November 1, 2011

NEWS For Immediate Release:

Residents of Bokoshe, Oklahoma Tuesday filed a class action lawsuit against global energy giant AES Corporation and the operators of a fly ash dumpsite near their town to seek a court ordered shutdown of the dumping facility.

In the lawsuit filed in Leflore County, Oklahoma District Court Bokoshe residents claim AES has poisoned their town with fly ash produced at the company’s nearby Shady Point power plant and is dumped into an abandoned mine operated by a company known as Making Money Having Fun.

Fly ash, or coal combustion waste, is the result of burning coal and contains neurotoxins and heavy metals such as arsenic, hexavalent chromium, mercury, lead and other elements known to cause cancer, respiratory illnesses and birth defects.

After years of pleading with AES, the dumpsite operators, and various state and federal agencies to stop the dumping, residents filed the lawsuit in Leflore County District Court as a last resort.

“We are like a lot of Americans upset with big corporations, Wall Street and the Government for not responding to the needs of the people. They don’t listen to us,” said Sharon Tanksley, one of growing number of plaintiffs. “We decided if anything is going to be done, we’ll have to do it ourselves.”

Of 30 households adjacent to or near the dumpsite, more than half of those have had cancer. 

Residents also contend that a large number of respiratory illnesses have been caused by the dust that escapes from the dumping of the ash.

Nine of 16 children in one Bokoshe Elementary School class have asthma, five times greater than the national average, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control.

AES has repeatedly made public statements that fly ash is “100 percent safe” but has refused requests by citizens to provide the documentation and scientific proof to substantiate that claim.

In the lawsuit filed by Clark Brewster of the Tulsa law firm, Brewster & De Angelis and Harlan Hentges of Edmond, Bokoshe residents contend that the defendants were facilitating the release of hazardous materials into the community and actively engaged in a campaign of deception to mislead the community into believing that coal ash waste is not harmful and is incapable of causing harm to person or property.

To view a copy of the lawsuit and video interviews with Bokoshe residents, go to; www.intheairwebreathe.com

For additional information, Robert Huston at 479-629-1073

Official Statement regarding Bokoshe lawsuit against AES and MMHF.

This civil action is necessary because we believe global energy giant AES and Making Money Having Fun Having Fun have poisoned Bokoshe. We have begged AES to provide the evidence, of their public claims, that the fly ash they produce and dump on Bokoshe is not making our children and residents sick with cancer and respiratory illnesses. Instead, AES has continually chosen to ignore our requests. We have asked Oklahoma officials to address this problem, and they have failed. The lawsuit is our next step toward our objective which is a healthy environment for our children.

Specifically, we are asking AES and Making Money Having Fun and the other named defendants to do five things.

• Stop the dumping.
• Clean up the dumpsite.
• Pay for fly-ash related illnesses.
• Pay for any future fly-ash related illnesses. 
• Pay for damage to property

For additional information, contact Harlan Robert Huston at 479-629-1073.

 

Click Here To Download and view a copy of the lawsuit.

 

Bokoshe Residents Speak Out About the Lawsuit

 

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