12/10/2009 Press Conference At World Tesla Headquarters About Injured Workers On Auto Site

IATSE Local 44 Movie Propmaker Steve Basile Speaks Out On Tesla Motors and Stuart Lichter's Downey Studio On A Toxic Dump Site
http://blip.tv/file/2979892

IATSE Local 44 movie propmaker Steve Basile was working at the Downey Studios owned by IRG toxic sight developer Stuart Lichter.
The site had not been properly cleaned up and he along with many other movie and Kaiser workers have become seriously sick
as a result. On Dec 10, 2009 he along with his wife and other injured workers and their advocates went to the world headquarters of Tesla
Motors Inc. in San Carlos, CA to let Tesla know that the sight that they are considering building a green automobile at is still highly
contaminated. They met with Tesla Motors VP for Communications Ricardo Reyes and he agreed to set up another meeting for a
full report on what the conditions are at the site.
For further information go to California Coalition For Workers Memorial Day
http://www.workersmemorialday.org
http://blip.tv/file/2453925 Press Conference Los Angeles Press Club
http://blip.tv/file/2483914 Testimony by Downey Workers At Downey Kaiser Hospital Site
http://letsintroduceourselves.us/wordpress/
http://downey.kaiserpapers.info/
This was produced by the Labor Video Project
http://www.laborvideo.blip.tv http://www.laborvideo.org

12/10/2009 Press Conference At World Tesla Headquarters

Stop Federally Funded "Green”

Auto Plant At Downey Toxic Dump Site

Toxic Developer Stuart Lichter and Tesla In Bed Together?

The Tesla Motor Inc company has announced plans to possibly build a non-union auto assembly plant in Downey at the Downey toxic dump site where injured workers continue to get ill and sick from the contamination on the site. This site is being developed by national toxic site operator Stuart Lichter of IRG. Lichter recently lost a SLAPP suit against injured workers and their advocates who publicized the dangers and illnesses from this highly toxic site. Why would Tesla propose to build a “green” plant on this same site?

They will also build this auto plant with part of a $465 million loan from the US Department of Energy DOE. Injured Downey workers and their families along with the California Coalition For Workers Memorial Day stands against any commercial or private development at the toxic dump site where workers continue to get contaminated and sickened.

We are calling on the Obama administration, EPA Director, the Labor Department Secretary and the US Congress to immediately withdraw the loan to Tesla and to institute an investigation of the use of Federal tax dollars to build on toxic dump sites that have not been properly cleaned up. Downey is NOT an isolated case.

We also call for Los Angeles area Congressman Henry Waxman who is chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee to meet with the injured workers and have public hearings on the continuing illnesses at this site. Waxman should also call for the US government to take responsibility for these injured workers, their family to get health care and compensation for their injuries, medical and other costs at all government Superfund and government privatized “Brownfield” sites. We are sending a letter today to Congressman Waxman with these demands and for hearings on Tesla getting Federal funds. Senators Boxer and Feinstein should be supporting these workers as well. How there can be a healthcare debate in the United States today without even discussing the conditions of injured workers, their families and communities?

Some links to this testimony include

http://blip.tv/file/2453925 Press Conference Los Angeles Press Club

http://blip.tv/file/2483914 Testimony by Downey Workers At Downey Kaiser Hospital Site

Former CA-OSHA Doctor Rose's Statement On Development Of Downey Toxic Dump Site

12/4/2009

Statement regarding placing any industries on or near the Downey Studios site:

It is clear that the employees that have worked at the Downey Studios have an unusually high incidence of work site associated illnesses that have not been adequately reviewed in a fact based scientific study. This type of epidemiology study could well be done by a government agency such as NIOSH. Connecting these work place induced illnesses to the length of employment and geographic location on this work site would be an important part of this workplace employee health investigation. Until this investigation is completed there should be no employees working at this work site, and certainly building a new industry before completing this health study would be irresponsible.

Lawrence Rose M.D., M.P.H., Cal/OSHA Senior Public Health Medical Officer for 28 years, recently retired, and an Occupational/Environmental Medicine specialist currently on the faculty at UCSF.



California Coalition For Workers Memorial Day Statement

http://www.workersmemorialday.org

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/aug/02/business/fi-ct-downey2

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tesla25-2009nov25,0,3683681.story

http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-green/blogs/cars-transportation/tesla-funding-460609

The injured Downey workers are asking you to support:

*No Federal, State or Local funding for building new businesses on a dangerous toxic dump site where workers are still getting sick. Call your State and Congressional representative to demand the end of the use of Federal funds for Tesla at Downey and other developers at “Brownfields”.

*An immediate NIOSH epidemiological study on all workers and community people who have been on the site or near the Downey site.

*Free medical care and compensation for all Downey workers and members of the community sickened by these sites

*Congressional Hearings on the privatization of Superfund US/Military sites into "Brownfield" sites including testimony from injured workers and people in the Downey community who have been made ill by this site.

*Report from all insurance companies in the United States on their workers compensation and personal insurance claims that have been made by workers and community people at toxic dump sites, the acceptance or rejection of these claims and how many of there workers and people in the community are now having their healthcare costs being paid for by SSI or other US government agencies.

*Criminal prosecution of all insurance companies and employers who have shifted healthcare costs from the Brownfield sites to Local, State and the Federal government.

*The elimination of all privatized Brownfield sites nationally and the clean-up by union labor of the sites with community-labor oversight on this clean-up.

California Coalition For Workers Memorial Day

http://www.workersmemorialday.org





Committee Of Injured Workers and Family Members On The Downey Toxic Dump Site



Open Letter By Downey Injured Movie and Kasier Workers To LA Congressman and Democratic House Chair Of Energy and Commerce Committee Henry Waxman



December 10, 2009



Committee Of Injured Workers and Family Members On The Downey Toxic Dump Site



Steve & Skye Basile

Congressman Henry Waxman

Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, United States Congress

8436 West Third Street Ste 600.

Los Angeles, CA 90048

Dear Congressman Waxman,

We are a group of movie and Kaiser workers who have worked at the former military/NASA dump site in Downey, California. In the past, a number of us have sent your office a large amount of material showing that this site was not properly cleaned up by the developer Stuart Lichter and that there is a pattern of workers becoming injured and sick as a result of the failure to properly clean up the site.

We have also been in touch with your former counsel Robin Applebery who is a counsel on the Super Fund issues and was with the Government Operations Oversight Committee you were formerly chair of. She also was provided with substantial information about the failure of the clean-up and the continuing health and safety dangers at the sight and also the transfer through cost shifting of the developer and insurance industry costs to the State and Federal government. We are calling for an immediate NIOSH epidemiological study on all workers and community people who have been on the site or lived near the site. At a recent press conference we held a movie actor who was recently on the site this June had pimples and many of the symptoms similar to the many other workers who have been made ill by this site. The Los Angeles Times has also recently covered the systemic health problems of a group of workers who worked on different movie production and were sickened by the same conditions some of which are known as the "Downey Flu". You can find this at http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-downey2-2009aug02,0,5980999.story if you have not read the article we suggest you take a look at it.

We still want the opportunity to meet with you to go over these issues and are asking for Congressional Hearings on the privatization of Superfund US/Military sites into "Brownfield" sites and possible criminal prosecution of developers like Stuart Lichter who are violating their agreements to properly clean up the toxic dump sites before they are developed.

We also ask that you as chair of the US House Committee On Energy and Commerce request from all insurance companies in the United States workers compensation and personal insurance claims that have been made by workers and community people at toxic dump sites, the acceptance or rejection of these claims and how many of there workers and people in the community are now having their healthcare costs being paid for by SSI or other US government agencies. We believe this would provide extensive evidence of the cost shifting by the developers and insurance companies at these "Brownfield" and Superfund toxic dump sites onto the US government.

We believe that in your present position as Chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee of the US Congress allows you to hold hearings on this issue for the people of Los Angeles as well as people of the United States where there are many other toxic dump sites that have similar conditions.

We also challenge the use of DOE funds for the Tesla Auto company to build a “green” auto assembly plant on this toxic site. The use of $465 million of our tax dollars to build a plant on a former Superfund and now Brownfield site unacceptable for injured workers and the public. We call a halt for the use of DOE funds for privatized Superfund and Brownfield sites around the countries. Many of these sites have failed to be cleaned up like Downey.

Please let us know when we can meet with you and provide you with our stories for action by your office.



Sincerely yours,
____________________________________________________

LEONARD JAMES MARTIN (Downey Studios Movie Worker)

http://letsintroduceourselves.us/wordpress/

Endorsed by

Gail Shephard, Steve Basile, Skye Ashley, Bruce Norrbom, Steve Kline, Jeff Ostray, Daniel Matthew Ferguson