Chapter 64 Section 14

"yes." "Mr. Babs, were you involved in burying those waste drums in the ditch behind the factory building?" "No." "Do you know about this?" "I don't know anything except what I read in the papers later. I just put the waste paint and liquid in iron drums. As for what to do with it, that's not my business." In early April, Ole Ravi, a warehouse clerk in charge of receiving goods from the Food Machinery Factory, came to the law firm of Hilleman-Conway-Knolly.He told lawyers that his family lived in the Pine Street neighborhood in Woburn East.Like Thomas Barbus, he entered the factory in 1961.He worked as a cleaner in the paint shop before being transferred to the warehouse.According to the order of the company's lawyer William Cheeseman, Orr answered Jane's questions with "yes" or "no" as simply and concisely as possible, without adding too many words.

Asked who had been involved in disposing of the waste tanks in the back of the building, Orl hesitantly named two names: Jo Merrow and Thomas Barbus.Orr was unwilling to make small reports. He and Thomas had known each other since childhood, but he was even more unwilling to lie. "How exactly did they do it?" "It's very simple, first pour the waste liquid in the bucket into the ditch." "What ditch?" "The drain, leading down to a creek." Jane changed the subject: "How long have you lived in the east of the city?" "19 years."

"Do you have children?" "Eight." "A big family." Jane nodded and smiled, "When you heard that the two wells were polluted, you must be very worried, right?" William Cheeseman raised his hand in protest. Jane put it another way: "Are you worried about your family's health?" William protested again. "Has anyone in your family suffered from some serious illness? Like..." William protested at all such questions from Jane.Auer was puzzled at first, and then disgusted.Regardless of William's stop, he answered all Jane's questions in one breath: "Yes, I am very worried about the health of my family. My youngest son has a heart problem, one of my daughters has had a miscarriage, and another granddaughter is born with Physically handicapped."

Al Ravi couldn't eat or sleep well. After thinking about it for several days, he finally got up the courage to knock on the door of Anderson's house.Orr and Annie talked for nearly two hours, and Annie asked him if he would like to speak to Jane Hilleman alone, and Orr said yes. The next night, Jane was invited to Ravi's house.Orr told Jane that there were rumors in the factory that by the early 1970s, there were more than 50 waste bins buried.Orr also said that he knew Thomas Barbus was not telling the truth because he had personally overheard Thomas talking to a foreman named Frank Kelly about a waste bin buried in a ditch.Orr finally said that Norbert Paquerilla, an electrical technician who had quit, knew about it too.

Noport Paquerilla spoke quickly and liked to repeat phrases here and there: "Yes, I threw it out myself. Yes, I threw it out myself. Eddie Olaren, foreman on the assembly line, let I dumped all that waste down the ditch. Dumped it all down the ditch. There was nothing growing in that area. I didn't know it was poisonous at the time. I used it to clean parts sometimes, you know, parts. My hands turned white after that. I don't know what that thing is called. I don't know chemistry. I don't know chemistry." "Trichlorethylene." "Yes, that's it. That's it."

"What about Thomas Barbs?" "Where's Thomas Barbs? He's pouring paint thinner down the ditch." "But he said he never did any of those things." Robert snorted. "He's been doing it for years. Years." Clearly, both Paul Sarin and Thomas Barbus lied at the hearing, and W. R. Glass also lied to EPA.Under federal law, it is a crime to lie to the EPA.Jane Hilleman believes he has good reason to ask the relevant government departments to come forward to investigate.He took Ole Ravi with him to the prosecution. A week later, William Cheeseman called Jane: "If you think it necessary, you can arraign Thomas Barbs again. He said that something suddenly occurred to him. He remembered that he had put the barrel The waste liquid was poured into the drain.”

Paul Sharin's memory also recovered, and he admitted that among the physical evidence submitted by William to the plaintiff's lawyer, there was a note written by him.The note, dated September 30, 1973, reads: "As of September, a total of 150 gallons of trichlorethylene was used." In this way, Jane estimated in his heart that at least before 1974, the plant used 150 gallons of trichlorethylene every year. Use about four 55-gallon barrels of TCE.After more than ten years of accumulation, there should be more than 50 barrels, which is exactly the same as the "rumor". More than 50 barrels!Enough to pollute Well G and Well H!Jane thought, this is called the ironclad evidence.

The "understanding" of W. R. Glass lasted for six full months. In July 1985, at the request of lawyers for both parties, Judge Walter Skinner approved the postponement of the trial date to February 18 of the following year. If W. R. Glass was difficult enough, J. J. Riller Tannery was even more difficult.From top to bottom in the whole factory, from the boss to the employees, no one is willing to reveal the slightest word of mouth at the bottom-up meeting.Jack Riller vehemently denies all the allegations in the indictment. He neither admits to having used TCE nor provides any form of records—chemical formulas, order sheets, invoices, etc., saying that because there is no place to store all these documents have been destroyed.

The key to the charge against J. J. Riller Tannery is the 15 hectares of barren land between the factory building and the Apojona River.Jane Hilleman had been there before, saw about a dozen 55-gallon iron drums that were raw, and smelled the slightly sweet chemical solvent.Jane also found a report from the state Department of Health dated July 12, 1956.At that time, the State Department of Health received complaints from surrounding residents that there was always an unpleasant smell near the leather factory, so A.C. Boulder, an environmental sanitation engineer, was sent to investigate.Boulder and Jack Riller followed a path to the clearing.Boulder later reported in his report: "Animal hair was everywhere in the silt on the ground, and the meat scraped from the fur was thrown here and there, some only inches from the Apodrone River." Boulder asked Jack Riller immediately cleaned up, and Jack said that this was his territory, and he could do whatever he liked. “(I) then pointed out to him,” Boulder wrote, “that polluting the air and rivers, no matter who the land belonged to, was contrary to the laws in force in this state.” Jack finally reluctantly agreed to clean up.