Welcome to
The Oak Ridge Tennessean
A Candle in the Darkness
Editor: Al Brooks
It is better to light one candle than to cry out against the darkness.



Recent Additions - Go Right to What's New

This page has been accessed  times since Nov. 15, 1997.

About 200 ORR workers and nearby residents have been ill. To-date, except for the Y-12 workers exposed to beryllium, there is no clearly established cause or causes. Few citizens contest that the workers are ill. The debate is over the probable cause. Because the cause or causes have not been found by the usual medical system including some involvement by occupational physicians, many citizens feel that the ill workers should be studied in a clinically oriented, research environment bringing in the assistance of the appropriate research medical professionals. Until this occurs there will be continued, acrimonious debate over possible causes. Worse, the ill workers will continue to suffer and feel that the "system" has forsaken them.

Within this context, the Nashville Tennessean during the last several months has published many articles describing Oak Ridge, TN as a pollution-ridden city inhabited by nothing but ill residents subject to the insidious effects of radioactivity and other incinerator emissions such as PCBs and heavy metals. They accuse the DOE of being callous and uncaring. In fact, they say that no one cares. They have recently posted these stories on the Internet, under the title TOXIC BURN.

These stories are destroying the image of Oak Ridge as a place to live which has begun to inhibit the industrial recruiting so necessary to the community as a result of DOE downsizing. Many of the community's long-term residents, knowing Oak Ridge is a safe community, are appalled that the truth should be so distorted. They are also deeply disturbed that the Tennessean has been reluctant to publish the opposite views and has excluded any letters that they have published from their Internet posting. They now malign Oak Ridge on a global scale. These pages are one man's attempt to present another view by airing other opinion. These pages will be growing so come back often.

The pages will include editorial opinion, technical papers and the opinion of other residents. Letters to the N-T and not on their web site will be published.
Submissions and comments by E-mail are preferred.

Electronic Submission Instructions

Mail Address: Alfred A. Brooks; 100 Wiltshire Drive; Oak Ridge, TN 37830
Phone: 423 482 1559

About the Editor - Where he is coming from
Wanted: News Delivery Persons - The Tennessean Volunteers

Links to Content Pages:
When shown as links these topics will contain pages or links to pages.
The unlinked entries will be populated ASAP with a one-person staff.

A Response to the Tennessean's Editor - Why These Pages were Started.

Background - The Oak Ridge Health Problems in Perspective
The Worker's And Resident's Illnesses - A Brief Overview of the Problem
Organizations Supporting A Clinical Approach - People Do Care
The Story on the TSCA Incinerator - Including Emissions & Shipping Data
New Breakthrough - The CDC Enters the Health Investigations
The Governor's Independent Panel - The DRAFT Executive Summary
The Medical Specialist's K-25 Report - The Latest Review of the Health Problem
Editorial Comment - An Online Editorial Page
Letters to this Editor - The Online Reader Comment; keep them short
Guest Columns - An On-line Op-Ed; can be longer
Guest Links - Links to Your Pages on This Topic; may be as long as you want
Letters & Columns Submitted Elsewhere- Newspapers, Journals, etc. Published or Not
Correspondence & E-mail - Read the Other Views
Links to Related Pages -Internet Reading NEW
The Reference Page - Additional Reading
From the Wall Street Journal - A Newspaper Invents A Nuclear Health Scare NEW
Comments on Tennessean Rebuttal - The ORT Editor
Oak Ridge in The News - The Man is Biting the Dog

We are a growing repository of Oak Ridge public opinion and supporting information on the ORR Health Issues. Bookmark us and come back often.
 
 



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