In Jan. 2009, I attended an EPA conference at Loewe’s on Market . The topic was Vapor Intrusion, a hazard usually created by chemicals in ground water. House or other building act as a vacuum cleaner to suck up the hazardous fumes. I attended as a stakeholder, a private resident affected by something toxic that had put me in the hospital and displaced from my home for the past three years.

My own detective work showed the site that Council Woman Donna Reed Miller and East Mt Airy Neighbors decided to develop was a contaminated brownfield siding a railroad stop, The lastest in a long line of chemical polluters were the Joseph Anastasi Masonry Co. now moved to Florida and called Pompano Masonry Corp. I sent all this info, names, addresses, etc to the

DA and the Inspector General Seth Wiliams who is now running for DA. Apparently DA offices all over the country actual prosecute polluters , expect for Philadelphia.

In my ordeal of trying to get help from the city, which never came, I called EPA offices in other cities, like Baltimore and when I told them that I was in PHilly they said’ “Oh Philadelphia does things differently.” At the EPA conference, not a single representative from the city was present. No one from Planning. No one from Zoning or Public Health or L&I or anybody even though it was a few blocks from City Hall and Free.

One EPA rep from Toxicology came up to me and told me they had tried to help me but the city would not reveal the data on the contaminated soil. They refused to give the info to two of my doctors as well, even though the developer’s attorney and work crew admitted that they had removed truckloads of contaminated dirt. They did it on the sligh, no notice to neighbors in the middle of a small street of lots of kids and just regular folk. My house was directly adjacent so I got a direct hit

of vapors as they were released in the excavation.

There’s lot to this story, including the fact that Philadelphia Air Management under Morris Fine had somehow disengaged any responsibility to the EPA and allowed uncontrolled fugitive brick dust , contaminated dust and who know what to infect out street for years and NEVER gave a citation. For a city that loves ot collect money– that in itself is suspicious.

Anyway, there is fraud, cover ups, violations all over the place on the project, political fingers, etc. But in spite of all their efforts to slander me , even deny me police protection, the project has gone to the bank.

Another EPA rep came up to at the conference and told me that if there was anything I could do to help change the way building was done in Philly, they would appreciate it.

Most of the city hates me fro being so verbal and “telling on the them” but there are a few who are cheering me on because they

want to get “the way things are done in Philly” changed.

Meanwhile I’ve been the sacrificial lamb. It’s going to take a story to reveal this to turn things around. I’m writing Obama next because Nutter really isn’t interested in rocking the political apple cart either even if it does mean poisoning his own citizens.

Thank you,

Margaret Motheral

In Jan. 2009, I attended an EPA conference at Loewe’s on Market . The topic was Vapor Intrusion, a hazard usually created by chemicals in ground water. House or other building act as a vacuum cleaner to suck up the hazardous fumes. I attended as a stakeholder, a private resident affected by something toxic that had put me in the hospital and displaced from my home for the past three years.

My own detective work showed the site that Council Woman Donna Reed Miller and East Mt Airy Neighbors decided to develop was a contaminated brownfield siding a railroad stop, The lastest in a long line of chemical polluters were the Joseph Anastasi Masonry Co. now moved to Florida and called Pompano Masonry Corp. I sent all this info, names, addresses, etc to the

DA and the Inspector General Seth Wiliams who is now running for DA. Apparently DA offices all over the country actual prosecute polluters , expect for Philadelphia.

In my ordeal of trying to get help from the city, which never came, I called EPA offices in other cities, like Baltimore and when I told them that I was in PHilly they said’ “Oh Philadelphia does things differently.” At the EPA conference, not a single representative from the city was present. No one from Planning. No one from Zoning or Public Health or L&I or anybody even though it was a few blocks from City Hall and Free.

One EPA rep from Toxicology came up to me and told me they had tried to help me but the city would not reveal the data on the contaminated soil. They refused to give the info to two of my doctors as well, even though the developer’s attorney and work crew admitted that they had removed truckloads of contaminated dirt. They did it on the sligh, no notice to neighbors in the middle of a small street of lots of kids and just regular folk. My house was directly adjacent so I got a direct hit

of vapors as they were released in the excavation.

There’s lot to this story, including the fact that Philadelphia Air Management under Morris Fine had somehow disengaged any responsibility to the EPA and allowed uncontrolled fugitive brick dust , contaminated dust and who know what to infect out street for years and NEVER gave a citation. For a city that loves ot collect money– that in itself is suspicious.

Anyway, there is fraud, cover ups, violations all over the place on the project, political fingers, etc. But in spite of all their efforts to slander me , even deny me police protection, the project has gone to the bank.

Another EPA rep came up to at the conference and told me that if there was anything I could do to help change the way building was done in Philly, they would appreciate it.

Most of the city hates me fro being so verbal and “telling on the them” but there are a few who are cheering me on because they

want to get “the way things are done in Philly” changed.

Meanwhile I’ve been the sacrificial lamb. It’s going to take a story to reveal this to turn things around. I’m writing Obama next because Nutter really isn’t interested in rocking the political apple cart either even if it does mean poisoning his own citizens.

Thank you,

Margaret Motheral

While agency capture certainly seems to be the legacy of this administration, has there ever been a strong example of ‘corporation capture,’ where a corporation inadvertantly absorbed the regulator’s viewpoint? E.g., did the World Bank become more like the Dept. of Defense after Sec. McNamara came on board?