COM 0492.005 1996-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Hus;^.C~+,:n,de cam ~ i ~t drat stone Kettles ' { http:/INMN? chi -emlcontent/chronicle/naGorJh2e.hawa!i trtm~ e Ttv:., Legator', research ass,~ciates went on a scouting expedition to the Puna Uistrict in !~~arch i9o6, conducting interv~icws with V9 people Legator made his first visit at the beginnutg of this gear and announced !us prefiminar}~ findings- sympton>_, consistent with hydrogen sulfide e.~posurr-at a Jan 9 news conference at the University of I tawaii at Hilo Legator thought hi had made it clear that more work needed to be done He realized that something was seriously amiss, however, when he read an article in the Jan. 12 edition of the Ha~~aii 'Cribune-I{erald The headline was, "Otticial Health Surv~eY Bogus "The story quoted Bruce Anderson. cfepu!v diiectur of the stare Department of Health in Honolulu, as saying that the results of any survey Legator conducted would be inherently biased because the subjects were rabidl~~ anti-geothermal anif had years to bone up on the effects of hydrogen sultde The attacks didn't stop there. On'~farch 26, a PGV official appealed to Wiftiam Cunningham, chan~~illor of the University of'Te.xes System in Austin- "^i:~~, iy ~,~rrprised and disappointed that the University of Texas would knowin,~t allow its ay= fine name to be attached to a health survey' of [he type produced by Dr. Legator," wrote Jark Dean. the cenhne's vice president and general manager Dean lid not re.nond to Chrurirle mtcrview request; Legator said that he felt no pressure from either the university or the National Institute for Emironntental Health Sciences-~.vhictr tund~ ~~°esearch centers at C`T1113 and '_5 other universities-to discontinue tus•work in Ha~~aii 5 (l, he was so put off by the experience that i e asked the Gollegium Ram~zini, an n? ~tariuntil association of public-heahh researchers, to consider forming a defense umuuttee fo* scientists bro•,~beaten by industr, Legator and his associates have not tinishcri thtir analysis of the complete Puna Dhlrl~l survc~., ~!ice.n to people ~+ho fno near I'GV' and 58 members ofa control group in tlilu. 2C~ miles a;~av Nonetheless, l.egaror said that nt~rny mernbers of the "exposed" group appea;~ to !race been impaired h}' hvdntgen s~tl idc "The vast majority-alnnrst 90 percem-are shooing ne.urotox~c effects," he said in an intcr`~rrw, Anderx~r. sari drat Legator "essentially recruited indi~ir'lualt, •.iith F`unwr: prejudices ag:+in;t gee-therrrtal prover development in Hawaii t)bsu;usl~~ ifvou asf~ pent-ie who arc upset abo~.ri adevelenment aCtivily ifthcy feel rt~~c~."~•:~ been afl~crcd, they're g~,:ng to te!I you the~~ have ~~ft ihf rC'3 a 11edlltl prVi Cr!1 t10 ~"~1 lhCrC, '.AC~CC t2,Ol nl~' IJ takC aci!on SO eddr e~) C}. a...~"'~~. -_'n ~~ndfr Aril ,;lld ~~tt it ;llc3 rl> >l i~!r~~l _ dl,~~~R tP(~~'}, a~. Qtit It (l~e;~BIDO i;- ;I~al'1[L"~,.j, f needlessly that's riot euud situatr~m either "