Asphalt Plant Update/Civil Rights

A woman from the EPA called me about Basin Asphalt. Funny thing, because what Ecology told her is different from what they told me. They told ME that the "bags blew" on a Friday and were replaced the very next day. In fact, according to the EPA, who asked about it, the bag replacement did not happen the next day, which is WHY I was still feeling nauseous when I called Ecology. The bags were not replaced until Tuesday, Sept. 11, which was the day I called or the day AFTER I called (I think I called Monday). So my sniffer was right.

Lately I haven't noticed fumes at all. I think they're slowing down for the winter. But I think someone should still look into the fact that one or both were running at night, when they didn't have permits, and that when the "bags blew" they waited to replace them and continued to run in the meantime, endangering my and the plant employees health (and anyone else who works nearby!)

I have an interest in these kinds of things so I'll be keeping my ears open. I've a strong interest in consumer rights, public interest matters, and the safety/health/life quality of regular citizens, as opposed to big companies and corporate crime and negligence.

I noticed, a lot of guys in big construction type trucks wave at me now when they pass by (don't worry! I don't reveal the names of the innocent!). I don't know for sure why, but it's nice.

Pretty soon, I want to write about Labor & Industry claims and what a difficult decision it is for workers to apply for L&I when they're injured on the job. Many times, the person who files for L&I doesn't get the best raise. They have whistleblower protection laws for employees of the government, but what about others? Are there laws to protect those who make an L&I claim, to prevent an employer from taking that "claim" out of the person's paycheck, so-to-speak?

One good thing I noticed recently--I'm seeing more translators for Spanish speaking folks! At the Social and Health Services counter, it appears they know have a FT translator available at the front counter, which they didn't have 3 weeks ago. This is new!

AND, I noticed a translator at the Wenatchee police department for someone making a report. It's hard enough to make a police report that goes anywhere--imagine if you only know Spanish and have to put your statement in writing in English? A lot of immigrant workers don't know how to write besides--some needed to support their familys when they were still kids, and left school to work in orchards and fields. I just automatically think everyone can write, but while there are Americans who never learn to write, even within our school system, there are also people who were forced to make a choice: go to school and starve or beg others for food, or go to work as a child. In Mexico, maybe the laws have changed, but for a long time, there was no such thing as laws against child labor. People really needed to have their children working and the government allowed this rather than universally provide for all the children. If I were Mexican, I would move to the U.S., simply because I would know it's better for my kids. Even if I had to slave in orchards all day...at least THEY wouldn't. Which makes me wonder why the Catholic church doesn't focus more of their "charities" in Mexico where people really need it, rather than the U.S. Hmmmm...Maybe the payback isn't as good. I guess it could be harder to receive recognition from monied folks in Mexico than it is in the U.S., and donations.

Recently there was an article about immigration laws and how it's harder for immigrants to work in orchards and there is a shortage. I realize some immigrants depend upon this work, but then again, in a weird way it reminds me of the Old South, complaining about not having enough workers for their cotton fields if and when slaves won independence.

As for the immigrants, as long as they're not legit, they can be easily exploited. Like my friend, and fellow houseworker, Maritza, was. What happened to amounts to human trafficking, by the very definition of the term.

This post is all over the place, but I had a few thoughts I wanted to write down. Onto the NFTN!