Residents Celebrate Cleanup of Toxic Plant

Residents gathered Tuesday to celebrate the cleanup of a chrome-plating facility where state officials found high levels of toxic pollutants next door to an elementary school.

Seven months after it suspended operations, Chrome Crankshaft Co. officially shut down its chrome-plating function this week as part of a cleanup plan ordered by the Department of Toxic Substance Control.

An earlier investigation by the department turned up high levels of toxins on the site and traces of carcinogens in the playground of Suva Elementary School, separated from the factory by only a chain link fence.

Residents blame the plant, and another now-defunct chrome-plating facility, for causing what they say are an elevated number of cancer cases and miscarriages in the community--a claim health officials say is difficult to prove.

More than 25 students and school staff members have died of cancer in the last decade, activists say.

Families of cancer victims and Communities for a Better Environment, an environmental health organization, have filed lawsuits against Chrome Crankshaft. The company has disputed that there is a link between the toxins and cancers in the community.

On Tuesday, residents and environmental activists stood in front of Chrome Crankshaft to watch the removal of the chrome-plating equipment begin. The process of dismantling and cleaning will take about a month.

“We see this as a big victory for our community and environmental activists all over,” said Maggie Perales, whose brother died of cancer at age 14. “It took a long time, but they finally heard our voices.”