Weyerhaeuser Craig Facility, Broken Bow, OKlahoma August 15, 2005 The Weyerhaeuser Craig Facility Project Manager, Larry Vickers, agreed to meet with Phillip Fields (with the Lower Little River Watershed Coalition) and me to take samples of the soil and water draining into the Mountain Fork River from the facility. About 90 minutes prior to the scheduled meeting, Larry called to advise that Mike Wood would not authorize such a meeting, and Larry would, therefore, not be making the trip. I called Mike Wood, Regulatory Affairs Manager, Weyerhaeuser Company, at (501) 624-5869 and left word for him to call when he got in from lunch. About 1:30 he called the house. He said any sampling would have to be done through the ODEQ and the EPA, as "we need to go about any sampling in a logical and structured way". When I advised him of Mr. Fields' credentials, Mr. Wood stated, "I don't know of any justifiable reason to do any sampling. This is not a controlled situation". My wife and I commented that he must mean Weyerhaeuser didn't have control, and he agreed with that comment. We replied that if he had allowed the Craig Facility Project Manager to meet with us, Weyerhaeuser would have had control. He further stated that we could show the sheriff Mr. Fields' credentials. When I said I could go up to the dinosaur pit on my Three Rivers Permit, Mr. Woods said he just didn't know if that area was included in the permit area. I said I could take my boat up to the creek, and get in that way. Mr. Wood said we could take water samples of public streams. He said we would likely find lead, because lead is naturally occurring and can also be found north of the Hwy. 70 Bridge. I was to meet Mr. Fields at 2:15, so I had to leave. I told Mr. Wood we would call him when I got to the meeting place. All in all, the phone call was very contentious. Mr. Wood would rather call the sheriff on us and have us arrested for trespassing than allow any "uncontrolled" sampling to take place. So much for going through the proper channels! This whole scenario gave us additional doubts as to the validity of Weyerhaeuser's own testing and the true chemical content of their discharges. Marcia Hodgson Rt 1 Bx 633-8 Broken Bow OK 74728 ssalady@direcway.com |
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