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Friends of Fitch meet at the White
Hart Inn in
Clark Nicholls, Terry Dunne, John
Fitch, Allen Olmstead and John Godfrey.
We later adjourned to John’s home
where we worked on John’s computer and sent out the first informational email
which is included below.
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The Friends of Fitch
John Cooper Fitch -
Lime Rock
Please check this
site often for updates as they occur.
This site was
created as a way to easily disseminate information on this topic from a single
location.
I don’t pretend to
be an authority on this situation, there are a lot of people involved.
Please contact Carl
Goodwin at attlastt@frontier.net or
(The book Racing Through Life
by Carl Goodwin documents Fitch's life)
Thank you all for
your support of John!
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A letter to the Governor
of Connecticut from a friend of John Cooper Fitch:
Dear Governor Rell:
A friend of mine and a true patriot, 90 year old John Fitch of Lime Rock, CT,
needs assistance. Among events in his life, John was a fighter pilot in
WW II and a POW in
Thank you,
R. Allen Olmstead
Response to Al’s letter to
Governor Rell here from Patrick Bowe, Director of
Environmental Protection, Remediation Division.
Response to Al’s letter to
US Senator Joseph Lieberman here
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Please
go to this
link to see article in Lakeville Journal.
John’s
biography and other information is here
Wikipedia
biography here
Other
links of interest at end of this page.
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Press Release #01
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FROM: Friends of Fitch CONTACT: Carl Goodwin
179
The State Of
WWll Veteran For
Doing The Right Thing.
“I suppose if I’d kept my mouth shut, none of
this would have happened,” says John Fitch, referring to the oil contamination
nightmare that has plagued him since advising the state of
Forget that he is a
decorated combat pilot who shot down one of Hitler’s dreaded Messerschmidt ME
262 jets. Forget that he was taken POW and received a Purple Heart. Forget that
he was the inventor of the Fitch Inertial Barrier, those ubiquitous yellow
sand-filled plastic barrels whose strategic placement on highways across
America have saved countless thousands of lives. Forget that Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell
herself declared
Last October, Fitch told
the DEP that he suspected an oil leak. He also (at his own expense) hired a
local environmental services company to test his well water. The results
indicated a petroleum concentration of 1.5 milligrams per liter, but no-one
told him if that constituted a problem. Instead, the DEP ordered him to test
all the wells within 500 feet of the tanks, again at his own expense. In
November, the DEP advised him that although none of the wells was contaminated,
he would have to remove the tanks and excavate the surrounding soil … again at
his own expense. After excavating more than 3,000 tons of dirt (some of which
was, in fact, contaminated), work had to be suspended because the resultant pit
had filled with rainwater. Meanwhile, the contaminated soil, which was
deposited in 15-foot high piles around Fitch’s property, was subjected to the
effects of run-off because of rain and snow, a hazard that the state - not
Fitch - created. “And there’s no end in sight,” laments the 90 year old. “In
theory they can make me drain the pit and continue excavating. What’s worse,
they can force me to cart the soil off and pay for it to be treated.”
To put that into
perspective, Fitch has received estimates of $70 per ton to have this done, and
that doesn’t include the cost of the excavation itself, nor the cost of filling
in the pit with clean soil. One expert has estimated that the total bill could
easily top $350,000. In the meanwhile, The Town of Salisbury mailed the Fitches
a notice advising them of an $80,000 reduction in the assessed value of their
home, with the words “Oil Contamination”
overwritten across the page. “I’m completely bewildered by this,” says Fitch.
“In effect, they have condemned our family home, making it worthless.”
But perhaps the most
ironic –and frustrating‑ fact about the situation is that the Connecticut
DEP itself has no firm protocol for cases such as this. According to Fitch,
Patrick F. Bowe, Director of the DEP’s Remedial Division, has advised the
Fitches that it is up to them to work with a consultant to select the best
alternatives, taking into consideration costs, permit requirements and
potential risks to human health. “He is saying that either our consultant,
whoever that may be, will know more about oil contamination remediation than
the DEP does or, if the DEP knows more, it is not telling us!” says Fitch. And
while all of this is going on, Fitch’s wife, Elizabeth, requires nursing home
care at a cost of $10,000 a month.
Outraged by the State’s actions, John Fitch’s
friends have banded together to provide some financial relief for the couple.
Notably, the Vintage Sports Car Club of
More additional information and documentation
please see the contact information at the top of this release.
State of
Director
Patrick F. Bowe, Remediation Division,
Camille
Other interested
parties are:
K. Foley,
M. O’Handley,
State Senator
Andrew Roraback,
CT Governor
Jodi Rell
# # #
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Background
information:
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FROM: Friends of Fitch CONTACT: Carl Goodwin
179 W. Main St. (419)668-2563
Norwalk, OH 44857 attlastt@frontier.net
Background Information
(Not intended for release
with the release of March 25th)
Please note it is not the
Fitch family intention to be contentious or critical. That may appear to be the
case but it represents the only possible conclusion after 50 years of exposure
to contaminated soil, and the critical finding that the eight most vulnerable
down-gradient neighbors wells have tested clean.
Beyond the initial consent
to excavate the contaminated soil, the Fitches did not participate in the
decisions that created the obligations now incumbent upon them. That includes
the decision to cease excavating and refill the cavity left by 3000 tons now
stockpiled on the Fitch property.
The town of Salisbury mailed
a notice to John Fitch of an $80,000 reduction in the assessed value of the
Fitch house, with “Oil Contamination” overwritten across the page. This is only
the beginning. The Fitch house is now non-negotiable, i.e., worthless.
If the Fitches had been
advised of optional methods of detoxification of soil by passive, bio-remedial
or other in situ means, they would have insisted on a delay of such a decision
to allow a thorough evaluation of alternative methods of remediation.
The Fitch well has been
tested clean twice, and seven other neighbor’s wells most likely to be affected
because of their location down-gradient from the release source in the path of
excavated soil and the groundwater flow, have all been tested clean.
Before they were tested, Fitch
had suggested that if the eight wells were clean, nothing further be undertaken
until such time that a contaminated well is discovered. If and when it is,
technologies available at that time can be reviewed, from bioremediation to
auxiliary or remote wells, to resolve any problems that remain. That is where
negotiations stand as of
We are now informed by the
D.E.P. that the life of
Certainly a petroleum
taste or odor in drinking water would be unpalatable, but how does that
extrapolate from unpleasant taste to a hazard to public health, which implies a
harmful, noxious substance that presents a threat to health, or to life itself.
Tainted drinking water is obviously unacceptable, but remedies do exist, such
as auxiliary wells or a potable water supply from a remote well.
“The Fitches are advised
it is up to them to work with a consultant to select the best alternatives,
taking into consideration costs, permit requirements and potential risks to
human health.” That is a quote from Director Bowe, Remediation Division of
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. He is saying that either
our consultant, whoever he may be, knows more about oil contamination
remediation than the DEP does or, if the DEP knows more, it is not telling us.
The Connecticut agencies
involved have delivered numerous requests and orders, which are difficult for a
layman to differentiate among, that require the services of technicians
including engineers, chemists, attorneys and an office staff more appropriate
to a major corporation than to an average home owner who happens to have a
The CT DEP, its Remedial
Division and an assembly of licensed engineers, consultants and approved
laboratories, effectively overwhelms the typical homeowner, being without an
office staff and the technical knowledge to cope with the legal authority of
trained professionals.
Indications are that these
matters will be resolved only at great expense and under the threat of
penalties, liens and court action for noncompliance.
Cost breakdown of possible
second excavation after pumping out the groundwater as described in the Release
Draft of
It is clear that the
authority of the DEP is unlimited. Hence, the DEP could order a second
excavation of the original site.
Berkshire Environmental,
LLC, has suggested proceeding to pump out the groundwater in order to excavate
the contaminated soil which was not accessible due to the incursion of
groundwater.
If that is undertaken, the
consequences will be (with costs based on previous tasks):
Removal of the fill now
replacing the
originally excavated 3000
tons of contaminated soil. $60,000
Pump out groundwater
(estimated) $5,000
Excavate remaining
contaminated soil (est. up to 3000 tons) $60,000
Disposal of 3000 tons of contaminated
soil at bid of $70/ton $210,000
Refill second excavation
of 3,000-ton cavity 15,000
Total $350,000
This would be the second
major excavation of contaminated soil, a continuation at the original site.
* * *
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Interesting links:
Note, please go to this link
to see article in Lakeville Journal. Link added
New York Times article #1 here
New York Times article #2 here
New York Times article #3 here
New York Times article #4 here
Interesting Google search
Newsday article here
John’s biography and other information is here
Wikipedia biography here
Forum discussion: http://www.teamjuicyracing.com/forums/showthread.php?p=26514#post26514
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