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Naples Daily News 2004 Creosote Stories
www.naplesnews.com

Creosote: 'Witch's brew'
The hazards of human exposure to the popular wood preservative known as creosote from skin rashes to lung cancer are well known to government regulators and scientists. The federal Environmental Protection Agency recognized creosote's perils in 1978, announcing its intention to phase out the coal-derived preservative's required registration. That was more than 200 years after London physician Percival Pott's ground-breaking discovery of high cancer rates among British men who cleaned soot from chimneys.
released: 05/24/2004

Creosote: Creosote contamination sites in the United States
Coal tar creosote and two related wood preservatives have been found in at least 62 of the current or former sites on the federal Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund list. Public health risks were verified in dozens of those cases by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease registry. A partial list of those creosote Superfund sites, as well as others suspected of causing human health problems and on state cleanup lists are shown below.
released: 05/24/2004

Creosote: Creosote tarnishes Lee County couple's dream
After a lifetime on the road working the weekend crafts circuit, David Leach was ready to settle down. In 2000, the 55-year-old marine photographer and picture framer, and his wife Susan, 52, planted roots on a picturesque, 3-acre patch of waterfront property along th
e Caloosahatchee River east of Fort Myers near the town of Alva. The property, which borders the river s W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam, was a dream come true for the Leaches.
released: 05/24/2004

Creosote: Tainted Water
JEROME The old Jones sawmill was the first to die, gutted to the ground when a wayward welder s torch sparked a fire that old-timers liken to Armageddon. The town quickly followed. With no work left in the denuded forests, most of its residents scattered. Some followed the mill owner, C.J. Jones, to his new lumberyard in Fort Myers. Others headed down the road to Copeland, Everglades City or far-flung Naples. Those who stayed behind would later realize it was a deadly decision.
released: 05/23/2004

Creosote: The next generation
Even as children, the Sanders sisters knew they were different. For Laura Sanders, now 28, it meant childhood food allergies so painful she "would cry when Mom and Dad took us out to eat." There were doctor visits too numerous to count, shortness of breath and a constant fatigue. "I always asked myself, Why do I feel this way?, " she recalls. " Why don t other kids feel this way? "
released: 05/23/2004

Creosote: Collier officials say land swap deal unaffected by Jerome
While the Jerome cleanup never rose to the attention of federal environmental watchdogs, it didn t completely escape the notice of government regulators in Washington. In 1988, the National Park Service reached a tentative deal with Collier Enterprises and the Barron Collier Cos. to expand the Big Cypress National Preserve by acquiring more than 100,000 acres from the two family businesses.
released: 05/23/2004

Creosote: A deadly legacy
Black or white, old or young, the 19 former Jerome residents and mill workers whose deaths are at the heart of 50 lawsuits against two Collier family companies had one thing in common: repeated exposure to creosote-contaminated water.
released: 05/23/2004

Creosote: Statement from Collier Enterprises CEO Tom Flood
A statement by Tom Flood, chief executive officer of Collier Enterprises:
released: 05/23/2004

Creosote: County's founding father leaves his mark
Sixty five years after his death, Barron Gift Collier s legacy still looms large over the county that bears his name. More than 2,000 students each day pour through the doors of Barron Collier High School, just as they have since 1978. Busloads of tourists shop at the strip malls built by the Collier family s development interests.
released: 05/23/2004