Bob Klemow

Both my dad and I were born in Hazleton State Hospital. My daughter was born in Saint Joe's. I taught social studies, science and math in the Hazleton Area School District for 32 years. My hobby is SCUBA diving and underwater photography. I remember the day my Principal came in while I was teaching about the value of wetlands. He couldn't believe that we teach that stuff. His take was, "Preserving wetlands just causes trouble for business." Many of Hazleton's leaders seem to give a similar value to our environment. In Hazleton, the lack of attention paid to environmental concerns has caused sickness, viewed only through anecdotal reports of cancer and MS statistics. I have seen environmental disaster in a more up close and palpable way.

I'm presently retired. Consequently I was able to go down to Louisiana in October with the Red Cross. For my first 10 days, I was stationed in Bogalusa, Louisiana, providing food, shelter and support to residents who had lost their homes to Katrina. Bogalusa is much like Hazleton, about the same size and population, the home of many hard working people. One thing was different. About half the time, I couldn't go outside. It depended on which way the wind was blowing. You see, 90% of the residents of Bogalusa worked either in the paper plant or the chemical plant, both in the center of town. When we were downwind, the air was visable and had a stench. There was more. Louisiana has the highest rate of birth defects in the country. I saw people come in for food with stubs instead of arms. The people are good people who do not question.

I also got to see Slidell, where I delivered food for four days and New Orleans. I had the privilege of visiting the 9th Ward and Chalmette, the hardest hit areas of the city. Around the wreckage of the houses is a thin layer of silt. Silt from the bottom of the river has the smell of death, very similar to the aroma of Bogalusa, but stronger. The silt, sludge or muck of Chalmette and the 9th Ward is only a few inches thick. Imagine the smell and death of 5-10 million cubic yards of this stuff, dredged from much deeper in the river. Does Hazleton want to become #1 in the birth defect department? I know we are competitive. Do we want to be #1 in cancer, MS, Parkinson's and other neurological diseases. That is not my goal. In a perfect world, clean silt can be used safely, and everyone could be fine once the aroma had disappeared. Believe me, this General Permit does not represent even a 1% perfect world. I have photographed 7000 pages of material at the PADEP. (You decide what the final P stands for. Believe me, "It is no longer PROTECTION.") I have read many of these pages. That is why I continue devoting my time to working for SUFFER.

Drew Magill

Graduated West Hazleton High School, 1968

Graduated Penn State University, 1968-1970
Honors BA English – Magna cum Laude

Drew has held several positions in different social services. Environmental Advocacy

1993 - Initiated a comprehensive study of the Jeddo Tunnel in partnership with EPA, DEP, Wilkes University, Bloomsburg University, Kings College, Penn State University, Luzerne Community College and Wildlands Conservancy of Emmaus PA

1995 - Charter Member of Pennsylvania Organization of Watersheds and Rivers

1997- Charter Member of Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Minelands Reclamation

1998 - Initiated The Greater Hazleton Civic Partnership Rails – to – Trails Project in partnership with Delaware Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania DCNR, and others

1998-2001 – Member Pennsylvania Council Advisory Committee

1999 – Member of Luzerne County Open Space and Greenways Advisory Council

2001 – Initiated a study of the Little Nescopeck Creek Watershed by Penn State Center for Watershed stewardship

2000 - Task force member for initiated to have Susquehanna River designated an American Heritage River

2005 – Present - Member of Suffer

As a native of the area and descendant of farmers that settled the Nescopeck Valley 250 years ago, I have a concern about what the land will be like 250 years from now. My grandfather was a young boy when the Jeddo Tunnel killed all life in the creek, which runs through the family farm. I would want my sister’s grandchildren to see shad returning to spawn in the creek.

Definition: Shad - bony flesh of herring-like fish usually caught during their migration to fresh water for spawning; especially of Atlantic coast

William Lockwood

William Lockwood is a lifelong resident of Hazleton. He graduated 1966 from MMI and 1970 from St Francis College majoring in Economics. He owns his own tax preparation and consulting business. He was on Hazleton city council for 2 and ½ terms (10 years) in both the mid eighties and the late nineties.

During his first term on council he served as the commissioner of public safety. He also was on council during the first mine lands evaluation. He questioned many of the testing techniques and results of the study based on his first hand knowledge of the site. This he gained as a former volunteer firefighter foreman and the former president of the Heights # 4 station. During this time he helped fight fires on the mine lands and saw first hand the barrels of toxic waste on the site.

Anne Marie Shelby (Secretary)

A life long resident of the Hazleton Area and active in her community. She was formerly on the Hazle Township Planning Commission. The quality of life issues are very important to her because she is a cancer survivor as well as an asthmatic. She also had numerous friends and neighbors dying of cancer in their 40s and 50s.

She worked toward and helped stop the Waste Holding site off 309, Brenner junk yard moving its facilities, and the Plasma Arc plant. The new concerns for this project is that fly ash would aggravate asthma and the dredge would introduce new cancer substances.