Poison land saga rolls on as government awaits test results
Ash mound before it was spread on Powell’s land in 2006
(CNS): Government officials have stated that the current administration remains committed to cleaning up the contaminated land in the Frank Sound area but it is still awaiting test results. The Cabinet Office said that the coordinated effort to address the problems at the location, which was used in the wake of Hurricane Ivan as a temporary hurricane debris storage and processing site, is ongoing and it recently heard from the PAHO, one of the many agencies now involved, that tests were still being carried out.
The family that owns the land recently went public with their ten-year battle with government to address the land poisoning, which has left it useless as farmland, as cattle have died grazing on it, and worthless, as officials have stated that planning permission could not be granted on the land in the state that it is at present.
Chad Powell first spoke to CNS in April, when he told us that the family had been wrangling with government for years over the state of the land and the government’s contractual obligations to clean it up after his father, former fire officer Charles Powell, had allowed the land to be used after the 2004 hurricane by MC Restoration, the group which secured the post-Ivan clean up contract.
Since the decade-long saga was revealed in the press, government has been making a more concerted effort to address the problem and announced a full-scale public health investigation last month.
Government enlisted local and international experts and health officials said they were “operating at a heightened state of awareness and vigilance”.
Following up on the current situation, the Cabinet Office said that a number of tests are underway.
“Until testing and the review of data have been completed, families who have been tested have been advised to continue the precautionary measures recommended by the Public Health Department. We hope to provide a further update in the upcoming weeks and remain fully committed to seeing this important process completed,” the Cabinet Office, which is coordinating the efforts to address the problem, stated.
Category: Environmental Health, Health
MC Restoration – isn’t that the same people that are now proposing to develop Ironwood in Franksound? I wonder if CIG will be left with another big bill?http://www.compasscayman.com/caycompass/2005/06/27/MC-defends-actions/
Just relax and watch as the greatest (payed) minds of Cayman do what they do. Talk and duck. If the Cayman Government does the right thing in this instance it will be a first. You got screwed because you got in a deal with the Government. Learn. Smart people only do that through lawyers.
Common sense suggests that lab analysis would not normally take this long. What substances are they testing for? Which lab(s) did it go to, who is the qualified person there, and what method of analysis is being utilized?
9:28 am is correct. Also, do they (DOE) have a project quality assurance plan in place?
Yes Clear as mud if it was easy as that you might be able to sell your little PPM propaganda, but it was the same PPM who cancelled the contract and remove MC restoration from the site and gave it to one their PPM cronies to clean it up which they never did! Nice try though. As it was previously stated the government had to find an alternative site to put all the the island wide debris away from populated areas. You need to get your facts in order before you go making assumptions which are clearly not based in fact. The trouble with ignorance is as it goes along it picks up confidence.
Am I reading this right? Charles Powell allowed his land to be used by MC Restoration? Were they to pay him for use of it? Sounds like a contractual obligation between him and MC Restoration and not the UDP Government that was in power at the time. Thanks PPM for doing your best to address it now, even though it doesn’t appear to be your fault, or the UDPs at all.
Labs in the US turn around soil test results in 2 weeks maximum, that includes expedited shipping, sample extraction, analysis and electronic submission of results to the client. I bet the results were known months ago. Sounds to me like CIG is formulating a vague constructed response in order to mitigate a law suit. Both sides better get their evidence in order an soon!
Sounds to me like it’s no where near as bad as the Powell family thought and hence the more extensive analysis.
5.54pm, Agree, something is cooking. Urine tests for arsenic could be done at home at $20 per a kit, as someone had mentioned already.
5;54 By the length of time CIG is saying it will take to reveal these toxic test, proves they are lying.
another awesome ppm update…..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Get real – this is 2015 and with the proper equipment the lab tests needed to determine what is, or isn’t, in the land take minutes not weeks to complete. Whatever the rights and wrongs here this smells of a cover up.