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DOUGLAS A. PALASCHAK
Attorney, Engineer, Environmentalist-before-it-was-trendy.
P.O. Box 23465, Ventura CA 93002
805-643-3205
Dedicated fax: 775-383-7885.
New website with litigation papers: http://lawyerdude.8m.com
Letter #5081 Version 1.2 See also Lead Report #5084, and preliminary report
#5065.
This letter was written Monday, August 13, 2001. 5:39 PM
This letter was printed Sunday, November 4, 2001. 6:47 PM.
This letter was updated Tuesday, August 14, 2001. 6:00 PM and again on 4 Nov 2001
Frank Capell, Proprietor
Engine Place
291 South Santa Cruz
Ventura CA 93001
Frank,
Thanks for inviting me to attend this interesting meeting. Here is the report that you requested. I spent 4.3 hours writing this report and then I delivered it. Doug
Report of 13 August 2001 Meeting Concerning the Remediation Machine
Executive Summary: The meeting was, in my opinion, a success for this reason: Ulf Lindmark admitted that the testing of the soil showed that the soil cleanup was over half done. Mr. Klein, the county regulator under whose auspices the machine runs, said that he is satisfied and the machine need never run there again. Considering that we know that the soil test was "indeterminative" from the inception, we can expect that the soil will test satisfactory now. In short, the work of the remediation machine is finished and no additional work needs to be done. However, nobody reached that conclusion formally.
Details:
Date of Meeting: Monday 13 August 2001
Time: 10 a.m.
Place: Engine Place, 291 S. Santa Cruz, back yard, next to the remediation machine.
In attendance: Eight of us stood in a circle adjacent to the machine and talked for about an hour. Clockwise as viewed from the top beginning farthest from the machine were:
Frank Capell, Proprietor of Engine Place.
Steve Ridenour of Lindmark Engineering.
Sandy Garfield, CPA, owner of Ventura Properties, owner of the lot.
Craig Klein,662-6510. Craig.klein@mail.co.ventura.ca.us
Ulf Lindmark, PE, Operator of the gas burner.
Bearded technician from Lindmark.
Gas Company technician.
Douglas Palaschak, Lawyer, Engineer - the guy in the suit taking notes.
Not in attendance:
Dick Roach, Ventura County Air Pollution Control District - who reported ill after visiting the machine.
I wrote 5 pages of contemporaneous notes while the meeting progressed. All the quotes in this report were written down by me immediately - word for word. Douglas Palaschak and Sandy Garfield both took notes. Almost everybody had something to say - except the bearded technician from Lindmark.
Here are my notes in chronological order: We began with only 6 people present. Ulf Lindmark and the Gas Company technician were on time; the rest of us merely started early.
The Meeting was Concluded even before Ulf arrived: "Won't force you to run this machine"
Craig Klein from Leaking Underground Fuel Tank division of Ventura County led the meeting off with these words:
"We won't force you to run this machine. Mother Nature can takes its course and [attenuate the pollution levels] in 15 years." - Craig Klein, head regulator.
Mr. Klein reported that he himself felt ill once when he visited this site while the machine was operating. I think that Klein's (and/or Roach's) personal bout of sickness lent much credence to the complaints of Employee Exposed Workers Brian Riddell and James Shuffield.
At this time Ulf Lindmark arrived carrying his sniffer machine. Ulf, by the way he talks and looks, reminds me of Ricky Ricardo.
Ulf did not analyze for Lead
Ulf made some broad statement that they analyzed for everything and there was nothing that the machine could possible be putting into the air. I immediately asked if he analyzed for lead. Ulf's immediate answer: "[Effluent] was not analyzed for lead." Then, realizing his vulnerability, he attempted to undo the harm by saying "The lead content in the soil was within acceptable limits". Although the lead may be within acceptable levels in the soil, that is vague - because "lead" is not tetraethyl lead. He did not say anything about tetraethyl lead - which in my mind is the leading logical suspect chemical. Although the soil level may meet some standard for deep soil, I am certain that the standard is not the same as what one might set for soil that will be subject to aeration where humans will breathe the fumes and not even test for tetraethyl lead. I let that subject drop but it came up again later.
Kehoe Rule. Ulf is a lead apologist in the style of Ethyl Corporation's Kehoe who challenged the
public to prove that lead was unsafe. Kehoe also promoted the safety of Freon which has since been outlawed. In short Kehoe was a well paid lying corporate career whore.
I compiled some data from the internet regarding lead poisoning in my report #5084. Tetraethyl lead burns to form Lead Bromide - a nasty neurotoxin, dangerous at low levels. Any inquiry into lead would ruin the remediation burner industry because the prime candidate site is a gas station. Ulf knows that. He lied to us. That justifies punitive damages. Craig Klein is an old field guy from Texas. He should know better - or maybe he is lying to us too. "Kehoe Rule" is the name given to the corporate strategy of condemning toxicology studies not done on actual humans - and otherwise sandbagging the public when they have discovered that the corporations are lying to them about the safety of their products.
Do you remember when Ulf shot back "Lead is a naturally occurring substance!" ? This is the identical wording that Kehoe used. Kehoe tested a people against a baseline of "normal" people - but his test was rigged. The "normal" people actually has suffered lead exposure. Then when exposed people were tested, they were compared to the fake normal people and pronounced normal also.
Water Level Rises in the Spring hampering the performance of the Remediation Machine
Craig Klein explained that the ground water level rises in the spring - presumably from rain and mountain runoff. The water in the soil diminishes the effectiveness of this remediation machine. Therefore the season for effective remediation is now.
Craig Klein, the Head Regulator says again, the 2nd time that we can remove the machine.
Hmm. He is sending us a clear message. He is the guy who makes the decision. Once again, that seems to end the matter in my opinion. The machine goes. End of story. But we did not gloat. Craig Klein's words were:
"I have no problem with removing the system. Let natural processes take their course. . . . Even if the sickness is psychosomatic" - Craig Klein, the regulator with authority to end this remediation.
The man from the gas company arrived and now we were 8.
A 3rd favorable proclamation from Craig Klein
"The alternative is to simply monitor soil" says Craig Klein, the head regulator. What he meant, of course, is that we can remove the remediation machine and simply test to monitor the progress of nature in self-remediating - a process that he earlier predicted might take 15 years, but he may have forgotten that our particular site was already clean before we started.
What Craig Klein may not remember is that the test on which remediation was based was "indeterminative" which means that remediation was not even needed for sure in the first place. Now that we have cleaned the soil, further monitoring may not be needed; the soil will likely pass the test now.
Somebody said that the machine "never had a problem" but that statement was wrong because the machine shut down by itself on the day that both Brian and James vomited. If the machine never had a problem then it would not have shut down.
"An urban environment causes swirling winds" - Craig Klein
We talked about placement of the machine. Frank recalled for us the various candidate sites around the lot and why each was rejected. I was surprised to hear that nobody recommended the far northeast corner of the car lot but I said nothing. Nobody said a thing about stack length ever. It was irrelevant. The tone of the meeting is that the machine is on its way out. The head regulator is the guy with the most authority here and he is pushing for removal of the machine.
Craig Klein's philosophy is identical to Brian's
Brian's concern is that we are fools to poison the air that we breathe at work today in order to clean up some underground dirt. Craig Klein, the head regulator said that he, Craig Klein, is concerned "that is does not get cleaned up at the expense of the health of the people at the site"
Ulf is ready to blame the water heater.
Earlier in the meeting, Ulf asked Frank about his water heater. Ulf brought his sniffer machine to test the water heater. Frank explained that the water heater was never a problem before the machine arrived. Now Ulf again brings up the subject of the water heater. Ulf asks Frank if the water heater is in the area where Brian felt ill. Frank admitted that it was. Frank said "You can go ahead and test it if you want." Frank paused and then added "It is electric."
Craig Klein mentioned that he worked in the Oil Field in Texas. (I worked in the oil field in Houston also.) Klein was a consultant - as was I.
Ulf Mentions the Schools again and admits that it was a different machine.
Ulf mentioned that he ran a remediation machine at elementary schools.
Immediately I gave Ulf a little taste of what it might be like in court. I cross examined Ulf. I immediately asked him to name the schools.
"L.A. Unified School District" he answered.
I asked him to narrow it down a bit - to name some particular school.
Ulf became defensive "I'm sorry, what was your name again?" Ulf asked me.
I told Ulf my name again and asked him again which school.
Then Ulf admitted that this is the only one of this type machine - a Baker machine. The others were "similar" but not Baker machines.
Craig Klein added, to my surprise, that he thinks that this machine is not made by Baker Oil Tools. I almost went to work for Baker once - and this sure looks like things that they build - and it is their color also. I emphasized the point by asking Ulf again if this type machine - a Baker - ever operated at a school.
Ulf admitted that This Baker machine never ran at a school. Hmm. Now he is backpeddling from his position in his letter. (Oh, I see. He was not lying in his letter - because his letter said merely that a "similar" machine had run at a school. How similar? Made of steel weighing over 5 pounds?)
Frank nudged me and said to knock it off.
"What about Lead? . . .It's not conjecture; it's a question."
I brought the subject back to tetraethyl lead. I asked what happens to tetraethyl lead in the soil when you pump air through the soil and then burn the effluent.
I asked "Isn't this machine like a gas chromatograph? Doesn't the tetraethyl lead, being heavy, drop out first after going up the stack? Could it not be the lead that is making them sick?"
Craig Klein begged off "Hey, I am not a chemist. I don't know."
Ulf admitted that he did not know what happens to tetraethyl lead.
Now Ulf is on the bandwagon: "We are not going to operate it here"
Mission accomplished.
Alternative - Carbon Absorption System - not needed, but I speculate.
Craig Klein (or somebody) mentioned a carbon absorption system - which is a big improvement because it burns no fuel - but they forget that we likely don't need any more remediation.
In case you missed it, Craig Klein pronounces remediation end a 4th time.
Craig Klein said: "Right now we are worried about the stuff up on tp in he air. I am not worried about the cleanup now. We can let Mother Nature take its course." - Head Regulator, Craig Klein.
Risk Based Directive Action - RBDcA
Ulf asks Craig Klein if Craig is taking a RBDcA. Craig Klein explains that a RBDcA is a "risk based directive action" which means:
"If 1 person in a million can get sick then we shut the machine down." - Craig Klein, head regulator.
The size of the pot.
Craig explained that the state will pay up to $1.5 million per site for a cleanup.
"Natural Tenuation"
Craig Klein explained that nature tenuates the pollution level.
"They are not able to come to work . . . One is bedridden." - Frank
Ulf asked if the injured workers would be working today and if they were smokers. Frank said that Brian is a "health nut" and James "has not smoked in 4 years" and that Frank's employees are not able to come to work. One has confirmed elevated carbon monoxide in the blood. The results from the other employee (Brian, I guess) have not returned yet.
Gas Company has Authority to End the Remediation
The Gas Company technician spoke up. He said that The Gas Company will shut off the gas ( as apparently the already did) to any facility that is making people sick. He offered to turn it back on today for any tests that anybody might want to do. Frank asked why they would test if they already decided that they are not going to run this machine any more.
AQMD -No. APCD - yes.
Craig Klein said that the AQMD (Air Quality Management District, I am guessing) is passing jurisdiction of this project to the APCD (Air Pollution Control District, I am guessing).
What about Oxygen Depletion?
I asked Ulf where the oxygen comes from to burn all that natural gas. He at first tried to avoid the question as though it were irrelevant, but I persisted and he admitted that the machine had an air intake at near ground level on the machine. I was unable to direct any attention toward this subject. I did not broach the subject of convection currents as I did in my previous letter for Brian.
Lead again
They are not interested in talking about lead.
Ulf's enigma
Ulf says "It is an enigma to all of us."
Carbon Monoxide Can Accumulate
Craig Klein said it - just what Brian says. I think that they are both right to a point. Here is the true fact which Craig Klein should have known: Carbon Monoxide excretes slowly. Therefore, in a closed environment, the ingestion is tremendously faster than the excretion.
The key to this "enigma"
Nobody pointed out that their very own reports say that carbon monoxide is at the legal level. Statistically it is not below the safe level - and therefore it is unsafe. When you have such a steady supply of carbon monoxide over a long time, there is a steady accumulation. The excretion process is very slow. Craig Klein should know the half life but he does not. The county is negligent.
What is the half life of Carbon Monoxide in the Human? That is the Question.
Craig Klein confirmed what Brian said: "Carbon Monoxide stays in your system and does not go away" but he is dumbing down the answer. Carbon monoxide like every other toxin or drug entering the system has either a half life or a steady rate of departure from the human. Three examples show the three patterns of excretion:
Pattern #1: Half life. Many active ingredients disperse in proportion to the amount ingested. Example: Half of ingested ephedrine leaves your body in about 3 hours - through your urine - or by decomposition.
Pattern #2: Steady rate of excretion. Example: We eliminate an ounce of ingested alcohol per hour - through breath - and urine. This is not the same as half life.
Pattern #3: Cumulative poison. Does not leave. Example: Lead. Hmm. Maybe that is why they don't want to talk about lead. If you have some lead in the soil - - and we certainly do have lead here - - then it would be a mistake install a machine to pump it up into the air and then dump the gaseous tetraethyl lead into the air of humans on the surface.
Is this a remediation Blunder? Doug's first thermal oxidizer remediation project.
When I was a young teenager I realized that gasoline from our private filling station on the farm was polluting the soil beneath the overhead tank to such a degree that grass would not grow beneath the tanks. (We had no pump - just elevated tanks.) I decided to clean up the soil by burning off the gasoline in the dirt. I ignited the dirt and then watched the flames grow higher and higher - toward the tank of gasoline at the 7 foot level. Frightened, I ran to the horse tank and brought a bucket of water and splashed it on the burning soil. The flame went out - - and then, just as quickly - - whoosh, it reignited. I ran and got another bucket of water. Finally the flame went out. In my zeal to clean the soil, I had devised a system that created a hazard that was far more dangerous than the mess that I was cleaning up. This is precisely what Lindmark has done here. They have created a toxin amplifier that collects tetraethyl lead or some other toxin and concentrates this toxin in the breathing space of workers.
How stupid not to fully study the tetraethyl lead cycle!!
Lindmark and Craig Klein both admitted that they don't know what happens to tetraethyl lead. They are in the business of burning soil formerly contaminated with tetraethyl lead and they don't even know what the combustion products are? They don't even ask anybody? That is professional malpractice!
Here is where the Punitive Damages come in
They professed to be professionals but they ignored a known risk - for greed. As a result of their negligence your workers suffered. But what are the damages? Aha! You can recover punitive damages because they knew that tetraethyl lead is deposited at former gas stations yet they chose to ignore that fact - and they deceived many clients - knowing that their deceit created the risk that people would be injured in just the manner that Brian and James were injured.
Here is where the class action comes in
We ask them to name all their former clients - and notify them that they are now class action plaintiffs.
Here is where the deep pocket comes in.
The county is the deep pocket. They approved it - and Craig Klein admitted that he does not know about
the tetraethyl lead cycle - and he admits that he is not even a chemist. The county was negligent is hiring a non chemist to do the job of a chemist.
I asked the bar for my ticket back by mail Saturday.
I can do this case for you. I can demand special permission. They took it wrongfully - - at the behest of Ventura county. Ventura told the bar to take my license when Ventura could not get me in retaliation for my mild success with drug and sex cases. The entire bar licensing system will fall like a house of cards. It is a violation of free speech. I already wrote brief #3789 which is on the internet with a multitude of my other briefs, but I digress.
What else was this property used for?! Lindmark was negligent to have failed to search the chain
of title. They did not even check to see what they might logically be expected to pull up from the soil!
The reasonable engineer would take some steps to ensure that his machine was not creating an environmental hazard. Lindmark is told that they he is producing a toxin - and his attitude is way wrong! He should have back stepped - but that would slow down the money train. Well, climb aboard folks. We can ride that train too.
Ulf's lies will get you punitive damages. Now he admits that the ppm has decreased 90%
He should have announced successful remediation and departed weeks ago. He only announced today (after he decided on the spot at our meeting, as I quoted above, to remove the machine) that the ppm level at the stack (or was is in the soil?) decreased from 10,000 ppm to 1,000 ppm. Specifically Ulf said:
"leaving the machine on for a month reduced 10,000 ppm to 1,000 ppm . . . It is possible that levels now will pass the [test]" - Ulf, now telling us something that he should have told us when it happened weeks ago.
A jury will not like Ulf's smug attitude - nor will they like a guy who lied to you and jeopardized
your life just so that his money machine could continue to extract superfund dollars from the earth.
In case you missed it 4 times, Craig Klein pronounces remediation end a 5th time.
"What is down there is not a big problem; what's up her is the immediate problem." - Craig Klein, head regulator.
Craig Klein now asks when the guys might come back to work.
Frank replies: "They are not able to come back to work"
Just as I concluded weeks ago in my report #5065 - Erin Brokavich all over again.
Now Craig Klein mentions Erin Brokavich!
Frank says that they removed the gasoline tanks 10-12 years ago.
Craig Klein mentions that Sandy and Noel also own 2057 Thompson. Sandy tells me that 2057 is a used car lot.
Craig Klein: "I don't think anybody wants to be contentious here."
In case you missed it the first 5 times, Craig Klein pronounces remediation end a 6th time.
Craig Klein again mentioned "Mother Nature" being able to remediate this site.
The meeting ended after an hour. Nobody announced any formal decisions. We all managed to remain civil for the entire hour. Nobody shouted. Nobody was even "contentious".
When I began writing this report, I looked on the internet for Ventura's Environmental Health Site. There are 44 pages of environmental cleanup sites on the web site of Ventura County Environmental Health. We are on page 36. They are in alphabetical order according to the street name which is 1926 Thompson Blvd. - beginning with a T.
This is the end of this report. I have to proof read it yet. Then I will deliver it by hand.
Douglas Palaschak. Monday, August 13, 2001.10:17 PM