Pollution Partners: ASHLAND OIL and St. Johns County

Collective Press, Issue #6 / 2005

Pollution Partners: ASHLAND OIL and St. Johns County
by Ed Slavin


A controversial asphalt plant close to homes and businesses runs day and night. Choking on visible, black, sooty, air pollution, one local businessman telephoned "911" last year.

He and other St. Johns County residents have become sick, some even hospitalized, because of air pollution from an asphalt plant on SR 207. It is owned by ASHLAND INC., which is an $8 billion/year Fortune 500 company. ASHLAND is a polluter, convicted felon, and petroleum/transportation/construction/chemical company based in Covington, Kentucky. Its ASHLAND PAVING AND CONSTRUCTION (APAC®) subsidiary is America's largest asphalt paver, working for governments, developers and industrialists.

Asphalt plants have been associated with severe health problems (some studies suggest they bring losses of property value up to 56%). A Miami Township, Ohio Marathon-ASHLAND asphalt plant exploded March 20, 2004, requiring evacuation orders.

County residents are petitioning EPA investigators to probe why the plant was placed in a residential area -- and to decide whether to "suspend and debar" ASHLAND from all government contracts. Residents are asking the county to file a "public nuisance" lawsuit, to order the asphalt plant's removal, and for free public access to copies of the county's APAC® records.

In 2004, APAC® paid the State of Florida a $5250 fine/costs for its SR 207 air pollution. The St. Augustine Record carried front-page reports in 2004-2005 of air pollution, hospitalizations, respiratory illnesses, and a temporary plant shutdown.

ASHLAND Senior Vice President and APAC® President Garry M. Higdem, a Professional Engineer (also President and CEO of Transportation Construction), told me on February 8, 2005 that he took personal supervision in "considering" moving the plant (a trial balloon announced in a St. Augustine Record article on March 1, which spoke only of "smoke" and "odor," not pollution).

In response to community organizers, EPA and Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) ramped up enforcement activities. The DEP issued two warning letters and seemed likely to achieve a consent order/fine with ASHLAND. Rick Banks, Environmental Manager, Florida DEP, said February 18th that seven inspectors in recent weeks spent "half their time on this one plant" (one of 300 DEP-regulated facilities in nineteen area counties). They now report that ASHLAND is installing a larger "baghouse" to reduce its air pollution, but the plant shows no sign of moving.

On February 8th, ASHLAND's Higdem directed his staff to research "odorants" (substances that conceal odors). Ten days later, ASHLAND was still "researching." When told that odorants were easily available on the Internet, he called back shortly and said a "cherry-flavored" odorant will be used. Residents report ASHLAND once attempted to use LYSOL® to clean up its kiln odors (the manufacturer's Material Safety Data Sheet warns against heating LYSOL®). Higdem said, "It is absolutely not true."

"Grandfathered"
SR 207 citizens complained to the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners (SJCBCC) in April 2004. Then-Commissioner Marc Jacalone asked, "It's there legally, isn't it?" Commissioner Karen Stern agreed the plant was "legal." In 1999 ASHLAND asked -- and the county government allowed and approved -- locating an asphalt plant "grandfathered" in a residential neighborhood on SR 207 (just before county zoning laws changed to distinguish between "light" and "heavy" industrial uses). County Zoning Manager Rosemary Yeoman told me January 31st that the SJCBCC did not need to vote -- "it had proper zoning.... which permitted heavy industrial." Referring to a newspaper ad about the changes, Yeoman claimed "residents were given notice in 1983 when the rezoning went through."

ASHLAND's Higdem asked me February 18th, "Why would the county have had this county-zoned industrial" to allow asphalt, ready-mix, incinerators and other industrial plants in a residential neighborhood? Good question. (Higdem then said it was like "playing Monday morning quarterback" to question the plant's location.)

Since APAC®'s 1999 opening in a residential neighborhood, SJCBCC and other governments have awarded ASHLAND contracts. SJCBCC approved adding a rock crusher and other facilities.

Zoning Director Yeoman said, "I'm not aware of where the asphalt plants are -- I've not done research on where any asphalt plants are located." ASHLAND's Higdem claims there is an "incinerator" nearby, possibly contributing to the pollution. "I could not tell you the address," he said -- it's "anecdotal." Higdem suggested the pollution source "might" be railroad locomotives or a "ready-mix plant," asserting the "soot is not coming from this plant," never providing proof. Florida's DEP disagrees, and ASHLAND paid the fine in 2004.

Highway freight could double in 20 years, says former APAC® President Charles F. Potts, President of Heritage Paving, with operations as far away as China, currently Chair of the asphalt trade association, and who worked for sixteen years for Florida's Transportation Department. (An APAC® website brags of receiving "many¼awards for safety and quality" from the Florida Transportation Dept.) In 2004, Potts told paving executives about a $284 billion highway bill (passed by the U.S. House on March 10, 2005): "we must grab hold of the opportunity ... to set the stage for the kind of long-term vision that will not only keep our transportation system viable and vital" keeping America "prosperous, protected and strong." Meanwhile, SJC residents have trouble breathing.

Governmental Assurances Untrue
Writer David Thundershield Queen once opined that under Governor Jeb Bush, Florida DEP really stands for "Don't Expect Protection." For over five years, there was no sampling or continuous air monitoring. The DEP only measured the number of particles and their size, based on weak DEP regulations and severely limited in what it can do by the county's own questionable 1999 zoning decision.

On January 26th, Florida DEP inspector Christopher Kirts and Assistant County Attorney Laura Barrow inaccurately told SJCBCC that ASHLAND's subsidiary was "not violating its [air pollution] permit," postulating the problem "might" originate in "recent cold and windy weather." DEP's Kirts said Assistant County Attorney Barrow's presentation was "perfect," stating it was primarily "older people" affected because they're more "sensitive" to pollution. Barrow said there was a "problem with those folks claiming (sic) they have breathing problems."

Two days later, DEP inspected and found ASHLAND's kiln to be "cracked," with a "seam" contributing to illegal air pollution, leading to two warnings and work on a new enforcement action. Oops.

On January 26th, Ken Bryan (who recently opened an upholstery shop near the plant) told SJCBCC that he was sick three days the prior week, his "head hurting" and "throat hurting." He asked what the permit allows, but No one answered him. Rebutting the "old people" remark, Ken Bryan said he is a healthy, 56 year old, 36-year U.S. Justice Department employee who runs marathons. The Record never quoted him in its January 27 article and instead spun the issue toward pollution partners SJCBCC/APAC®, not naming ASHLAND. ASHLAND representatives sitting in the audience Jan. 26th never explained its position, Bryan reports.

Ms. Thelma Lewis, 75, believes ASHLAND is the problem, not the nearby Southern Villas senior citizens with respiratory problems who have required hospitalization. On March 1, the Record reported that she was circulating a petition "against" APAC®, never quoting its specific requests of EPA and the county (suspension, debarment and public nuisance litigation).

At the January 26th SJCBCC meeting, DEP's Kirts admitted ASHLAND's SR 207 asphalt plant is "a public nuisance," defined as causing "annoyance to the community or harm to public health," for which Florida law provides remedies, no matter what "permits" or regulations say. Called on January 28th, Barrow dismissed the possibility of a county nuisance suit on its citizens' behalf, incorrectly asserting to me the existence of state and federal "preemption" of public nuisance suits, despite precedents to the contrary (asserting her only "clients" were County Commissioners, not sick SR 207 residents).

Residents petitioned the county to file a "public nuisance" lawsuit to abate ASHLAND's "nuisance." Commissioner Stern met with residents and publicly supports moving ASHLAND's plant.

Commissioners were told on January 26th that there was no rush to award a new ASHLAND contract, with a need to prioritize Ponte Vedra road-building needs. There was time to "investigate."

Yet on February 23 Stern made a motion to award a new $1.2 million contract February 23rd. The vote was 5-0, with no mention of a public nuisance suit (or the enforcement of environmental provisions Stern had inserted in the previous contract). No one mentioned that ASHLAND was a convicted felon or discussed its worldwide record. Stern berated the (unnamed) author of an E-mail for stating the Commission was ill-serving Route 207 residents, stating she spoke to two ASHLAND lawyers and an Assistant County Attorney, claiming Ponte Vedra's asphalt would come from Jacksonville. There was no discussion of public opposition. There are over 175 signed petitions from Route 207 residents supporting suspension and debarment of ASHLAND from all government contracts. ASHLAND refused to attend a local broadcast TV debate with Ms. Thelma Lewis and Ken Bryan taped February 25th: program host Norma Sherry provided an empty chair for ASHLAND. Asked for copies of their board minutes discussing the plant, ASHLAND never provided them. Since January, the office of SJC Administrator Ben W. Adams, Jr. has stalled citizens on document and fee waiver requests and filing a nuisance suit.
In Harm's Way
Asphalt pollution became notorious thanks to the St. Augustine Record's reporting. In harm's way by APAC® are Osceola Elementary School, St. Joseph's Academy Catholic High School, Little League baseball fields, a nursing home, Southern Villas (federally-owned HUD senior citizens' apartments), a home for the retarded, and other residences and businesses. One asthmatic student assigned to Osceola was transferred elsewhere at their parents' request. Some seniors must stay indoors, breathing oxygen. Some people who have never had breathing problems were hospitalized.

People are collecting black sooty air pollution samples from their cars and air conditioner filters. Commissioner Stern reportedly promised to have them analyzed, but no results were revealed as of April 1.

Seemingly untouchable, APAC® has lucrative state and county paving contracts for I-95 and other roads. ASHLAND's Higdem said APAC® operates in fourteen Southern and Midwestern states with over 60 quarries and aggregate production facilities, 12 ready-mix concrete plants, 226 hot-mix asphalt plants, and over 7,000 pieces of mobile equipment.

A December 2004 Duke-University of North Carolina study found sixteen times higher suicide rates in communities with asphalt plants - compared to the statewide average according to psychiatrists working in conjunction with the Center for Disease Control, with 6.4 times higher brain cancer rates. Hydrogen sulfide, benzene, volatile organic compounds, and other dangerous chemicals were believed responsible.

Asphalt fumes are known poisons, and the EPA reports that asphalt-processing facilities are "major sources of hazardous air pollutants such as formaldehyde, hexane, phenol, polycyclic organic matter, and toluene. Exposure may cause cancer, central nervous system problems, liver damage, respiratory problems and skin irritation." ASHLAND's Higdem disagrees but never said why.

Asked if she would like to read the December 2004 UNC-Duke study on suicide rates in neighborhoods with asphalt plants, County Zoning Manager Yeoman told me January 31st, "No sir, I really wouldn't -- it's not a function of this department -- I would not have any reason to -- it's allowed...under the regulations of the county." She also added, "this department handles zoning -- public health is not part of our purview." She then wanted to know "why you're asking these questions?" On February 8th & 18th, ASHLAND's Higdem had not yet seen the study and had no comment, observing on the 18th, there are "lots of studies that get done."

Yeoman told me, "Not all rezonings have been approved." She was unable to name one single rezoning that had not been approved. Diane Rodgers, Special Projects Editor for the St. Augustine Record, investigated and reported that developers won 147 of 149 votes before SJCBCC in 2003, approving the clearing of “more than 33,000 acres and build[ing] tens of thousands of homes in the next ten years.” That’s a lot of asphalt.

ASHLAND A Convicted Felon
When SJCBCC awarded a new contract on February 23rd, Commissioners did not discuss the fact that ASHLAND has a long criminal history:
In 2003, found guilty of air pollution in Minnesota and put on probation (possibly violated by asphalt pollution here)

Pled guilty to bid rigging in Tennessee and Virginia in 1982, agreed not to engage in collusive bidding activities in the future, fined $7.8 million

Made $100,000 illegal campaign contribution to President Richard Nixon

Agreed to an SEC consent decree to cease corporate bribery, after admitting illegal bribes in Oman in the Middle East

Settled pollution lawsuits with over 700 residents in Kentucky and West Virginia

In August 2004, was indicted by a Missouri federal grand jury for highway bid rigging, acquitted by jury trial in October 2004. ASHLAND's Higdem credits lying government witnesses and hearsay for APAC®'s acquittal.
Judge: "Why in the world should I believe you?
ASHLAND pled guilty and was fined $9.1 million by a federal judge in 2003 for explosions and fires at its St. Paul Park, Minnesota refinery, severely injuring one worker and injuring others. ASHLAND failed to seal a manhole, violating the Clean Air Act and rules regulating refinery sewer systems, with workers injured on May 16, 1997, pumping hydrocarbons into the refinery's sewer system for treatment and recycling, igniting into a fireball when vapors escaped through an improperly sealed manhole. A second explosion erupting from a manhole injured six ASHLAND firefighters, one severely.

With two injured workers watching, an ASHLAND Vice President apologized to District Chief Judge James Rosenbaum for "lapses" that led to the "accident," claiming that the company was "truly sorry." Citing ASHLAND's environmental lawbreaking history, Judge Rosenbaum asked, "Why in the world should I believe you?'' In 2004, ASHLAND won its federal appeal, with the Eighth Circuit holding that its criminal probation should not require it to be responsible for environmental protection at the Minnesota refinery, which ASHLAND sold after the explosions to a joint venture run with USX subsidiary MARATHON OIL, with ASHLAND now owning 38%.

In Texas City, Texas, a contractor's crane ruptured a tank at a Marathon refinery on October 30, 1987, releasing a hydrofluoric acid vapor cloud, sending some 1000 residents to hospitals. Calling in lawyers before calling "911" or local schools, Marathon allegedly hornswoggled releases from lung-injured residents, paying only nominal sums, though some young and old people became lung cripples for life. Texas courts ordered disclosure of Marathon's supposed "attorney-client privileged" documents. There was a settlement with residents who sued for fraud. Then the crane contractor's insurance claim backfired, with the Texas Supreme Court upholding an absolute "pollution exclusion" in 1995.

In 2001, Marathon-ASHLAND settled with EPA, agreeing to spend $265 million to reduce pollution at Texas City and six other refineries, involving 5% of U.S. refinery capacity.

Pittsburgh River Killers
In Pittsburgh on January 2, 1988, an ASHLAND above-ground storage tank broke, sending 3.9 million gallons of diesel oil rushing out in a tsunami, with 750,000 gallons leaving its property, much of it entering into the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers, contaminating drinking water supplies, killing 11,000 fish and 2000 birds, disrupting drinking water for two million residents of Pennsylvania and surrounding states, polluting 200 miles of rivers -- one of the most severe inland oil spills in American history. It was preventable. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania found that ASHLAND failed to:

.... find the flaw and establish relevant material properties...ASHLAND, its employees, and some contractors displayed a pervasive pattern of negligence and ignorance in selecting, assigning, constructing, supervising, and inspecting the reconstruction project....The negligent conduct by ASHLAND ...allowed the tank to collapse not only caused extensive environmental damage and widespread community dislocations, but also risked serious or fatal bodily injury.
Pittsburgh cost some $32.25 million in fines and settlements -- "to ASHLAND ... about as painful as the fine you would pay ... for a parking violation," Robert Sherrill wrote. Fish reportedly started returning ten years later.

Elsewhere, ASHLAND was fined $106,000 by Ohio in 2003 (for not replacing vegetation and other pipeline construction violations) and $650,000 by EPA in 2004 (for hazardous waste violations in Michigan).

Illegal Cash Contributor To Nixon
ASHLAND and its then-CEO confessed to giving the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP) a $100,000 illegal cash campaign contribution, part of Nixon's Watergate scandals --charged falsely to Gabon, an African subsidiary. ASHLAND's then-CEO Orin Atkins wrote to a stockholder that, "There was a good business reason for making the contribution and although illegal in nature, I am confident that it distinctly benefited the corporation and its stockholders."

Testifying before the Senate Watergate Committee, Atkins claimed the $100,000 produced no "distinctive benefit" for ASHLAND, saying it was intended to "give us a means of access to present our point of view to the executive branch of the Government." Atkins agreed with Senator Sam J. Ervin, Jr. (D-N.C.) that Nixon's fundraising "very much" resembled extortion. Sen. Ervin told Atkins "it certainly is a human weakness or desire for anyone engaged to business to have a friendly ear in Government." ASHLAND's then-CEO Atkins soliloquized:

"...the situation is difficult to rationalize. We were not seeking any particular privilege or benefit because we don't do any significant business with the Government....all we were attempting to do was to assure ourselves of a forum to be heard. Were we a larger factor in our respective industries, we could expect to have access to administrative officials in the executive branch of Government with ease, but being a relatively unknown corporation, despite our size, we felt we needed something that would be sort of a calling card, something that would let us in the door and make our point of view heard. We didn't expect those points of view to be accepted, but only from the point of view of being able to express them and that was our thinking or rationale as to why we were interested in making any type of contribution."
Three days after paying $100,000 illegal cash to Nixon's campaign, ASHLAND representatives met with Nixon's Office of Emergency Preparedness (OEP), seeking to secure more crude oil. The Senate Watergate Committee concluded there was "no evidence" the $100,000 and subsequent meeting were connected.

Atkins stayed on as CEO until 1981. In 1988, Atkins pled guilty to providing stolen documents to the National Iranian Oil Company, receiving probation.

Worker Deaths: OSHA Found "Willful" Violation in Jacksonville
Road building and quarrying are dangerous, but sometimes ASHLAND workers die preventable deaths.

In 2004, APAC® employee Hardney L. Rush was electrocuted by a 7200 volt power line at a Missouri limestone quarry. This tragedy was found by the Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration to be the result of APAC® managers' unsafe policies, controls, and procedures.

USDOL Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined APAC®-Florida $112,500 for "willful" violations in a December 22, 1999 death on San Jose Blvd. in Jacksonville, where a worker was crushed by a five ton pipe in a nine foot trench, after defective hoisting and rigging gave way, killing the man in a trench lacking shoring or exit ladders.

As Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times reporter David Barstow found in 2003 and later stories, OSHA rarely finds “willful” violations in worker deaths, hampering victim families’ lawsuits and criminal prosecutions. Against this background, the 1999 “willful” violation and large fine against APAC®-Florida are both significant. Construction trench deaths are among the most easily preventable worker deaths.

Contracts, Lobbying and "Contributions"
The Center for Public Integrity (CPR) calculates that during 1998-2003, ASHLAND and its Political Action Committees (PACs): × Spent $5,905,000 on lobbying expenses; × Gave 88.36% of its campaign contributions (some $1,227,945) to Republican candidates and gave 11.64% (some $161,825) to Democratic candidates; × Gave Republican Party committees $416,730 and Democratic Party committees $42,875; × Gave $23,050 to President George W. Bush and $25,858 to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)(most prominent Congressional opponent of campaign finance reform), $21,300 to House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska)(sponsor of two earmarked "bridges to nowhere"), among other large contributions.
ASHLAND's multi-million dollar investments in politics and politicians were evidently repaid many times over. The CPR reports that during that same 1998-2003 time period, ASHLAND received $111,649,608 in payments from U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) contracts alone --over 51% of which were won with only one or two bidders.

According to antitrust experts, little competition can be a sign of monopoly power or bid rigging. In 1983, President Reagan signed an Executive Order that eliminated the Kennedy Administration's inexpensive government purchasing antitrust initiative -- publication of identical bids in government procurement -- supposedly to save money and restore "efficiency."

ASHLAND Defender Marc Jacalone: “Harassment”
Former SJCBCC Chairman Marc Jacalone was a prime mover for APAC® contracts/favors. SJC residents Carla Cowan and Glen Tilley successfully complained to FEC about Jacalone in August 2004. On March 4, 2005, the Florida Election Commission (FEC) found "probable cause" on 24 election crimes by Jacalone (Commissioner from 1996-2004). -- including FEC charges of abusing his campaign funds to make illegal contributions to other local, state and federal candidates (including the Bush/Cheney presidential campaign, the SJC Republican Party, former St. Augustine City Commissioner Bill Lennon, successful Airport Authority candidate Randy Brunson and legislative candidates Wiley Deck and Kerry McCarthy).

Defeated last year, Marc Jacalone sold his interest in his family gasoline station. Jacalone now sells commercial real estate whose rezonings he obtained as Commissioner (working for Coldwell Banker). I called Jacalone March 10 and asked whether one of his real estate listings could be a site for an asphalt plant. He asked, "Are you APAC®?" Told I was not, Jacalone seemed disappointed. While insisting APAC®'s asphalt plant was "not in a residential neighborhood," he incorrectly claimed it was there before 1999 (contradicting Yeoman). When asked if he would be requesting a hearing on the Florida Election Commission's 24 findings of probable cause, Jacalone responded, "I don't know about that -- I don't think that's any of your business, number one -- it has nothing to do with you." Asked if it was pertinent to growing perceptions of county political corruption, Jacalone said, "Gotta go, talk to you later," disconnecting.

I asked Jacalone March 11th if he knew that ASHLAND was a convicted felon when moving to award it contracts. Jacalone did not respond, hollering, "This is phone harassment... I want you to know that when I hang up with you, I'm calling the Sheriff's office." Sheriff David Shoar confirmed in writing that Mr. Jacalone did not call or file any complaint. What does Jacalone have in mind? Some SJC politicians and businessmen "call the cops" at the first sign of dissent. SJCBCC lost in federal court over those proclivities.

In 2004, SJC’s First Amendment violations -- in the form of illegal abuse of its zoning “police power” to halt critical political billboards with unconstitutional SJCBCC Ordinance 99-51 --- were “struck down” as “unconstitutional on its face” by the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. A three-judge appeals panel found that SJCBCC gave County Administrator Ben W. Adams, Jr. the “unbridled discretion” to censor political free speech, with an illegal “prior restraint” adopted in response to political billboards posted by the owner of by Cafe Erotica/We Dare to Bare. SJCBCC attempted to inflict “content restrictions” on free speech and to limit political signs to 32 square feet while allowing commercial signs as large as 560 square feet. SJCBCCC responded to signs that criticized county regulators, including signs that stated: “Karen Bruner is an Incompetent County Official” and “James Acosta is a fatass Barney Fife. He has cost the county thousands of $ in lost lawsuits for using selective [e]nforcements.” “Prior restraint” on free speech is illegal in America, even in the Pentagon Papers case (involving classified Vietnam War history excerpts that were published by the New York Times and other newspapers).

"Unyielding Commitment"
In 2003, ASHLAND CEO James J. O'Brien was paid $2,703,959 in total compensation including stock options, with another $623,227 in unexercised stock options from prior years.

ASHLAND, traded on the New York Stock Exchange as ASH, describes itself as having:
sales and operations throughout the United States and in more than 120 countries... including four wholly owned divisions: ASHLAND Paving And Construction (APAC®), ASHLAND Distribution, ASHLAND Specialty Chemical and Valvoline. In addition, we own 38 percent of Marathon ASHLAND Petroleum LLC, the nation's fifth largest refiner and marketer of petroleum products [which supplies Pilot and Speedway]. We've come a long way since we started in 1924 as a regional petroleum refiner. Despite our growth, and thanks to our vision, we have a strong sense of who we are, and an unyielding commitment to how we want to practice business.

"Corporate Bullies"
Multinational Monitor reported in 1994 that ASHLAND pressured the magazine Chemical and Engineering News to halt a story about its pollution on the West Virginia-Kentucky border. Diane Bady, director of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, says that she worked with [reporter] Lepkowski for over a year on the story. "ASHLAND managers are corporate bullies," Bady says. "They fight behind the scenes to make it impossible for reporters and regulators to do their jobs."

As of April 1, Morris Communications' St. Augustine Record, the FOLIO Weekly and monopolistic Gannett's FIRST COAST NEWS ABC/NBC TV joint news affiliate operation all had never printed or uttered the name "ASHLAND" -- each only calling the plant's owner by its alias ("APAC," no "®"). None of these three media corporations responded to questions about why they have never reported the name ASHLAND (or ASHLAND's criminal history).

Meanwhile, one national "journalist" has served for seven years on convicted felon ASHLAND's Board of Directors.

U.S. News & World Report Publisher: "We Love Dr. Healy"
Since 1998, Dr. Bernadine P. Healy, M.D. has served on ASHLAND's Board of Directors, chairing its Environment, Safety and Health Committee and serving on its Audit Committee. Dr. Healy serves on President Bush's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (CAST)(which did not respond to information requests).

Dr. Healy is "health columnist" for U.S. News and World Report, whose Publisher Mortimer Zuckerman is a multimillionaire real estate developer. Zuckerman told me February 1 (through his prefers-to-be-anonymous-spokesperson): "We have the greatest of confidence in Dr. Bernadine Healy. We love her. She is an extraordinarily talented physician and journalist." Zuckerman signs editorials with evocative titles like "The Politics of Cynicism" and publishes articles like "Two Cheers for Toxic Chemicals" -- advancing the "hormesis" theory that low levels of radiation and poisons are good for you.

On March 7, Healy told me that any questions about ASHLAND's SJC plant must "be dealt with by the company directly." Dr. Healy was asked if she cared to comment on conflicts-of-interest as a "journalist" ands corporate director-- she responded, "no not really -- thank you for calling, bye-bye," disconnecting.

Healy's February 14, 2005 U.S. News column says cancer is "sneaky and inexplicably virulent in many of its forms," hinting "a slew of chemicals at home and work" cause cancer (along with STDs, alcohol and chemicals released in cooking) -- cancer risks are hard to avoid "short of getting to a sackcloth and ashes nunnery. (Oops. Forget that. Ashes are on the list too.)" "Oops" indeed.

Identifying herself as a lifelong Republican and "feminist," Healy serves as a member of the boards of Hudson Institute (the late Herman Kahn's think tank), Marshall Institute (corporate-oriented science group), Battelle Memorial Institute (military and nuclear weapons contractor), National City Bank, Progressive Insurance, Invacare (maker of recalled, allegedly defective wheelchairs and other home medical equipment), Medtronics (manufacturer of silicon implants, recalled, allegedly defective heart and other medical devices, accused of giving monetary inducements to surgeons)(the U.S. Supreme Court denied its claims of "federal preemption" of tort claims).

Dr. Healy was formerly American Red Cross CEO ($400,000 per year, twice the salary of Elizabeth Dole in that job), Cleveland Clinic Research Director, Ohio State University Medical School Dean and head of coronary care unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital, with expertise in both medicine and pathology. In the 1980s. She was President Reagan's Deputy Director (Life Sciences) of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the first President Bush's National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director, where she approved hundreds of patent applications for human genes and targeted the NIH Office of Scientific Integrity (OSI) for charges of privacy violations and conflict of interest. She has been a CBS News Medical Contributor.

On July 16, 1998, Healy told CNN's Larry King, "First and foremost a doctor has to relate and respond and care about the patient." The physician's Hippocratic Oath says, "First, do no harm." Does Dr. Healy believe her good buddies at ASHLAND followed that principle in placing an asphalt plant next to an elementary school and senior citizens?

Pollution Partners: One-Party Rule and Environmental Depredations
The late Senator Robert F. Kennedy said at Berkeley in 1967, "it is not enough to allow dissent, we must demand it, for there is much to dissent from," listing environmental and other societal problems that flow from abuses of power. Five all-Republican Commissioners, led by Commissioner Karen Stern, prayed at the January 26 SJCBCC meeting, asking they be spared from "dissension." Undemocratic blasphemy? If there had been more dissent, the ASHLAND plant might never have been allowed in a residential neighborhood.

John D. Rockefeller's and Henry Flagler's lawbreaking Standard Oil Trust was said to have done "everything" to the Pennsylvania legislature "except refine it." Corruption and environmental pollution have often been linked, from America to the developing world. By disconnecting people from policymaking, "corruption can have a devastating effect upon the environment" reports anti-corruption group Transparency, International.

Convicted felon ASHLAND, St. Johns County officials, and so-called journalists all have a lot of explaining to do:

Why locate an asphalt plant in a residential community?


Why weren't air pollutants ever measured?


Why can't more state and local governments operate their own cleaner asphalt plants?


How much asphalt will be produced to feed massive SJC overdevelopment?


Why didn't SJC enforce environmental provisions in its old paving contract?


How many "journalists" serve on corporate boards?


How many asphalt plants are causing health hazards for how many people worldwide?


Why are governments doing business with a known convicted felon?


Why isn't there an elected County Attorney (as elsewhere)?


Why isn't there an independent County Inspector General (as in Miami-Dade County and elsewhere)?


Is there any favor governments will not grant Big Business?


Will elected officials ever stop slow dancing with contractor-polluter-contributors like ASHLAND?

Will someone please explain it to us (no cherry-flavoring required) as if we were six-year olds? Will it take public protest for ASHLAND, the County and the Record to behave responsibly?