Refinery officials denied Lynnda's allegations and asserted that any added regulations or threat of litigation stemming from them would force the company to shut down.
The community was divided: many residents feared that closing the refinery would devastate the local economy. They wanted Lynnda to shut up and they told her as much. Even those who supported her were reluctant to come forward.
But after Newcastle woke to find itself coated in a layer of brown dust this spring, the political climate has changed. Wyoming Refining Company is no longer immune to criticism.
A Spewing Brown Cloud
On March 25, 2002, a brown cloud spewed out of a refinery emissions stack and settled over the northeastern part of town, leaving behind a layer of sandy dust. Within hours, residents were experiencing physical reactions. Three-year-old Jeffrey Hawley broke out in hives. Sarah Clyde's head pounded and she had a metallic taste in her mouth. Richard Henkle and his wife and child developed skin rashes. Others complained of respiratory problems and eye irritations.
Slowly the details leaked out. By later in the week, the refinery had acknowledged that between 7 p.m. on March 24 and 7 a.m. on March 25, a frozen valve at the plant had allowed 20 tons of silica catalyst to escape into the air. The catalyst was initially dismissed by the plant's vice president of environmental affairs, Bob Neufeld, as sand, much like "wheat flour."
However, Neufeld recommended that the annual Easter egg hunt be relocated to avoid having children play in areas affected by the spill. Later, refinery representatives conceded that the catalyst contained some hazardous materials and they offered to pay to clean up houses and cover people's medical expenses.
Impossible to Ignore
A Material Safety Data Sheet, obtained by the Newcastle Action Group (NAG) and its regional affiliate, the Powder River Basin Resource Council (PRBRC), showed that the catalyst contained arsenic, chromium and nickel Ñ three known human carcinogens Ñ among other heavy metals. The first instruction under the sheet's environmental and regulatory section said that in the event of a land spill, people should be kept away. The sheet also stated that skin contact should be avoided, and the product kept out of sewers and waterways. This information indicated that the dust was a lot different from wheat flour, but it took literally weeks for the people of Newcastle to know what they'd been exposed to.
"Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality files show a series of spills and accidents over the years," says Vickie Goodwin of PRBRC. "The one in March was just the most blatant example. It was impossible to ignore."
Turning the Tide
The blatancy of the spill turned the tide, helping PRBRC and NAG bring Wyoming Refining Company to the negotiating table. It is the first time in years that local activists have been taken seriously. Formed in 1998 to push the refinery to clean up its emissions, NAG had tried unsuccessfully to raise public awareness of the potential health implications of living downwind of the refinery. But most people refused to listen, until now.
"People would say, 'Yeah, it smells bad, oh well. The town needs the refinery,'" says NAG member Marcia Dunsmore. "Now people are listening and talking. A coach at the high school here in Newcastle says he has an unexpectedly high number of athletes using asthma inhalers on his teamÉ.A man from Pringle, South Dakota, called to say that when the wind blows from Newcastle, he goes into seizures.ÉThere are families living out of town while their houses are cleanedÉ.People know about these things. They are in the paperÉ.I believe this publicity is the reason Wyoming Refining Company is finally talking to us."
Making Progress...
"In response to everything that has happened, NAG, PRBRC and Wyoming Refining Company are getting together to negotiate a 'Good Neighbor Agreement,'" Marcia continues. "We want to develop an emergency response plan. We need to be notified when there are accidents. We want to ensure school safety. These are the easiest things to negotiate. Ultimately we want them to clean up the air."
NAG and PRBRC hope that they will be able to devise an agreement that is legally binding and provides for citizen oversight of the refinery.
Another victory for Newcastle citizens came in April, when Wyoming Refining Company signed a consent decree with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to avoid a lawsuit regarding its violations of the Wyoming Environmental Quality Act and the Wyoming Solid and Hazardous Waste Rules and Regulations. With this decree, Wyoming Refining Co. agreed to clean up a variety of solid waste and water problems.
Together, these two developments represent substantial progress for NAG and PRBRC. But both organizations believe they still have a long way to go.
"Our membership has grown since the catalyst spill, but there are still political ramifications to being involved," Marcia concludes. "The accident has made people more aware of the fact that there is danger, but it still divides the community. People are afraid of what will happen to the town if the refinery shuts down.ÉNAG has never said we want to close the refinery; we just want to make it safe for people to live in Newcastle."
...But is Anyone Safe?
"When I got a timeline of the refinery's emissions violations from DEQ I just sat down and cried," Lynnda Shroeder recalls. "You can see an increase in violations at the same time my health problems increased. I could see it in black and white; I wasn't just some batty old lady.
"I get very angry when I think about what has happened to the quality and quantity of my life," Lynnda continues. "Had I chosen to overeat or smoke and ruin my health, that would have been one thing. But I didn't. No one told me what was happening until it was too late."
Lynnda and her husband Frank were forced to move to Gillette last winter when it became obvious that she could not survive in Newcastle. Her symptoms would disappear or lessen the minute she got 10 miles out of town. Now she refuses to go back, although she has family still living in Newcastle and she would like to be able to attend their graduations, birthday parties or funerals. But it's just not safe for her to be in Newcastle. The question remains, is it safe for anyone?
WOC board member Molly Absolon is a writer who lives in Lander. |
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