Stories

At first, there was some doubt, with people saying that everyone gets cancer. But I said, 'No, everybody does not get cancer, and they definitely don’t get it in their teens, 20s, and 30s.'

I am a 29-year-old cancer survivor. I never expected this to be part of my introduction. I would love for my introduction to just be that I’m a mom.

People say, “No one knew.” But I believe they did. These companies employed chemists, engineers, brilliant people with PhDs. They knew. And now, multiple generations are paying the price.

It doesn't sit right with me that my daughters are going through this. It's really hard to be so helpless. My daughter wants answers, and I don't have any.

I lived at Ground Zero. No one lived closer to those pits and that contamination than I did, and there were so many different exposures in my life. Who's to say what was going to become of it?

I remember when we moved here the town was called "Otstinko" because of the paper mills and the meat packing plant in Plainwell; the smell would blow our way depending on the weather.

You can certainly make a mistake, all of us will, but when you are harming others, and are not taking accountability, that’s negligence.

I just know a lot of people have been hurt, are still hurting. How much more is the future going to hurt for people?

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