Toxic Town
by David Lamb
CBS 42 News
2008-02-18 13:40:23.0
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A city awarded millions in a settlement after polluted soil was found to be the result of many residents’ unusual health situations. This is the story of Hobson City.
Strange illnesses, birth defects, untimely deaths, and PCB-polluted soil…a scary situation for a small east Alabama town five years ago. Since then, the area has been awarded $700 million in an environmental settlement. But the affects for some are hard to see.
"I don't think it's any different. In fact, I think it is more so worse than before," said Rose Tolliver of Munford.
Today the community of Hobson City in west Anniston is still grappling with the role of a toxic town undergoing a massive clean up. Despite a record multi-million dollar settlement that was supposed to clean up this troubled community, the effects here have been slow at best. And it's hurting those who need help the most, the residents who still call this area home.
Reverend Randy Kelly of the Rising Star UMC said, “There's been little progress in my judgment. In fact, I'm appalled someone didn't go to prison for polluting this community for 40 long years."
"People feel that they've been abused. And I always tell them we were used as pawns for other peoples gain," said Tolliver.
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It was David Baker's group "The Community against Pollution" that fought on the frontlines to right the wrongs of knowingly polluting Hobson City. He and many others in the community were awarded thousands of dollars as part of the massive settlement. Today he believes those who are unhappy with settlement just want a piece of the action, without being a part of the fight.
"The people who was in the struggle has not problem with what had happened. If you were not part of the struggle you cannot talk about how the struggle was done," said Baker.
That settlement paid out nearly $700 million, but some members of this community say the bulk never made its way to the townspeople, instead going to the high profile law firms of attorneys Johnny Cochran and ex-attorney general Jere Beasley.
"The lawyers got paid, simple. They did a service, we signed a contract with them, that's over with, lets move forward. Let's talk about cleaning up our city and going forward," said Baker.
In the five years since the settlement, some 4,000 yards of PCB contaminated soil and other contaminants have been cleaned up in the area.
Physician Dr. Angela M. Martin said, "The community is opening the bowels of compassion… We are getting beyond ‘you are getting more money than I got’. We've got to live with the catastrophe that has happened and learn to open our bowels of compassion for each other especially the child, because the child can't speak."
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