is jerry russell bliss still alive

Back to Blog

is jerry russell bliss still alive

Even so, between picnics with neighbors, river recreation, town dances, and quite a few saloons, life in the Beach, as old-timers called it, was downright pastoral. Jerry Bliss, 26, said he should not be penalized for the actions of his father. Six months earlier, shed met a young man named Jerry Akers, a Marine who was home on leave. The Times Beach story began as a medical mystery in 1971 when Bliss was hired to dispose of 18,000 gallons of gooey, foul-smelling sludge from the defunct Northeastern Pharmaceutical & Chemical Co. in Verona. Officials blame their inaction on scientists who once believed dioxin decays faster than it does. Yet we know there are people who are not sensitive, because of their lucky genetics. A 74-year-old grandmother, Leistner looks 10 years younger and remains as feisty as ever, with no plans to retire. Much to the chagrin of longtime residents, a trailer park opened, followed by a second one. A part-owner of a stable where 62 horses died after dioxin-tainted oil was sprayed testified today before the Missouri Hazardous Waste Management Commssion that the man who sprayed the oil had told her it contained a special fly-killing ingredient. She had a brand-new leather jacket that had gotten dirty in the flood. She started doing amateur detective work. Bunch lived at Cape Cod, a little motel on the edge of town. They didnt have anything. Clean ups at both places have remained at a standstill for several months now. A majority of residents realized that there were no available methods then for cleaning up dioxin, and they didnt see the point of rebuilding homes that had been destroyed by the flood anyway (especially since Times Beach had voted itself out of the National Flood Insurance Program a few years before). The environmental activist, who is too young to remember the Selective Service System, and too poor to be concerned about the Internal Revenue Service, had, nevertheless, received a frightening message from a federal agency. WebView the profiles of people named Jerry Russell. But nobody from the federal agency has bothered to walk across the street and inform her about the purpose of these actions. WebJerry Russell Bliss, Age 66. Bliss was the driver of the truck that unknowingly He wanted to stay there, so she just divorced him. That was too much for Hammer to bear. Wurm is referring to Tom Uhlenbrock, who first reported the Wildwood development plans in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on June 11. (The market for hexachlorophene collapsed in 1972 when baby powder made with it killed 36 infants in France.). Sewer workers discovered the first batch of barrels on the property of the Rosalie Investment Co., near the intersection of Strecker and Clayton roads, in July 1980. Residents started to tell stories. Knowing that everybody had to move, sellers in the area drove up prices. Feild, nevertheless, appears to have already arrived at a predetermined conclusion that those locations will be found to be free of any contamination. Hazardous materials have been identified in 17 waste disposal locations on the site. Surveyors have also staked out a section of the park near Jordans residence with bright orange flags. Now the fledgling city faces a dilemma: Two developers are asking for zoning variances so that they can wedge dozens of high-priced houses on either side of Strecker Road on parcels of land that were once part of the Bliss-Ellisville hazardous-waste site. Then we left when they drug us out kicking and screaming, she quips. Evening Standard/Getty Images. The only request: wash down the trailers first. Its a thermometer with one-liners painted across its face. It was only by chance that officials discovered dioxin here two weeks ago after interviewing residents who recalled that a trucker had sprayed oil on their dirt roads to keep down dust a decade ago. Marilyn Leistner lives in a sturdy brick house on the top of a hill. These days, Bliss, whos in his late seventies, is still finding unique ways to make a buck. April 28 (UPI) -- A Nebraska high school said it broke a Guinness World Record when more than 1,000 students participated in a water balloon toss event. Our approach is not to destroy it, but to assure public exposure can be limited" to healthy levels. After Bliss sprayed her stables in 1971, Piatts horses died and her daughter became seriously ill. To gather evidence for her pending civil suit against Bliss, the stable owner followed the waste oil hauler and his drivers along their daily routes. (He declined to comment for this story.) April 28 (UPI) -- An isolated private island off the coast of Scotland is for sale with an asking price of about $188,000. Dioxin is known to cause damage to the human reproductive and immunological systems. Its clean as a whistle, says Wurm of the Callahan property. Another possible alternative was eliminated in December, when the only available commercial incinerator licensed to accept dioxin-contaminated waste was shuttered in Coffeyville, Kan. They even had a couple of pool tables, and one time, Minnesota Fats stopped by for a game. Natalie faced her 20-year battle with Multiple Sclerosis with bravery, grace, and dignity. We've found it on the shoulders of the roads, but how much is in the roadbed? (And if that was the agencys aim, it succeeded; Syntex covered the cost of the cleanup and paid the government $10 million for its trouble.) In 1971, Judy Piatt hired Bliss to spray waste oil on her horse arena, near Moscow Mills, to alleviate dust. The area has been fenced off and excavated. "This is a war to stay on the land you worked and paid for. The greatest surface concentrations, 169 ppb, are present in a wooded ravine, which is currently being fenced off. According to a 1981 IEPA document, Piatt recalled that Bliss possibly obtained waste from Monsanto. The IEPA summary goes on to state: Judy Piatt has a diary and pictures of such activities, but will not release these to (EPA) Region VII on the advise of her attorney., But perhaps the most damning indictment comes from Bliss himself. Only a small portion of the residents ever made it back. Hammer, for example, wants "proof" that dioxin is dangerous or a fair-market price from the government for his property to move. In Times Beach, an ex-truck driver for hauler Russell Bliss came forward to retrace his route. He is now 78 and lives just off I-44 near Cuba. Bliss testified at a subsequent DNR hearing that materials found at the site had come from Monsantos research lab. One document that TBAG copied is a verbatim transcript of an interview conducted by an EPA official in 1980 at the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City. I do not believe that at all. Judy Piatt, who was co-owner of Shenandoah Stables in 1971 when the arena was oiled for dust control, testified that the driver for Russell Bliss, a waste oil dealer, ''told me there was special stuff put in the oil for special customers that would kill flies.''. Bliss has refused to cooperate, Lafser said. Why put your tail between your legs and run now after you been living with it so long? oklahoma public land deer hunting Accept X Bliss has said he had no idea that toxic chemicals were involved. For information about the McDonnell Park and Lemar Drive dioxin sites, call Hattie Thomas, EPA Community Involvement Coordinator, at 1-800 223-0425. published in the Riverfront Times (St. Louis), Aug. 20, 1997. A boulder sits in the center of her well-manicured front yard, next to an inviting driveway leading to an attached garage. There are probably a lot of people who are unaware, she adds. So Ill just let the record of decision stand for itself, OK? Catching up with Mike Bliss. Nothing against journalists some of them are my best friends, Wurm adds. My (goal) is to have a park that is presentable to the public and that is safe to the public and doesnt put them at any risk. William Powell was St. Louis Magazine's senior editor from September 2012July 2016. Further, the incinerator testing had a variety of shortcomings, which were enumerated in a series of stories by C.D. Many former residents wish they hadnt been forced to leaveand think they werent adequately compensated when they were pushed out. The oil, it turned out, was laced with dioxin. Under crossexamination after Tuesday's testimony, Mr. Lambarth acknowledged that since Jan. 1 this year he has been working for a waste oil concern that is competing with Mr. Bliss for customers. It was described as a 500-year flood. At the time, the EPA considered anything above 1 part per billion hazardous. No one listened. Leistner remembers Times Beach kids being ostracized at school. She is survived by her devoted husband of 36 years, Jerry Bliss; her loving daughter, Hannah Bliss; her siblings, Paula Wohldmann, Steve Hyink, Carrie Hyink, and Mary Rust; her father-in-law, Russell Bliss; and her brother-in-law, Cash Bliss. "They'd tell me, 'You can't see it, taste it or feel it.' The sense of community, of belonging, made up for any financial lacking. The only reference to Times Beach is a single display in a corner of the museum. On the recommendation of an EPA ombudsman, a retest was completed. Staff writer Dale Russakoff contributed to this report. Nobody knew it then, of course, but that oil contained massive levels of dioxin, far more than the oil sprayed at Times Beach. There are few records. Bliss son still lives on a Strecker Road property once owned by his father, from which the EPA only a few years ago finally removed more than 900 truckloads of dioxin-contaminated dirt in addition to an estimated 1,500-2,000 barrels of toxic chemicals. Denial of Application. Leistner has four children, three girls and a boy. Nowadays, much to its chagrin, all of this tainted history falls under the jurisdiction of the city of Wildwood, which was incorporated in 1995. She remembers being able to let her kids run free without having to worry. WebFor the first time Russell Bliss speaks publicly about the accident that forever changed the town of Times Beach, Missouri. You got to do your homework on these pieces, otherwise youre wasting your time. The younger Bliss is appealing the denial of his request for a hauling permit from the Missouri Hazardous Waste Management Commission. Dioxin, its silent, unseen. WITNESS SAYS DRIVER LIED ABOUT SPRAYING DIOXIN, https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/27/us/witness-says-driver-lied-about-spraying-dioxin.html. And they aren't the only ones angry and confused. Our materials are appropriately handled at waste disposal operations., Martha Steincamp, the chief regional counsel for the EPA, concurs with Monsantos professed innocence. One of Copelands tasks was to help a waste hauler named Russell Bliss spread used motor oil on the unpaved streets, in an effort to control dust. Flood stage was 18.5 feet, and the water crested at nearly 43 feet. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Mennonites came in to help rebuild. A guard and a caution sign were posted at the entrance to town, a bridge that came across from the high side of the river, to keep people out. The requests to develop these two properties have dredged up a litany of questions that have never been adequately answered by EPA officials or by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR). April 28 (UPI) -- The PGA Tour's Mexico Open was briefly interrupted when a swarm of bees sent a group of golfers ducking in the grass.

Washington Publishing Company Taxonomy Codes, Terry Bradley Prints For Sale Belfast Gumtree, Prince George's County Public Schools Ranking, Articles I

is jerry russell bliss still alive

is jerry russell bliss still alive

Back to Blog