratfon of Lsfcor Forte PtrMie J&tere*t R0f,e«rc& Group for Brocmjc-^ Xxtc»$ Bfjj^antfero Civijt Service &n& Later CoeJiticc;;; IBM Worker* Uteit*df West Fide Council f &ingli«»ton. Fireffg^ter* Sowtfc Sfdfe COCTjeiJ? CSEfe toe»J (W^y w&o- work ir> the Government Complex For farrtfter faforaifttJott* contact: Cftwrlotte Koran, Bella Sroitfe ?2>-7$5D^ Ki*e ®P(Siir« 7»T»fff t � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange Description An account of the resource <p style="margin-top: -1em; line-height: 1.2em;">The Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange comprises 120 linear feet and spans the late 1800s to 2005; however, the bulk of the coverage is from the 1960s to the 1980s and there are many undated items. The collection was donated to Special Collections of the National Agricultural Library in 1985 by Dr. Alvin L. Young (1942- ). Dr. Young developed the collection as he conducted extensive research on the military defoliant Agent Orange. The collection is in good condition and includes letters, memoranda, books, reports, press releases, journal and newspaper clippings, field logs and notebooks, newsletters, maps, booklets and pamphlets, photographs, memorabilia, and audiotapes of an interview with Dr. Young.</p> <p>For more about this collection, <a href="/exhibits/speccoll/exhibits/show/alvin-l--young-collection-on-a">view the Agent Orange Exhibit.</a></p> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Box The box containing the original item. 088 Folder The folder containing the original item. 2217 Series The series number of the original item. Series IV Subseries II Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Typescript: Meeting Notice, Citizens Committee on the State Office Building, January 17, 1983 Subject The topic of the resource BSOB public opinion citizen action group https://www.nal.usda.gov/exhibits/speccoll/files/original/140d83f97d734500101ad27edb2ca189.pdf 1b9daa2beb0b6644c464091a3dfd5707 PDF Text Text Item D Number °2216 Author Corporate Author RepOrt/ArtlGlO Title Clippings: State Challenges TV Tower Report; Editorial: Bad Report; New Air Tests are Ordered for State Office Building, January 12-13, 1983 Journal/Book Title Year Month/Day Color Number of Images D 4 Descriptor! Notes Thursday, September 20, 2001 Page 2216 of 2293 �ThcEv<*ning Press * Sngnamtao, M. Y. Itate challenges TV tower report CBSNews'sre- year. the tower am . . ca&scutivt-deouty T tsr, Offieeat 0ea#ai femes, s&il Use state has spent $?.£ Bullies fttr ck&tttfi&sinc&t&c buildiag £i closed two ycirs ago. "I Ssavfc so ice* where they got foe figarts, toeay. " ' . . said hfc plaaotsJ to call CSS News in New Vonc to correct the cost es&sutes ^ad to ctari/y otter points cade' is (be bro&cast. huc&iled tfcg 4-miaule report, "iaacctiraie, se- pcep£f <jd the report, s&id yesterday the fcc& *sfr , t&e state health air tests to the: z&ost ia the i«curity gu^d Oft (Suty wh«a the fcc . a-nd WCA wotted in wbK is bcw Iraswa to for tte state Hesltis :,^t^<$uipi^ could jssiausi- &*» bsttk & cofitiiiiiaatcid .sp&ce for & , - havfc sure ditada ccmpoutuis &t t»e syggtstfti tevel of I fcave in evy body that two-tenths of a triUioatft of a grsai p«r cutac to tie tter*," WkaaeiEoi* said. metorinair, , ConiBty . Aiwud ^. , tiescriJsec! the as *** SKfc Castajy in e will prevail, "If bfedlth Stter&ti£a& Beadi, Mo., wiiere residents tuiv« ifl A stf :ic;ect probaWy tius «VacuAted «fter djoxitt was foows in fbe sail. that it wili nsver be CBS News corresjwcdcBt BiJ Kurtis, <S*-ac- bealtJi fewnl d»r of the broadcast, ss& "cote tfcis aoaiuing said CBS .Vews cstw wss thfc pride of BsngbaintoJi, S.Y s, butiteelincd thft icvitatioa. . Ktatii, wh» has cftvoal dkaca since {be cfataa- County Chamber of Cfou&eroci. said tl* report scaJ wasfirsttitscowr&iis aiy have jiiicted an aof Sir pictafc cf the cost of {he etefoiliiit Ag^aK Ctr&^g, sa . wls "te&pubae&ttij but no ... has (saterfestteddooaj sad Ic* thin ctia? $&& tit <J7Wtft iaa Srootae gjooa for �ONtlr voice of reason inmru t during ycstcrd&y'B CHS Wonting Naw* report on ttw fcinchBrnton State Office' Bullidlng bcrongcxT to I)f Kathleen A. fctoome County liaalth CeroTh<r rest of the toftrnenl wa* a U-xlf, <me - long on t• »•• for Instance, wett »cuU»tives of the state agenries han dltrtfi tile clwmup at the ifi^tory bulM^ tag? Wielr voic«« wren't hoard, fciv $U?*d, the slate Of«« of Gcwral Serviw* It puWiely challfcnRing the clean-up cost llguroa CHS tuttdfin its . . ^ I T I- . ' ' ' ..' *^ . - . , ! , , . ' '. Mowing New* does some things well; reporting the Wnrhamton, Slate Ofiicc Budding story o^Jecttvely ktv't ow of them. Unfortunately, it i» communily ~~ nol CBS - w»«tch �The Sum , B, 1-983 Page 3A N|w air tests are ordered State Office Building £2£iri»**!»«*«•*• Tiifc.^i^«^««^.itai«.* ?8* i^»•-»•--,v°-^ w*»w »»**E-*«»-»,«*8*irt*M M*^ «™. . r tB furwi cuWc «**«* -% 4M> officials owlwd new «,•»» * <* flK n * « stete hw ^ v^'i «> ••Wrv -«•••** •-.**h'«fc». 05 1 f w k wrtcr SS «KKff33.T3BTBe »fl*te«*«« t**RteriRgtfetww,' S^l^Siff S wly S£ d "n^ ^F*" ^ ^ P ^ mpartfriWit „.„„„„. .^.^ f , , ^^^^.^...^^ftvrairsRmnJEstskai ¥OJ*5 1IS,*'1^!?^ *^nl ?*5 trdiiion *njl iti Nov^nfer on th ? >&lh flncv &yM m<! di^ m011' «*«' <**" ^ nntliort t»efor* the l«y ildP lecit^rrtp^pasioawiiidioxift, teJrAoWto^ £/*°1^?:', , *" "• 'n.C««jmliis8Wthrcaiiljcnw»r cS*teo?r»lRls«»iiJ«;^OfriPeoiGe«w;ia ..JtU-ewwu^. 8en'i«»iaent|7,8BalWwitocJew»itti(lde! iwt in ii position to r*l8tf «4»*t w««mwrf* ttie buUdlng RIK} tN( hwdth dc1 u««^^j^Wjgwjj^j ss^^a??*,. ??^^***&***** this wed;, st«1e offwirii. j^d nn &tr I)r, of FMbUc H&Yth, ^ U*le forfor«nmmttxuris ««•<; the tt*tc e«n ciean sraUf^ to uw ktvd» set by a 12-rnembcr psnd of ex* pen*. T s |. • . . . John i.. Buciky, Browtie County'fi suttsnt oo tf«e cleanup, sn5d the ful dloxin te$^ ft** u^frst»T>deb te^s have never been can&Kted The t«ftt shov«4 ftloxin kvtl* Mtm- U* triilkcif** rf B gr*m oi (JteJfiJf per ca$*k mrtw. The stole ha? e«t * re-entry pt»fetlne of 0>I of * trilUonUi eJ 6 gr»m per cubic �* New York inc. P.O. BOX 1549 6621 ELECTRONIC DRIVE SPRINGFIELD, VIRGINIA 22151 Dr. Alvin L. Young Agent Orange Projects Office (10A7A) Dept. of Medicine and Surgery Veterans Administration Central Office 810 Vermont Avenue, N.W. Washington, D. C. 20420 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange Description An account of the resource <p style="margin-top: -1em; line-height: 1.2em;">The Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange comprises 120 linear feet and spans the late 1800s to 2005; however, the bulk of the coverage is from the 1960s to the 1980s and there are many undated items. The collection was donated to Special Collections of the National Agricultural Library in 1985 by Dr. Alvin L. Young (1942- ). Dr. Young developed the collection as he conducted extensive research on the military defoliant Agent Orange. The collection is in good condition and includes letters, memoranda, books, reports, press releases, journal and newspaper clippings, field logs and notebooks, newsletters, maps, booklets and pamphlets, photographs, memorabilia, and audiotapes of an interview with Dr. Young.</p> <p>For more about this collection, <a href="/exhibits/speccoll/exhibits/show/alvin-l--young-collection-on-a">view the Agent Orange Exhibit.</a></p> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Box The box containing the original item. 088 Folder The folder containing the original item. 2216 Series The series number of the original item. Series IV Subseries II Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Clippings: State Challenges TV Tower Report; Editorial: Bad Report; New Air Tests are Ordered for State Office Building, January 12-13, 1983 Subject The topic of the resource BSOB popular press public opinion ambient air sampling Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange Description An account of the resource <p style="margin-top: -1em; line-height: 1.2em;">The Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange comprises 120 linear feet and spans the late 1800s to 2005; however, the bulk of the coverage is from the 1960s to the 1980s and there are many undated items. The collection was donated to Special Collections of the National Agricultural Library in 1985 by Dr. Alvin L. Young (1942- ). Dr. Young developed the collection as he conducted extensive research on the military defoliant Agent Orange. The collection is in good condition and includes letters, memoranda, books, reports, press releases, journal and newspaper clippings, field logs and notebooks, newsletters, maps, booklets and pamphlets, photographs, memorabilia, and audiotapes of an interview with Dr. Young.</p> <p>For more about this collection, <a href="/exhibits/speccoll/exhibits/show/alvin-l--young-collection-on-a">view the Agent Orange Exhibit.</a></p> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Box The box containing the original item. 088 Folder The folder containing the original item. 2214 Series The series number of the original item. Series IV Subseries II Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Westin, Bob Title A name given to the resource Memorandum: TV Coverage of Dioxin Problems, from Bob Westin to Distribution List, January 11, 1983 Subject The topic of the resource BSOB popular press public opinion Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange Description An account of the resource <p style="margin-top: -1em; line-height: 1.2em;">The Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange comprises 120 linear feet and spans the late 1800s to 2005; however, the bulk of the coverage is from the 1960s to the 1980s and there are many undated items. The collection was donated to Special Collections of the National Agricultural Library in 1985 by Dr. Alvin L. Young (1942- ). Dr. Young developed the collection as he conducted extensive research on the military defoliant Agent Orange. The collection is in good condition and includes letters, memoranda, books, reports, press releases, journal and newspaper clippings, field logs and notebooks, newsletters, maps, booklets and pamphlets, photographs, memorabilia, and audiotapes of an interview with Dr. Young.</p> <p>For more about this collection, <a href="/exhibits/speccoll/exhibits/show/alvin-l--young-collection-on-a">view the Agent Orange Exhibit.</a></p> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Box The box containing the original item. 066 Folder The folder containing the original item. 1800 Series The series number of the original item. Series III Subseries III Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Clippings: USA Today - The Nation's Newspaper - Gives Its Op-Ed Page to Vietnam Trauma, September 1, 1983 Subject The topic of the resource veteran psychological health public opinion popular press ao_seriesIII Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange Description An account of the resource <p style="margin-top: -1em; line-height: 1.2em;">The Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange comprises 120 linear feet and spans the late 1800s to 2005; however, the bulk of the coverage is from the 1960s to the 1980s and there are many undated items. The collection was donated to Special Collections of the National Agricultural Library in 1985 by Dr. Alvin L. Young (1942- ). Dr. Young developed the collection as he conducted extensive research on the military defoliant Agent Orange. The collection is in good condition and includes letters, memoranda, books, reports, press releases, journal and newspaper clippings, field logs and notebooks, newsletters, maps, booklets and pamphlets, photographs, memorabilia, and audiotapes of an interview with Dr. Young.</p> <p>For more about this collection, <a href="/exhibits/speccoll/exhibits/show/alvin-l--young-collection-on-a">view the Agent Orange Exhibit.</a></p> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Box The box containing the original item. 086 Folder The folder containing the original item. 2165 Series The series number of the original item. Series IV Subseries I Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Poem typescript: My Heros Have Always Been Dioxins Subject The topic of the resource public opinion Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange Description An account of the resource <p style="margin-top: -1em; line-height: 1.2em;">The Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange comprises 120 linear feet and spans the late 1800s to 2005; however, the bulk of the coverage is from the 1960s to the 1980s and there are many undated items. The collection was donated to Special Collections of the National Agricultural Library in 1985 by Dr. Alvin L. Young (1942- ). Dr. Young developed the collection as he conducted extensive research on the military defoliant Agent Orange. The collection is in good condition and includes letters, memoranda, books, reports, press releases, journal and newspaper clippings, field logs and notebooks, newsletters, maps, booklets and pamphlets, photographs, memorabilia, and audiotapes of an interview with Dr. Young.</p> <p>For more about this collection, <a href="/exhibits/speccoll/exhibits/show/alvin-l--young-collection-on-a">view the Agent Orange Exhibit.</a></p> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Box The box containing the original item. 079 Folder The folder containing the original item. 2041 Series The series number of the original item. Series III Subseries IV Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stibbard, K. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Title A name given to the resource Why is Publicity Given to Vietnam Veterans? Subject The topic of the resource veteran psychological health public opinion popular press ao_seriesIII Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange Description An account of the resource <p style="margin-top: -1em; line-height: 1.2em;">The Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange comprises 120 linear feet and spans the late 1800s to 2005; however, the bulk of the coverage is from the 1960s to the 1980s and there are many undated items. The collection was donated to Special Collections of the National Agricultural Library in 1985 by Dr. Alvin L. Young (1942- ). Dr. Young developed the collection as he conducted extensive research on the military defoliant Agent Orange. The collection is in good condition and includes letters, memoranda, books, reports, press releases, journal and newspaper clippings, field logs and notebooks, newsletters, maps, booklets and pamphlets, photographs, memorabilia, and audiotapes of an interview with Dr. Young.</p> <p>For more about this collection, <a href="/exhibits/speccoll/exhibits/show/alvin-l--young-collection-on-a">view the Agent Orange Exhibit.</a></p> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Box The box containing the original item. 069 Folder The folder containing the original item. 1873 Series The series number of the original item. Series III Subseries IV Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Wellington, The Evening Post Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource January 18 1980 Title A name given to the resource Wellington Decision to Spray 2,4,5-T Arouses Outcry Subject The topic of the resource herbicide application ecological impact public opinion Australia ao_seriesIII https://www.nal.usda.gov/exhibits/speccoll/files/original/02521277d9104fdf845d0bbb1e4bb348.pdf b30fdad0eb199e70575d9b2aef7c3274 PDF Text Text Item ID Number 01435 Author Young, Alvin L. Corporate Author RODOrt/ArtlOlO TltlO Social Controversy and the Dioxln Question Journal/Book Title Year 1Q85 Month/Day September Color ° Number of Images 9 DeSCTlptOn Notes Accepted for publication in Chemosphere 1986 Tuesday, May 15, 2001 Page 1435 of 1514 �SOCIAL CONTROVERSY AND THE DIOXIN QUESTION A. L. YOUNG Office of Science and Technology Policy Executive Office of the President Washington, D.C. 20506, U.S.A. ABSTRACT The dioxin controversy conforms to a model useful for analyzing "quality of life issues." Examination of scientific versus social, political, and legal issues reveals an extensive scientific data base for „ studying the dioxin controversy. It is apparent that the factors that presently drive this controversy are not based on scientific truth. The dominant role playe'd by the media in keeping the dioxin controversy before the public is discussed. INTRODUCTION Health concerns involving dioxin, especially the 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), date from 1969 - 1970 and its contamination of Agent Orange, the military defoliant used in the Vietnam Conflict. Current interest 1970 is merely an extension and popularization of issues first publicized in and again in 1974. A large volume of toxicological data o« 2,4,5,- trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T) and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), the two herbicides in Agent Orange, were available during the final years of US involvement in Vietnam, but woefully inadequate toxicological and enviror.mental data on TCDD precluded resolution of the issues. - Although scientists recognized TCDD was deforming) in laboratory animals, acutely toxic and teratogenic (birth no studies were available on the effects of chronic long-term low-level exposures in lower mammalian'species. Fur- thermore, numerous occupational exposures to TCDD were reported during the industrial production of trichlorophenol, but epidemiologic studies were not available despite documented exposures as early as 1949. Presentation to the 5th International Symposium on Dibenzo-p-dioxins and Dibenzofurans, Beyreuth, FRG, September 1985. Accepted for publication in CHEMOSPHERE 1986. �Thus in an attempt to resolve the present controversy, scientists had to assess the long-term effects of exposure to TCDD either on the basis of existing data available from health studies of industrial from studies of Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange. populations or Of course, one major assumption must be that US military personnel reporting health effects were probably exposed to Agent Orange and, hence, to TCDD. But, regardless of any reported health effects, a valid study must include examination of all facets of the controversy. This requirement poses a dilemma because objective analysis depends on established criteria, but there are simply no models available for analyzing environmental health issues. In the absence of such models, examination of environmental crises involving other chemicals can provide a useful parallel for analyzing contamination involved the dioxin controversy. For example, environmental or "poisoning" episodes during the decade of the similar chemicals, such as chlorinated insecticides seventies (chlordane, DDT, andmirex), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs). And, during the last few years, the Love Canal episode has received extensive publicity. Analysis of these episodes, including reports on PCBs by Hammond (5) and Culhane (3), reports on PBBs by Budd et al. (1), and Ember's (5) assessment of the Love Canal episode, reveals that these v share common characteristics. Apparently, the public perceives episodes highly publicized environmental poisoning episodes as threats to the "quality of life," and, as a result of this perception, the episodes lead to a number of predictable events (see Table 1). NATURE OF CONTROVERSIES A controversy involving environmental contamination commonly begins with an episodic event. a specific instance of poisoning that arouses public and scientific concern. animals, but Such an event usually begins with contamination of its impact rapidly expands to include humans who may have inadvertently been exposed to the chemical. Frequently, improper use or disposal of the chemical precipitates the event (e.g., the PBB episo.de, 1). Generally, only a few people or livestock are actually exposed to, or contaminated by, the chemical. This small population, however, is an inadequate sample for establishing cause and effect relationships. "Nevertheless, concerned individuals respond to the event with lists of observed biological effects in animals and adverse physical symptoms in humans. In most instances, lay persons (including news reporters), local physicians, or biologists compile these lists, and they ultimately become indicators of �Table 1. Events and Characteristics of Environmental Poisoning Episodes That Define "Quality of Life" Controversies Event/Characteristic Brief Description Episodic Event An environmental incident involving poisoning of man and/or livestock Inadequate Sample Size Episodic events involve exposure of small populations of people and/or livestock Inadequate Scientific Data Reported symptoms and adverse health effects are inconsistent with scientific data. Intense Media Response Sensational reporting of the episodic event Inadequate Government Response The initial failure of government agencies to respond to public concerns Special Interest Groups A group of citizens joined by a common concern to manipulate public and political attitudes toward an episodic event or chemical Initiation of Lawsuits The threat of legal action in the absence of a satisfactory resolution of an episodic event Advisory Groups At the request of a lead agency, e.g., a state department of health, qualified representatives from all interested parties join in an advisory committee to coordinate research studies, review results, and offer recommendations for resolution of issues Unsatisfactory Resolution There are no satisfactory methods for appropriate resolution of "quality of life" controversies. Congressionally-Mandated Action Political action groups demand and obtain congressional action, usually in the form of mandated health studies. �adverse effects to people who feel that they or their animals have been "potentially" exposed to the chemical. Invariably, these lists are not consistent with accepted scientific data because the media and the public either confuse or misunderstand the concepts of dose, exposure, and chronic and acute effects. As a result, the public concludes that the scientific data are inadequate. and, in some instances (e.g., the Love Canal episode, (5), it may express an intense emotional reaction to the scientific data if it suspects that "contrary" data are wrong or even dishonest. Of course, the episodic event is "news," and, as such, it always attracts the local news media. tains many providing Initial coverage of the event usually con- inaccuracies and reflects a highly emotional orientation. In the coverage, the media compare the list of symptoms of a given episodic event to symptoms from other similar events in the past or in some other community. The intensity and duration of coverage depend on the magnitude or nature of the episode and on the number of people or animals exposed to "environmental poisoning." The media response is further charac- terized by articles in major newspapers or on the evening news, and these articles are usually followed by other articles containing "sensational" stories in popular magazines (e.g., Time, Reader's Digest, Family Circle, ••Playboy, and Penthouse). Culmination of the intense and frequently inaccurate campaign is marked by television documentaries usually prepared to highlight significant events or chemicals. For example, "A Plague on Our Children" was televised nationwide on 2 October 1979 by the Public Broadcasting System in its "NOVA" series and focused on PCBs, TCDD, 2,4,5-T, and the Love Canal. The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST, 2) reviewed this documentary and concluded: The program was overloaded with interviews with emotional laymen whose uneducated opinions about health hazards related to chemicals would be expected to induce a similar emotional response in the viewer. Following local, responses the episodic event and intense media coverage, numerous state, and federal agencies provide immediate but definitive to the stories. Personnel in these agencies are rarely knowl- edgeable about the chemicals or the incidents, but, after cursory reviews of available information and telephone calls to local scientists, physicians, or other "experts," they release tentative responses to implied or direct charges of official ineptitude. Frequently, the media and the public view these efforts as inadequate government behavior and label the concerned agency as "unresponsive." �In concluding that the government is unresponsive, concerned citizens form special interest groups and usually solicit the services of their own "experts.* Media coverage and inquiries to elected government officials prompt public hearings on the episodic event, the tragedies suffered by the •victims," and reports by the scientific community and government officials. The impact of special interest groups on public attitudes and the behavior of government officials has been described by Ember ( ) 5. For example, the Love Canal Homeowners Association, a special interest group, launched a separate epidemiologic study of the Love Canal "at risk" population and subsequently used data derived from the study to elicit responses " from a number of federal agencies and even a US district court. Failure to resolve the controversy or to compensate the victims of the episodic event soon leads to lawsuits against the company responsible for the event, for production of the chemical, or for both activities. The real purpose of the lawsuits is to verify the concern of the individuals. Since the complex nature of the issues precludes their immediate appearance on court dockets, lawsuits are always pending. Many government agencies, special interest groups, academic and "research institutions, and concerned citizens become involved in various facets of the chemical episode. so many To minimize the confusion associated with "players," the lead government agency, usually a state health department, appoints an advisory group to insure maximum collection and review of all relevant data. The composition of this group must reflect the credentials of "qualified" people representing major players and various government agencies advisory involved in the episode. One major function of the group is to offer recommendations that will assist the lead agency in resolving the issues. With the possible exception of bans on some of the chlorinated insecticides, the government and the scientific community have satisfactorily resolved very few episodes stemming from environmental poisoning. -But, even tn the ban on DDT, dispassionate scientific data took second place to emotional concerns in the legal resolution of the issue ( ) These contro4. versies generally remain unresolved because there simply is no satisfactory mechanism for treating opposing points of view in complex "quality of life" issues. The result has been an increasing public fear of artificial chemicals in the environment and lack of confidence in the ability or willingness of government and science to resolve problems related to their use �or disposal. Thus, unsatisfactory resolution Is still another unique char- acteristic of controversies stemming from environmental poisoning episodes. When it is perceived by the public and special interest groups that the resolution of a specific controversy is not probable, or cannot be done in a timely manner, action. This the final recourse is to solicit congresstonally-mandated action may take the form of a mandated additional health studies, or presumptive compensation. scientific review, In any case, it is an expression by the political system that is intended to reflect concern for the victims of the episodic event. DISCUSSION Obviously, the characteristics that distinguish environmental poisoning episodes from other environmental issues are a combination of scientific, social, political, and legal factors. preponderance If a controversy is based on a of scientific concerns and these concerns cannot be resolved to the satisfaction of the media and the public, then one can conclude that scientific issues drive the controversy. reasonably In this instance, reasonable answers to key scientific questions should lead to satisfactory resolution of the controversy. On the other hand, sufficient scientific data may permit definitive answers to questions related to public health, but they may not resolve the initial controversy. In such instances, one must conclude that social, political, or legal issues drive the controversy. Obviously, all key scientific questions can never be answered to the complete satisfaction of all parties, and the same is true for social, political, and legal concerns. Thus, short-term studies involving relatively small expenditures of resources might be feasible to enhance the existing scientific data base. On the other hand, a reasonably complete data base for making decisions in the present or immediate future may not justify long-term studies (years) requiring major outlays of dollars and manpower. The ten characteristics discussed in the above model apply in varying degrees to all controversies based on environmental poisoning -episodes. Like other controversies, the dioxin controversy can be examined in the framework of this model. The analysis begins with an evaluation of the episodic event and traces its evolution to a full-blown controversy. difficult It is to identify a specific episodic event for dioxin, although the horse arena deaths in Missouri in 1972 and the Seveso, Italy, Dioxin Episode of 1976 aroused the public's awareness of dioxin. Nevertheless, it is probable that dioxin-contaminated Agent Orange used in South Vietnam repre- �sents the' major episodic event, especially as it relates to the intense publicity given to dioxin, Agent Orange, and the Vietnam veteran in March 1978. Table 2 describes the dioxin controversy as applied to the criteria for assessing environmental health issues. Public and private perceptions of controversial issues are manifested as fear of the unknown, such as the risk associated with a poisonous chemical in the environment. not always react threatened harm. The public does to that fear in proportion to the seriousness of the This is particularly true of "quality of life" issues in which determination of risk involves value choices. Positions taken by the media and the courts may be independent of scientific consensus regarding the actual risk. The media response to this issue deserves some additional examples. INTENSE MEDIA CAMPAIGN Station WBBM, a television affiliate of the Columbia System Broadcasting in Chicago, Illinois, aired a special report in March 1978.on the subject, "Agent Orange: Vietnam's Deadly Fog." This film reviewed a number of past environmental episodes allegedly involving 2,4,5,-T and TCDD. JCurtis (7), the WBBM reporter, compared symptoms described by some Vietnam *• veterans in the Chicago area with the symptoms identified in past "poisoning" episodes. Veterans shown in the film claimed that they had been sprayed with Agent Orange during combat operations in South Vietnam. Kurtis concluded his documentary with these statements: Officially the Veterans Administration is denying the claims of poisoning by Agent Orange. Their scientists simply feel there isn't any evidence to link defoliation with human problems. But after researching this report and listening to the recommendations of the leading dioxin scientists in the country, we feel there is a need for immediate testing of all Vietnam veterans who handled Agent Orange or went into sprayed areas. Not only for the sake of those who have told us of their symptoms but for the countless others whose lives and whose children's lives could be blighted by the dioxin poison in Agent Orange. Wade (8) recently reviewed many of these articles and wrote that the "whole passel" of apprehensions "may have nothing to do with Agent Orange in scientific fact, but is grounded in other problems affecting the Vietnam veteran population and has been launched into celebrity by a self-generating series of press and television stories." He observed further: In favor of the latter hypothesis, it nay be noted that the first large batch of veterans' complaints about Agent Orange emerged in 1978 from Chicago shortly after the showing there of a television �Table 2. The Dioxin Controversy as Applied to the Criteria for Assessing Environmental Health Issues Event/Characteristic Brief Description Episodic Event The use of Dioxin (TCDD) contaminated Agent Orange, 1965-1970, in the Vietnam Conflict Inadequate Sample Size No satisfactory Exposure Index has been developed for Epidemiologic "studies". Industry populations exposed to TCDD small. Inadequate Scientific Data Little or no data available on the toxicity of TCDD (e.g., teratogenesis or carcinogenesis) at the time of Agent Orange use in Vietnam. Intense Media Response Most intense media coverage began in March 1978 with WBBM broadcast of "Agent Orange: Vietnams Deadly Fog." Inadequate Government Response Department of Defense and Veterans Administration did not respond to the Veterans' concerns over Agent Orange and dioxin until 1978. Initial response limited to establishment of the Agent Orange Registry. Special Interest Groups ** Vietnam Veterans have not only lobbied the traditional veterans organizations (e.g., American Legion) but have also founded Vietnam Veterans of America and Agent Orange International. These two latter groups have Agent Orange as major issue. Initiation of Lawsuits Following more than 5 years of legal maneuvering, an out-of-court settlement for $180 million occurred in 1984 between 7 chemical companies (all had been producers of Agent Orange) and Vietnam veterans as a class. Advisory Groups The Veterans Administration and many individual states chartered Advisory Groups to provide guidance for the establishment of programs. In 1981, the Federal government formed the 12-Agency Agent Orange Working Group. Unsatisfactory Resolution Despite the success of the above litigation action, veterans have been unsuccessful in obtaining compensation for dioxin exposure from the Federal government. Congressionally-Mandated Action In December 1979, Public Law 96-151 required the conduct of epidemiologic studies of Vietnam veterans. In November 1981, Public Law 97-72 authorized the Veterans Administration -to provide eligible veterans medical care and treatment for illness possibly related to Agent. Orange/Dioxin exposure. In October 1984, Public Law 98-542 was enacted that required VA to.compensate veterans or their survivors for disabilities or death related by sound scientific and medical evidence to dioxin exposure. �documentary about the herbicide's possible effects on health. The idea spread like wildfire among veterans' groups; here at last was a tangible cause for all their discontents. Each claim filed generated more newspaper stories which generated further claims, until the present fervid atmosphere had been created. CONCLUSION Neither the government nor the scientific community has resolved the numerous environmental, medical, and political issues surrounding the dioxin controversy. Unfortunately, Federal Agency positions on the hazards associated with dioxin are either not well defined or not uniformly accepted, thus perpetuating the controversy. continue The scientific community must to conduct valid research on pertinent environmental and health- related issues to provide a reliable basis for appropriate decision making. REFERENCES 1. Budd, M.L., N.S. Hayner, H.E.B. Humphrey, J.R. Isbister, H. Price, M.S. Reizen, G. van Amburg, and K.R. Wilcox, Jr. 1978. Polybrominated biphenyl exposure - Michigan. Morb. Mort. 27(14):115-116, 121. 2. CAST. 1979. A plague on our children. Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, Report No. 81. 17p. Headquarters Office: Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, 10. 50010. 3. Culhane, J. 1980. PCBs: The poison that won't go away. Reader's Digest 117(704):112-116. 4. Devlin, R.M. 8(4):322-325. 5. Ember L.R. 1980. Uncertain science pushes Love Canal solutions to political, legal arenas. Chem. Eng. News 58(32):22-29. 6. Hammond, A.L. 1972. Chemical pollution: phenyls. Science 175:156-157. 7. Kurtis, B. 1978. "Agent Orange: Vietnam's Deadly Fog". Transcript of a television documentary aired 12 March 1978, WBBM-TV, Chicago, IL. 30pp. 8. Wade, N. 1980. 1974. DDT: A renaissance? Environ. Sci. Technol. Polychlorinated bi- Mythopoiesis. Protest TIBS, June 1980, p". VIII. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange Description An account of the resource <p style="margin-top: -1em; line-height: 1.2em;">The Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange comprises 120 linear feet and spans the late 1800s to 2005; however, the bulk of the coverage is from the 1960s to the 1980s and there are many undated items. The collection was donated to Special Collections of the National Agricultural Library in 1985 by Dr. Alvin L. Young (1942- ). Dr. Young developed the collection as he conducted extensive research on the military defoliant Agent Orange. The collection is in good condition and includes letters, memoranda, books, reports, press releases, journal and newspaper clippings, field logs and notebooks, newsletters, maps, booklets and pamphlets, photographs, memorabilia, and audiotapes of an interview with Dr. Young.</p> <p>For more about this collection, <a href="/exhibits/speccoll/exhibits/show/alvin-l--young-collection-on-a">view the Agent Orange Exhibit.</a></p> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Box The box containing the original item. 054 Folder The folder containing the original item. 1435 Series The series number of the original item. Series III Subseries II Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Young, Alvin L. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1985-09-01 Title A name given to the resource Social Controversy and the Dioxin Question Subject The topic of the resource public opinion popular press Agent Orange controversy ao_seriesIII https://www.nal.usda.gov/exhibits/speccoll/files/original/72e43b97d837ffe3765c3f01e1da28cd.pdf d49432e34dad547cf9b4f65874715ff8 PDF Text Text Item ID Number ("404 Author Young, Alvin L. Corporate Author RBDOrt/ArtlClO TltlO Abstract: Dibenzo-P-Dioxins: Public Concern and National Science Policy Journal/Book Title Year 1985 Month/Day A ;)ril Color n Number of Images 1 DOSCripton NotOS Presented before the Division of Environmental Chemistry, American Chemical Society, Miami Beach, Florida f Tuesday, May 15,2001 Page 1404 of 1514 �"PREPRINT EXTENDED ABSTRACT11 Presented Before the Division of Environmental Chemistry American Chemical Society Miami Beach, Florida, April 1985 DIBENZO-P-DIOXINS: PUBLIC CONCERN AND NATIONAL SCIENCE POLICY Alvin L. Young Office of Science and Technology Policy Executive Office of the President Washington, D.C. 20506 The environmental contaminants polychlorodibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), and especially the 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), have received extensive public attention for more than 12 years. Dioxins are contaminants formed during the synthesis of chlorophenols and during low temperature combustion of wastes containing chlorinated precursors. Dioxins are at the center of controversies over (1) the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam and the health of veterans, (2) the use of trichloro-and pentachlorophenolic-derived products and (3) the development of technology for the incineration of municipal and industrial wastes. In response to the concerns over dioxins, and especially TCDD, mobilizations of resources have occurred within the private sector, academic community and state and federal governments. Many of the early efforts dealt with identifying sources of the contamination and elucidating the toxicology. More recently, the focus has been on understanding the chemistry, environmental fate and the mechanisms of toxic action of the dioxins. Industry scientists have been primarily responsible for conducting health studies of industrial populations exposed to TCDD and other dioxins as well as sponsoring many of the early toxicologic studies. The response of the Federal government has been through the coordination and funding of much of the basic long-term research including an impressive commitment to evaluating the human risk of exposure to TCDD. Indeed, this latter program encompasses scientific and financial resources from ten Federal agencies and includes White House oversight of 15 ongoing major human studies including five health surveillance studies and ten epidprniologic studies. The science policy implications of the massive research and remedial programs underway on dioxin are disturbing. To date, the Federal government has committed hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of man-years to confirm that actual human exposure to dioxins is minimal and occurs primarily in "hot spots," and that the number of individuals exposed is very low. Moreover, the data collected to date are not able to associate chemical exposure to carcinogenesis, teratogenesis, or mutagenesis in man, yet these data neither impact proposed actions on clean-up (e.g. Times Beach) nor impedes Congressional action to legislate presumptive compensation. Finally, data obtained from combustion studies show that the production of dioxin is minimal and easily controlled with present technology, yet the fear of dioxin has paralyzed incineration technology and its application. The need for realistic risk assessments and the assignment of priorities for the allocation of resources are indicated. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange Description An account of the resource <p style="margin-top: -1em; line-height: 1.2em;">The Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange comprises 120 linear feet and spans the late 1800s to 2005; however, the bulk of the coverage is from the 1960s to the 1980s and there are many undated items. The collection was donated to Special Collections of the National Agricultural Library in 1985 by Dr. Alvin L. Young (1942- ). Dr. Young developed the collection as he conducted extensive research on the military defoliant Agent Orange. The collection is in good condition and includes letters, memoranda, books, reports, press releases, journal and newspaper clippings, field logs and notebooks, newsletters, maps, booklets and pamphlets, photographs, memorabilia, and audiotapes of an interview with Dr. Young.</p> <p>For more about this collection, <a href="/exhibits/speccoll/exhibits/show/alvin-l--young-collection-on-a">view the Agent Orange Exhibit.</a></p> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Box The box containing the original item. 053 Folder The folder containing the original item. 1404 Series The series number of the original item. Series III Subseries II Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Young, Alvin L. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1985-04-01 Title A name given to the resource Abstract: Dibenzo-P-Dioxins: Public Concern and National Science Policy Subject The topic of the resource public opinion dioxin government regulation health studies ao_seriesIII Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange Description An account of the resource <p style="margin-top: -1em; line-height: 1.2em;">The Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange comprises 120 linear feet and spans the late 1800s to 2005; however, the bulk of the coverage is from the 1960s to the 1980s and there are many undated items. The collection was donated to Special Collections of the National Agricultural Library in 1985 by Dr. Alvin L. Young (1942- ). Dr. Young developed the collection as he conducted extensive research on the military defoliant Agent Orange. The collection is in good condition and includes letters, memoranda, books, reports, press releases, journal and newspaper clippings, field logs and notebooks, newsletters, maps, booklets and pamphlets, photographs, memorabilia, and audiotapes of an interview with Dr. Young.</p> <p>For more about this collection, <a href="/exhibits/speccoll/exhibits/show/alvin-l--young-collection-on-a">view the Agent Orange Exhibit.</a></p> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Box The box containing the original item. 052 Folder The folder containing the original item. 1390 Series The series number of the original item. Series III Subseries II Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Dioxin: Report from the Environmental Protection Agency and Report from the Office of Science and Technology Policy Subject The topic of the resource public opinion risk assessment civilian exposure Ranch Hand ao_seriesIII Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange Description An account of the resource <p style="margin-top: -1em; line-height: 1.2em;">The Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange comprises 120 linear feet and spans the late 1800s to 2005; however, the bulk of the coverage is from the 1960s to the 1980s and there are many undated items. The collection was donated to Special Collections of the National Agricultural Library in 1985 by Dr. Alvin L. Young (1942- ). Dr. Young developed the collection as he conducted extensive research on the military defoliant Agent Orange. The collection is in good condition and includes letters, memoranda, books, reports, press releases, journal and newspaper clippings, field logs and notebooks, newsletters, maps, booklets and pamphlets, photographs, memorabilia, and audiotapes of an interview with Dr. Young.</p> <p>For more about this collection, <a href="/exhibits/speccoll/exhibits/show/alvin-l--young-collection-on-a">view the Agent Orange Exhibit.</a></p> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Box The box containing the original item. 052 Folder The folder containing the original item. 1386 Series The series number of the original item. Series III Subseries II Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource May 1 1984 Title A name given to the resource Newsletter: Ranch Hand Vietnam Association, May 1, 1984 Subject The topic of the resource veteran health and hygiene public opinion Air Force Health Study Agent Orange controversy ao_seriesIII Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange Description An account of the resource <p style="margin-top: -1em; line-height: 1.2em;">The Alvin L. Young Collection on Agent Orange comprises 120 linear feet and spans the late 1800s to 2005; however, the bulk of the coverage is from the 1960s to the 1980s and there are many undated items. The collection was donated to Special Collections of the National Agricultural Library in 1985 by Dr. Alvin L. Young (1942- ). Dr. Young developed the collection as he conducted extensive research on the military defoliant Agent Orange. The collection is in good condition and includes letters, memoranda, books, reports, press releases, journal and newspaper clippings, field logs and notebooks, newsletters, maps, booklets and pamphlets, photographs, memorabilia, and audiotapes of an interview with Dr. Young.</p> <p>For more about this collection, <a href="/exhibits/speccoll/exhibits/show/alvin-l--young-collection-on-a">view the Agent Orange Exhibit.</a></p> Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Box The box containing the original item. 052 Folder The folder containing the original item. 1383 Series The series number of the original item. Series III Subseries II Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letters: from Michael Gilroy, Nancy Enright and Michael Burns to Alvin Young regarding his participation in an upcoming ACS Symposium, 25 April 1984 to 20 June 1984 Subject The topic of the resource public opinion Ranch Hand veteran health and hygiene ao_seriesIII