Did the WTBTS improperly dispose of printing chemicals?

Is that what this article is saying?

http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2011/December/12/WBTSNY_remed-12Dec11.html

Brownfield remediation plan under study at Watchtower Farms property

SHAWANGUNK – Three parcels of land in the Town of Shawangunk totaling just under seven acres are being studied for possible brownfields remediation.  The parcels, owned by Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., are part of over 1,100 acres. The investigation is estimated to take about 20 weeks to complete under the supervision of the state departments of Environmental Conservation and Health.  According to the DEC, in the past, some of the areas of the land were reportedly used to deposit soil, construction debris, and other materials. It is also reportedly a site where 55 gallon drums of materials containing chemicals thought to have been used in the printing industry, including a petroleum hydrocarbon distillate, were deposited in predominantly clay soil. In one of the three parcels, there is a potentially contaminated soil from the spills of printing wastes or raw materials on the ground and aerated using farm machinery, the DEC said. Prior to the 1960s, the land was used for farming and orchards. The cleanup plan will include an evaluation of the proposed site remedy, or recommend a no-action or no-further-action alternative. The goal of the plan is to ensure the protection of public health and the environment.

I had to lookup what brownfields are... it's an EPA term for properties that have contamination.

they thought they had their own dump.

they were going to clean it up after arrmageddon. with the angels help, of course.

how did they get caught?

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111226/NEWS/111229858

This looks more interesting than the lack of responses might suggest.

Not surprising when you have the 'God will clean up the mess' eschatology.

The drums contained benzene, xylene and other chemicals that have been shown to affect human health.

Benzene is a known human carcinogen and the worse of the hydrocarbons.  This is something I've really never considered.  The toxic waste of all the printing chemicals the massive WTS printing complex must generate would potentially be massive.  Much cheaper to dump it on your private land in the hopes of not getting caught, rather than to pay to dispose of in accordance with EPA regulations.  Wouldn't a group of apostate environmental watchdogs be a thorn in the WTS's side?

Think About It

Not surprising. I know for a fact they misused/mishandled pesticides and such at the farm. Wonder how much Brooklyn money will "evaporate" when they have to clean their mess up.

Not to worry the Watchtower Legal team is on it  

Illegal dunping activites could be a part of WTS 'theocratic warfare'.  In the WTS's mind the collateral damage of environmental pollution is outweighted by the spiritual food the WTS prints for the JW sheeple.

Think About It

You know if the evidence supports illegal dumping this could make for a very powerful campaign, keep us posted.

Would be interesting to know what the WTS done with all asbestos containing material remediated from old building renovations.

Think About It

Watchtower — Where is yesteryears’ waste? available at: http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com/2011/08/watchtower-where-is-yesteryears-waste.html

Well, well. Now we know for sure. Watchtower was burying it all along!

Marvin Shilmer

Who cares? Jehovah is gonna clean up the planet at Armageddon.

God will bring to ruin those ruining the earth, eh?

This story could do with some cedars-style publicity pointing out the difference between the Watchtower's statements on environmentalism and their actions.

The story on this thread is being continued on another thread where more links to newspapers that are carrying the story:

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/219918/2/Chemicals-buried-at-WT-Farms-WT-ruining-the-earth#4207659

I posted the following information on that link: 

Hopefully, this story is going to have legs because it is an Associated Press article. Note that this link,

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/8e675d204fbf4352ab2cf65086b4b411/NY--Buried-Chemicals/, is to a Columbus, Indiana newspaper, The Republic, not just to a local Upstate, NY newspaper article. 

FYI, I was told some years back by a knowledgeable person, a former JW, that barrels containing inks and other waste by-products from WT printing operations in Brooklyn were taken in Society trucks to WT owned property in Wallkill for disposal by burying this hazardous waste in unpermitted dump cells. Some of these old barrels were unearthed and damaged during construction activities which produced a lot of contaminated soil as a result. Instead of disposing of the contaminated soil it was spread on a field so as to reduce the amount of contamination reported to the authorities (a couple of barrels instead of a couple of dump trucks).

This waste disposal went on for an unspecified period in Watchtower's past. Many areas where these old (antiquated) barrels are buried are now broken due to decay and the spilled contents have been contaminating the soil and streams. There are old dump sites, I was told, all over the WT's Wallkill property. I believe the present investigation is due to whistle-blowing by this man.

Oh, by the way, this property (WT Farms) is in a major watershed area, Hudson Valley Watershed, where millions of people get their drinking, etc., water from.  

On a related note, for as many years as they could get away with it, Watchtower had been “cooking” or making the material that the printing ink was diluted with. It’s some sort of a compound like varnish or shellac and it was illegal for years to make this as it is a major air polluter. At Brooklyn it was processed in the Ink Room and the cooker was given a phony name called “Ink Vehicle Processor” or something like that, to fool inspectors. It was thought that this material also was dumped at WT Farms in the past because they couldn’t make it legally, so they had to get rid of the waste illegally.

It is doubtful that WT is still doing this now, but definitely they did it in the 60s through late 70s when my informant was at Bethel. He left Bethel in 1978 but had no reason, he said, to believe that they stopped this procedure in the 80s.

The Ink Department overseer for many, many years was none other than Lyman Swingle, a director of the WTBTS of PA who we all know became one of the Governing Body when that "Body" came into existence in the early 1970s.

Without a doubt, Max Larson, WT factory overseer, and Swingle, GB member, took many foul, harmful, secret facts of illegal activities with them to their graves!

Barbara

Just what I suspected.  They deliberately trucked the waste out to Wallkill to hide it (according to this report).  Printing ink and ink solvents had no other reason to be in Wallkill farm at the time.

This implies deliberate deception, and also implies guilt.

It brings up another side issue in my mind - could this be another reason to abandon Brooklyn - i.e.; the city is getting stricter about inspections?

This is absolutley believable. The arrogance this organazation diplays toward govts and in this case, govt regulation is obvious to anyone that has had the misfortune of dealing with them. If there is a waste dump, it won't be hard to find it. Leaking into water sources? All I can say is wow.

When did printing start at the Farm?  I distinctly remember going to visit there abt 1979-1980 and they were printing some of the WT and Awake at that time, but not any books, if I remember correctly

BTT

bookmark