Five companies will pay $21.4 million for damage from years of ...

[Palmerton Native]

Breinigsville PA wrote:

Did you go to school in Palmerton? Didn't they teach you how to spell?
And no matter how many jobs these companies offered, they STILL destroyed the countryside and polluted thousands of acres of land. They also caused an untold number of health problems and they knew all along that they were doing so.
You're a jerk.

Where the hell is Breinigsville? Do live in one of those farmers fields in a colonial wannabe home that looks like your rich neighbors and their rich neighbors and so on and so on.....You probably don't even know your neighbors or speak their language.

[b careful what u wish 4]

Palmerton does have a nice little downtown. The old time feeling when you drive through!!!! Would be nice to live like that all over!!! Miss that, even miss the way downtown Allentown was years ago. Have yet to drive by where Hess's was and hope I never have to. It would break my heart to not see it there.

[Inky]

There are probably many people that wish for the Zinc and other companies like Bethlehem Steel to be back in business. The small speck of land that was tarnished supported many families for many years. Where are the good jobs now? You rarely see a smoke stack anymore. These industries have gone overseas. The pollution is still happening. We just don't see it and other countries are benefiting.

Breinigsville PA wrote:

Did you go to school in Palmerton? Didn't they teach you how to spell?
And no matter how many jobs these companies offered, they STILL destroyed the countryside and polluted thousands of acres of land. They also caused an untold number of health problems and they knew all along that they were doing so.
You're a jerk.

[b careful what u wish 4]

Inky wrote:

There are probably many people that wish for the Zinc and other companies like Bethlehem Steel to be back in business. The small speck of land that was tarnished supported many families for many years. Where are the good jobs now? You rarely see a smoke stack anymore. These industries have gone overseas. The pollution is still happening. We just don't see it and other countries are benefiting.
<quoted text>

And things will only get worse if Obama and gets his way.

[FutureRN]

Palmerton Native wrote:

Typical Morning Call liberal rag tree hugging granola eating article. I bet they couldn't wait to get this one published. This town wouldn't be here without the Zinc Company. It created thousands of jobs for almost 100 years. The liberal rag MC has one article a month on Carbon County and it's always pointing out a negative. Do us all a favor and stick to the Valley. The Times News can handle Carbon and it's weeklies even do a better job than the MC in Bethlehem, Parkland, and Whitehall.

Yea, it created jobs, it also poisoned not only the environment, but the people from the area...look at the demographics...there are far more people in Aquashicola with cancers than there should be!!!

[FutureRN]

wally wrote:

Its a shame what happened up there environmentally. I lived in Carbon Co off Rte 895 just north from the site. It was (and probably still is) a good place to bomb around on dirt bikes.
The article doesn't address some very basic questions. Where is the money going and how will it be used? Did they settle at $21M because that is the estimated cost of cleaning and replanting the hills?
To address some of the social questions, were the residents pleased about this settlement? Do they share in it some how? Will they build a park or will some politicians throw it toward some other budget line item?
Everyone I have ever met from Palmerton share the sentiment of the first poster.
This is a pretty shoddy piece of journalism.

Well, then you haven't met very many people from Palmerton...The area has been destroyed by the products of the Zinc Company...yea, great it gave people jobs that didn't have any, but was it worth it, NO, did we do it to ourselves, like a previous post stated, He77 NO!!! Are the people in this area going to see a dime of that money? I highly doubt it, is it going to help pay for their cancer treatments, most likely not...

[Lil Abner]

Palmerton Native wrote:

Typical Morning Call liberal rag tree hugging granola eating article. I bet they couldn't wait to get this one published. This town wouldn't be here without the Zinc Company. It created thousands of jobs for almost 100 years. The liberal rag MC has one article a month on Carbon County and it's always pointing out a negative. Do us all a favor and stick to the Valley. The Times News can handle Carbon and it's weeklies even do a better job than the MC in Bethlehem, Parkland, and Whitehall.

Why is the first comment on many of these strings critical of the Morning Call ? Disgruntled employees ? The competition ? Maybe just no nothing hicks.

[FutureRN]

Palmerton Native wrote:

<quoted text>
Where the hell is Breinigsville? Do live in one of those farmers fields in a colonial wannabe home that looks like your rich neighbors and their rich neighbors and so on and so on.....You probably don't even know your neighbors or speak their language.

Palmerton Native: Maybe you drank out the Aquashicola creek a little too much...Breinigsville is down near Kutztown...its kinda like Maxatawny...just a little old town like Parryville and Bowmanstown

[wally]

Inky wrote:

There are probably many people that wish for the Zinc and other companies like Bethlehem Steel to be back in business. The small speck of land that was tarnished supported many families for many years. Where are the good jobs now? You rarely see a smoke stack anymore. These industries have gone overseas. The pollution is still happening. We just don't see it and other countries are benefiting.
<quoted text>

Unfortunately, you're right. All the good companies have left or are leaving. I don't think there's much left in Breinigsville (what was the name of the phone company again?). True of much of the country though. Not many places left where people still make money hand over fist due to good industry.

[Inky]

FutureRN wrote:

<quoted text>
Yea, it created jobs, it also poisoned not only the environment, but the people from the area...look at the demographics...there are far more people in Aquashicola with cancers than there should be!!!

Death certificate evaluation at Palmerton Hospital was done as part of the RI Risk Assessment for 1,815 deaths over a 22-year period. The author summarized his study as "no significant difference between the patients living in the Palmerton area and those from other communities." A second opinion from a physician was requested to re-evaluate the data, and he concluded that the data indicate an increase in cirrhosis in the under 70 age group, and an increase in prostate cancer in the over 70 age group. However, neither disease can be directly linked to cadmium exposure

ATSDR's (1985) mortality analysis from 1950-1979 basically states that the only cancer mortality rate that is consistently elevated in most counties involved is for rectal cancer. However, the mortality rate for this type of cancer is also elevated for the State of Pennsylvania and, thus, may not be associated with the site

[Inky]

FutureRN wrote:

<quoted text>
Yea, it created jobs, it also poisoned not only the environment, but the people from the area...look at the demographics...there are far more people in Aquashicola with cancers than there should be!!!

PADOH collected twenty years of data for mortality (all causes) and cancer mortality (total cancer and eight organ cancer sites) collected for Palmerton Borough (14).

The 1979-1989 data were analyzed using the Pennsylvania 1979-1981 mortality experience as a standard, and the 1980 Census population for age and sex. This analysis indicated fewer observed deaths (all causes) than expected for the 11-year period. There were 801 deaths observed with 832.4 deaths expected for a Standard Mortality Ratio (SMR) of 0.962. This difference is not statistically significant.

Total cancer mortality analysis also indicated fewer total cancer deaths than expected for the 1979-1989 period. There were 170 observed cancer deaths and 177.5 expected for an SMR of 0.958.(An "expected" death is a statistical term used for measuring mortality among a specified population. In this case, the age-sex specific death rates by 5 year age groups for a selected cause of death for Pennsylvania is applied to the same age-sex population in Palmerton Borough to obtain an "expected" number of deaths. This tells the investigator how many deaths one would expect to see in Palmerton Borough if the mortality experience was the same as in the standard population - Pennsylvania. This is known as the indirect method of mortality adjustment.) This difference again is not statistically significant. The eight cancer sites available for analyses for Palmerton Borough were as follows:(1) buccal cavity and pharynx; (2) digestive system; (3) respiratory system; (4) bone, connective tissue, skin, and breast; (5) genitourinary system; (6) other and unspecified sites; (7) leukemia; and (8) other lymphatic and hematopoietic tissues.

There were no statistically significant Standard Mortality Ratios (SMRs) in any of the eight cancer categories with the exception of cancer of other lymphatic and hematopoietic tissues. This cancer category was statistically significantly with 16 observed deaths and 8.7 deaths expected, producing an SMR of 1.839. This is statistically significant by a factor of one death over the 11-year period. Such differences are typical in small area investigations. Five of the eight investigated cancer sites had SMRs below unity.

The mortality analysis for all causes of death and total cancer indicated less mortality than expected when compared to the standard population of Pennsylvania. However, this type of analysis provides a surveillance tool for comparing mortality in populations

[mr Palm]

Hey Futuer RN ...You don't have a clue what goes on here ...Youare more likely to live to be 80 in Palmerton then almost any wher in Penna. I attended meeting when the EPA and DEP were questioned about this stuff. They had no answer

[Laughing]

FutureRN wrote:

<quoted text>
Palmerton Native: Maybe you drank out the Aquashicola creek a little too much...Breinigsville is down near Kutztown...its kinda like Maxatawny...just a little old town like Parryville and Bowmanstown

FutureRN, I see that you still have NOT learned your lesson on the Topix forums, are you seriously looking for another fight :) I am hoping you do better in college than what you have shown us in your posts!

[Debbie]

The people who caused the bulk of the pollution are long gone. Instead of pointing fingers, we should be proud of those who are working to reclaim the mountain (and it's looking great) and each do what we can to clean up the land around Palmerton.
I hope the money goes toward more cleanup efforts, and perhaps use of the West Plant land.
This is a great town in so many ways. Unfortunately, like every other small town, people like to complain, but when it comes time to helping out, they're nowhere to be found.

[only you]

Breinigsville PA wrote:

Did you go to school in Palmerton? Didn't they teach you how to spell?
And no matter how many jobs these companies offered, they STILL destroyed the countryside and polluted thousands of acres of land. They also caused an untold number of health problems and they knew all along that they were doing so.
You're a jerk.

Gotta love the comments. Parkland Graduate here, that lives in Palmerton now. So, not a full blooded redneck, as much as the Breinigsville poster, wants others to believe. The residents of Palmerton are not lower class. Now Palmerton is a fine town, with the nicest neighbors around, and I worry about the effects of the poisons left in the soil, and children that may have been effected. I hope the money is used for clean up, and those that read the Morning Call, know the bias and inaccurate reporting. To the poster that commented on Hess's, as a former employee of the main store, it is sad to see it gone. Allentown has become a cesspool.

[Truth]

It's a shame that the zinc contaminated smoke didn't blow further down into Weissport. That would've led to change we could all believe in. Maybe they could use the money to plant hyacinths on the mountain. I've always been partial to hyacinths.

[TAX DOLLARS AT WORK]

United states has moved industry to different countries were there is no polution restrictions. Now americans have not only lost jobs, big bissiness is poluting on a larger scale and american will pay in more ways than just losing jobs. It is called capitolism and america is by far not a democracy anymore?

[The Patriot]

joe poli wrote:

The plant closed because of environmental regulations years ago. Prior to the EPA, pollution was rampant across the country. Every state has its problems. This site was one of the worst in the country. Anyone who drove past Palmerton could see that all the trees were killed by the pollution. I have mixed feelings about the plant: on one hand it created thousands of jobs in the mining industry and on the other it killed many people prematurely because of the pollution.
By the way, you can visit one of New Jersey Zinc's mines in Sussex County, New Jersy. It is now a tourist attraction located in Ogdensburg and was featured on an episode of Cash and Treasures about two years ago. You get to go underground to see how the miners worked and actually see the ore veins which glow under ultraviolet lamps.

It closed because Gulf and Western and Paramount ran it into the ground sucking as much profit as they could before the factory fell apartNo capital improvements,no stack scrubbers,nothing.Good riddens I knew guys who worked there and had to be taken outside because of the oxide chills.Good industry for commie China