Film+Annotations+5

Kim Fortun
**Chemical Valley** 40 tons of MIC a component in pesticides. This killed 5000 people with 50000 affected by this carcinogen. This spill tore families apart. Only place in US that makes MIC is the Institute Plant in West Virginia, they say that their employees work in safe conditions. It is made in an area that is populated by 200000 people so how can it not be safe.

There is strong opposition to the Institute Plants continued production. It used to be a very close nit community around a college. People they interview say is smelled very bad. They play the race card in the placement of the toxic containers close to homes. They felt powerless, and were unable to do anything. Union Carbide spent 5 million to improve security.

500 gallons of toxic chemicals leaked. 130 people confirmed hospitalized. They offer to play for medical bills and hope for no long-term effects. Officials waited 20 minutes to alert the community. The birds left the day of the spill and wait 4 days to come back!!! Pregnant women lied to about effects of the chemical and its dangers.

The president says if you want us to shut down we can, but we aren’t quitters so I won’t shut down. “They killed the Indians now they are killing the Hillbillies.” Carbide told people repeatedly we won’t leave you for over a year, while at the same time trying to sell the plant.

Community really want to know what it is that they are smelling in the air, but the plant either isn’t saying or doesn’t have the technologies to find out. They need to have this technology. People don’t like dying because some plant decides that profit is more important than people’s lives. Water could be dangerous if you stick your head under it. People in the affected communities can’t leave because they can’t find other jobs. Cloud of chemicals so bad it could be tracked by weather radar.

People who drive the evacuation vehicles are volunteers. On top of that, there are assured that they will be safe in their cars, but that is clearly not true. The company says that the siren not going off during the emergency is a minor issue. True in context, but brings about questions about their effectiveness during real crisis.

After studies were done on 20 chemicals discharged by local plants were significant causes of cancer. Concentrations are high enough to cause cancer in 1 out of 100 people. “There are bugs in our bodies that eat the chemicals and turn them into the calories” Virginia senator. Took 3 hours for plant to alert officials after pipe explosion shook town. Trust is long gone. The chemical industry must be made socially accountable.


 * Curriculum Ideas**

1. Activity would be to to expose different plants to the types of pollution that the companies let off and observe to changes to the plants. Explain what is happening to the plants. For acid rain point out how often this happens.

2. See if you can get students to take a tour of the factory. Make sure to ask which chemicals do what, so that the students can hear. When you get back ask what they still remember. Ask students what they think would happen if they fell into a vat of some of those chemicals. Point out that though they aren’t very concentrated those are some of the pollutants in the air.

3. Teach about air pollution as if you don’t work at a fenceline school. Then at the end of the unit be like, “Surprise, all that horrible stuff you just learn about is getting pumped into the air right over there.” This achieve a shock factor from the students and will make the experience more memorable than if you had told them before you started.

4. Get cooperation from the factory and ask them to send in a safety officier to talk about the hazards of the factory and community. Still will feel as if this testimony has more weigth coming from an outside source. Once officier leaves discuss plans to get everyone out of the area in an emergency.