Erin Brockovich Prevented From Collecting Samples From NY High School

The “mystery disease” that has now caused outbursts and twitching in 15 teens in Le Roy, NY was soon met with the efforts of environmental activist Erin Brockovich. The mother of three announced that she was reviewing documents detailing a train derailment in 1970 that had spilled cyanide and an industrial solvent called trichloroethene not far from the school. But after sending her team to collect samples, the team was prevented from entering the high school.

Erin recently echoed her comments from USA Today, telling Anderson Cooper that no vapor tests or soil tests were performed on the area following the train derailment, according to reports. Cyanide crystals were removed but 35,000 gallons of trichloroethene were absorbed into the soil. Erin also said that she found documentation of “an orange-yellow substance oozing up from the ground” on one of the field’s of Le Roy Junior-Senior High School .

But when Erin’s representatives showed up at the school to collect samples, they were met with Genesee County sheriff’s deputies. School Superintendent Kim M. Cox is reported as saying that the district already has officials of all stripes looking into the matter and that Erin’s actions are “grandstanding.” Buffalo News reports the superintendent as saying:

“Not only was this criminal activity, which forced the district to call in local law enforcement to maintain the security of its property, it disrupted the district’s preparations for a weekend music event. … No legitimate organization would function in this manner.”

No one was arrested and the police sheriff said that testing was welcome should she and her team work through the “appropriate channels.” The superintendent also acknowledged that Brockovich’s team and camera crews illegally entered the campus last weekend, conducting “rogue” science :

“Testing conducted with rogue samples is of no scientific value, as it is not conducted in accordance with scientific methodologies and safety protocols utilized by reputable environmental experts in all testing situations,” she said.

Then, she had the gall to say that all this illegal activity was hindering the students’ learning capabilities — as if needing to get down to bottom of this illness, for the safety of all the students,  is somehow not worth the measure. Granted, the media interest in this story is only heightening and it’s understandable that no one wants a narrative to develop too quickly before facts are considered. But so far, the facts aren’t looking good for the community in which proper testing didn’t follow this accident.  And the only “rogue” actions still going on in Le Roy seem to be with the safety of those high school kids.

(photo: dailymail.co.uk)

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