[StBernard] MADISON v. CHALMETTE REFINING, L.L.C.

[Westley Annis]

Thank you for the post Madison V Chalmette Refining. 
 
I do not intend to join the suit on behalf of my daughter, who is now a 9th Grade, because I donot believe a few hundred dollars will compensate for any harm done.  Further, I do not wish to assist attorneys to gain from this while the industries continue to spew out all kinds of things into the community.
 
I still have the letter from the school board sent home with the children that day, instructing parents to wash the clothes separately.  When I picked my daughter up from Andrew Jackson Elementary school that day she asked if she could eat her lunch in the car. Of course I said yes, but asked why she didnot eat lunch on the field trip.  In between bites she explained,  "mom, the cannons exploded black stuff all over our lunch and the chaperones would not let us finish eating."  And she went on to explain they had to wash off their legs, faces and hands.  
 
When we got home I read the letter and noticed the baggie containing her lunch; there were black specs all in the sandwich and cheetos which she had been eating.  A few days later I approached the chaperone and asked for an explanation of what occurred. The chaperone stated their husband worked at ExxonMobil so they would not be able to discuss the incident. 
 
I think we've crossed that line from being a small town with heavy industry, to becoming a refinery town where the locals brush off such occurrences as harmless and acceptable.  I donot think another class action is going to make the changes we need.   --- SJK