A Letter from Steven D. Sandberg

I just recently stumbled across the Dioxindorms article and I am shocked that your University is allowing those students to live there.

I am one of the very few who have won lawsuits or settled from PCB-dioxin exposure. I sued for my ex-employer (General Electric), Monsanto, Westinghouse, and Occidental Petroleum Chemical Company. I worked with PCB's, dioxins, & furans for many years and now I am suffering the adverse effects from the exposure after 18 years of exposure. Did you know dioxin, furans and PCB's store in the (adipose) fatty tissue and all cells within the human body? My mission is to inform everyone of your students about the long term effects of exposure to these chemicals. Which includes: chloracne, birth defects (spina bifida), skin cancer, liver damage and kidney failure to name a few. What right does your university have to say that these residence halls are safe? Would you allow your child to live in these dorms breathing the air coming out of these ducts all night long, every day of the year? GE told us PCB's were no worse than cooked bacon or table salt. I told a lawyer at my deposition I will drink a glass of water with two teaspoons of salt if you drink a glass with 2 teaspoons of burnt' spent PCB oil in it.. he did not know what to say or think. These students will be breathing in these toxic chemicals from here on out getting small doses everyday which will accumulate in their bodies over time. The dose makes the poison they will be small doses everyday until the dose starts to show ill effects. By not having this ventilation ducts replaced your future in lawsuits will increase ten fold in my opinion.

The PCB department I worked at in Anaheim, California was shut down it is now a ghost town due to the contamination. The EPA stated to General Electric in their letter. "Any more exposure to these chemicals poses an unreasonable risk to human health and the environment". GE was fined over $350.000.00 and settled out of court with the two defendants who sued them in Anaheim, Ca. You will never get those buildings safe for students. Look at the city of Times Beach, Missouri ..it no longer exists due to the dioxin contamination.

I plan on flying to New Paltz within the next month or two to talk to the students and their parents at a private meeting. I will inform them all to get (adipose tissue biopsies), and blood testing for dioxins, furans and PCB's. I will also inform to all get their vehicles and homes of friends checked for contamination (their carpeting in their cars, foot pedals and the carpeting of their friends homes. ). I am sure they are contaminated also, mine was. Did you know tetrachlorodibenzo-dioxin is one the most dangerous chemicals known to man? PCB's and Dioxins are the chemical cousins of Agent Orange. The U.S. government downplayed the toxicity of this chemical at first but now look at the new human effects published.

I now suffer from skin cancer on my hands and arms, had chloracne, the bottoms of my feet turned yellow and thickened, the right side of my body is not functioning correctly (arthritis) and now my liver is in bad shape. What's next, I am only 50 years of age. Did you know that a supervisor (Ed Bates) at a GE plant in Pittsfield Mass. went to over 291 funerals over a 20 year period. These were all his workers exposed over the years at their PCB plant in Pittsfield. I will also be bringing him along to talk to your students and their parents and hopefully Dr. Daniel Titlebaum (toxicologist) from Colorado a renowned expert on the adverse effects of exposure to PCB's, dioxin and furans.

Without testing of fat tissue and blood, your students will not have a chance in a lawsuit. I will do my best to inform them to have these tests performed (independently) from toxicologists that have done mine. Believe me, I was alone with my lawyer in front of 7 lawyers on video and I did not give -up on my quest to sue these companies. I am sure many of the students have the resources and funds to have these tests performed by Pacific Toxicology Labs or other places I know of and will go through with a lawsuit against your university, the transformer manufacturer, and the dielectric fluid manufacturer , which is Monsanto.

What right do you have to say these dorms are safe? Do you really know? It takes years sometimes to see any effects of exposure.........but without a blood test and fat biopsy your students will not have a leg to stand on. My goal is to inform and get them all tested who have lived in these dorms after the incident.

Your university should be totally aware of the Binghamton State Office Building fire involving a PCB transformer fire-explosion. (read PDF in link below).

"Decontamination of the Binghamton State Office Building, Progress Report - Ma

I would suggest the University to have an independent company place air monitoring devices throughout the dorms especially on the vents leading to all rooms within the dorms..........by a unbiased company.
I would also suggest you quit saying these dorms are safe. General Electric and Monsanto said the same thing. They lost or settled 90% of their lawsuits.

You could be getting yourselves into a class action lawsuit without having the ventilation systems replaced. The statutes of limitation are not over yet either. The law states it begins when the defendant knows of the problem and they will only know when they all get tested that these chemicals exist in their bodies. That's where I believe you have messed up saying it was all safe to enter these dorms. At the moment they believe they are safe but when they get the test results they will think otherwise............ then the statues of limitation begin.

I was the chemical worker interviewed by Eric Francis for the Sierra Club Magazine Article "GE's warm caring impression".

GE's Warm, Caring Impression

I still have this fax memo and I will show it to all the families who have son's and daughter's living in those dorms.

Believe me I took on 4 powerful companies and their lawyers and will do it again if necessary to help these students. I will speak the truth and will not hold back any information. I truly believe I have the knowledge, the resources, and the time to help these kids out. I learned a lot in 10 years of depositions, and research on the subject matter and if I don't have the correct and accurate information my colleagues will. I know the right people who can lead these students in the right direction.

Thanks for your time..........if you don't do the right thing it could get worse for everyone involved.

Steven D. Sandberg

Update

To update you on the events that have been taking place, Lois Gibbs from the Center for Health and Environmental Justice (www.chej.org) came and spoke to about 100 students in the Lecture Center earlier this month. The focus of her lecture was to educate students about the way the New York State goverment denied that there was any danger of exposure to toxic chemicals in her home town of Love Canal, near Niagra Falls in Upstate NY. Even though over 50 percent of babies were being born with birth defects (including multiple rows of teeth) and people were getting cancer at alarming rates, the NY State goverment said, "You can't prove it." In order to protect the lives of her children and those around her, she joined up with neighbors and began an onslaught of activism, calling legislators and elected officials....doing whatever it took to put the politicians on the spot and demanding they pay attention. Love Canal was built on a toxic waste dump which was destroying the lives of its residents. New York State allowed it for year, and eventually, with the passion and dedication of the citizens, the town was evacuated. Gibbs went on to build the Center for Health and Environmental Justice www.chej.org, which is responible for pressuring large companies, including Target and WalMart, to stop using highly toxic plastics in their packaging. Go Lois Gibbs!!!!! Power to the People!

This is no joke. If the NY State government would play games with peoples lives back in the 70's when Love Canal was an issue, why would 2007 be any different with the SUNY New Paltz dorms? This issue has been going on for 16 years now, and the SUNY administration still claims that PCB and Dioxins in the four dorms - Capen, Gage, Scudder and Bliss, pose no serious health threats to students....

Just to make things clear as well, there are no questions as to whether or not the dorms are contaminated. The administration has repeatedly said that they are contaminated, but they are safe. Excuse me? PCB and Dioxin exposure (dioxin was the chemical used in Agent Orange) is safe?

The questions we want answered are, how contaminated are the buildings, and where are the hot spots? And what are the health risks to students who live in the buildings year round?

This is what we are in the process of finding out. Student leaders and activists have been meeting with county legislators and will soon be meeting with an environmental consultant to determine the best way to put pressure on the Ulster County Department of Health to take action and cooperate with Senate Resolution 42, which calls for peer-reviewed, split sample testing. Why do we want split sample testing? To make sure they don't lie about the results.


If you live in one of the four contaminated dorms, there are several things you can do right now to learn more and to become involved.

The only way we are going to be able to stand up to the administration is if the students and parents inform themselves and speak up.

Please register for the Dioxin Dorms discussion board. We need to get people talking to each other and informing each other of the issues. We need to create a social movement that is going to create an impact. This is necessary if we are to succeed.
http://dioxindorms.com/discussion_board/

You can also go to www.dioxindorms.com and read the articles there.
There is also PCB/Dioxin Activist Coalition blog to read at www.newpaltzpcbs.blogspot.com

The reason there is not much activity on these sites right now is because there is only a very small group of people doing all the work, and there is so much that needs to be done.

A 3-5 minuted informative video needs to be made and posted on You Tube. Any volunteers?

A student Health Survey needs to be handed out and collected. Who would like to be involved with that?

Are there any students who are studying environmental issues that would like to take this on as an independent study and could likely get credit for it?

Go the the student health center and tell them that you want to get your blood tested for PCBs, dioxin and dibenzofurans. If at leat 30-50 students do this, it will get their attention. Ask for Dr. Peter Haughton and listen to the mouthful of lies he will tell you about how people in Asia drank PCB oil and were fine. It is called the Yusho Incident and you can research it yourself. (We have this statement by Dr. Haughton on record.)

TALK TO YOUR PARENTS.


Please feel free to reply to this email....if we don't respond immediately, please be patient. If you do not live in the dorms, you can still become involved and protect your fellow students. Please email this to anyone you know who lives on campus, or attended SUNY New Paltz in the last 16 years.

Print it out and spread it around.

EDUCATE YOURSELF and please read the letter below.

Thank you and may you be in good health,


The PCB/Dioxin Action Coalition
www.newpaltzpcbs.blogspot.com
www.dioxindorms.com