No Consensus Among Lewiston Road Folks

I called a meeting for the residents of Lewiston Road.

It was not as if I am deeply invested in the affairs of Lewiston Road. I am not. I do not live on the road or anywhere near it. But a resident called me up and I said, “maybe the residents should get together and talk.”

They never had as far as I knew.

I thought it would be easy. Just go to the nearby Maple Elementary school and meet and talk.

It wasn’t all that simple, but I gave my word: 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 18. The use of the school’s gym was free, alright, but I had to get an insurance certificate.

How much could that be? $100?

Alright- the gym, it is. Now, shop for insurance.

$500.

Alright, well I gave my word.

I also thought a Geiger counter was in order. What if the area has radiation? What if it is hurting these people? I rented one.
Of course, Geiger counters are no simple business; it takes hours of slow, painstaking work with a handheld Geiger counter to measure the street in front of one’s home.

But, I would bring it along anyway and offer it for those who might like to test their own property. Only one of the 83 people who were there asked to use it. He had kids at home, so it was worth it.

The most striking thing about the meeting was that people were divided right down the middle on whether there was a health threat.

Half the people were sure there was no health threat and the only threat was that of the work slowing down because there might be a perception of a health hazard.

Half were satisfied there was no radiation under or around the road that could hurt them. Get the job done- that’s all.

The other half thought there was a problem or could be, and most of the hour or so was taken up on just that one point. A debate over whether residents were at risk; the exact thing the lawsuit is about.

We could not get a consensus. We could not agree, the residents and I, to take any action, to protest, to hire a lawyer, to fight, to petition. The reason? Because the people were split into two different camps with two goals. One group wanted to know if they were in danger. They wanted the road fixed too, but they wanted to learn if their families were at risk. The other just wanted the road fixed, nothing further, and resented anything that held that up.

Of course, there is money involved. Properties are hard to sell with the road torn up. If you add the threat of radiation - a life's savings could be lost. And what if there is no radiation problem? What if just the bad reputation ruins your chances of getting what your house should be worth?

It’s a dramatic problem; a dramatic lawsuit.

Those whose economic interests are in finishing the road without further expense - the City, the State, the new contractor, the engineers, all say there is no problem, just fix the road.

Those whose economic interests are in getting paid more money to finish the work or not to pay more money because the road is incomplete - Man O' Trees owner David Pfeiffer and his lawyers and his insurance company Hanover, which will have to pay for Pfeiffer’s mistake, if it is a mistake, say there is a problem.

Various environmental experts we spoke to gave conflicting opinions – from potentially no problem to little problem to grave problem.

All said it must be tested independently to know the truth.

Little can be done this fall and winter anyway except perhaps to test and to clean up the road a little.

I don’t know if there is a real health threat, but I asked each and every expert the same question, and even those who said the radioactive slag is safe under the road and can be safely removed, to a man - everyone answered my question precisely the same.

Here was my question: would you live on Lewiston Road? And everyone, to a man said, “no.”

A nuclear physicist told me he would sooner live next to a nuclear plant.

That doesn’t mean there is a problem. It means it has to be tested - by experts who have no financial or political stake in the road project.

As Attorney John Bartolomei said, “There is an unknown amount of radiation on Lewiston Road and as far as I know, radiation is radiation. None of it is healthy, so let’s take a look.”

That is when the truth will be had. After a qualified, independent look.