CPTnet
19 December 2006
JONESBOUROUGH, TN: The effects of DU manufacturing on health of local
residents--June's story
"What are you doing here?" the woman ran out of a nearby house to ask me. I
was photographing the U.S. and Tennessee flags flying at one end of the
Aerojet Ordnance plant near Jonesborough, TN on 26 November 2006.
I explained that our delegation was conducting a prayer vigil to raise
awareness of the dangers of depleted uranium weapons manufactured at
Aerojet. The deaths and illnesses of U.S. soldiers who fought in the first
Gulf War may be connected to breathing toxic DU dust resulting from the use
of Aerojet's DU weapons
"Thank God you're here," she said. She told us her name was June* and that
emissions coming from the Aerojet plant had made her and many of her
neighbours ill.
June, accompanied by her friend Amanda*, invited some of us into her home on
two different occasions. She allowed us to borrow thick packets of
information and notes she has been collecting about cancers, depression and
suicides in her neighborhood. Although June is only twenty-six, she suffers
from spinal disk disease, nephritis (a kidney disease) and other more vague
but disabling symptoms. She said, "I used to be a restaurant manager but
now can barely manage being a waitress. I am now trying to go on
disability." She and Amanda told of women, including their mothers, dying
of cancer in their forties, of many chronically depressed local people and
of a high suicide rate in their community.
June said she had seen the plant emitting yellow puffs of smoke
periodically. Her attempts to speak to Aerojet managers about her
suspicions had resulted first in stonewalling. Then, a team from the parent
company, Gen Corp Inc., came from California to speak to her. They told her
that she was imagining her symptoms.
When asked if she had thought of moving from the area, she said, "I can't
afford to; who would buy this place? " Eastern Tennessee is an economically
depressed area for most except for those who have jobs in the high tech
nuclear industries: Aerojet in Jonesborough and Nuclear Fuel Services a few
miles away in Erwin, TN.
Amanda told us that she has seen people at the Aerojet plant spying on them
from across the road. She said, "They would rather pay off a few sick
individuals than do something about what they are manufacturing." She told
us that people throughout the area are ill because of the two nuclear plants
but no one will do anything because they need the jobs.
What do we do with this difficult story? Delegation members contemplated a
possible future delegation that would go door-to door collecting stories.
June's story demonstrates that DU is not only a problem for survivors in a
war zone. Home becomes a war zone. As a member of our delegation said, "We
are all down range."
*Names and identities changed to protect individuals
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