Note to
the group Foundry Watch - get over yourselves.
You have certainly demonstrated you have
legitimate complaints and problems with the Belcher Foundry, one of the oldest
businesses in New England. You most assuredly have the right to be able to live
in peace and comfort in your own home. And you definitely are entitled to have
your complaints and concerned listened to and addressed by your elected and
appointed state and local officials.
However, your attempts to frame the
discussions of problems at the foundry in a light that ignores the facts and
serves only to highlight your goals are unfair, wrong and pathetic. Public
comments by group members, along with information published on your Web site,
border on disrespectful and paranoid.
Case in point is the recent Easton Journal
interview with Foundry Watch member Gerry Beals, as posted on the Foundry Watch
Web site. The interview followed a meeting chaired by Selectman John Haerderle
and state Rep. Geraldine Creedon. Representatives of Belcher Corp. presented the
finding of an environmental study performed at the expense of the company to
study potential problems.
Beals was not impressed by the
environmental study, claiming Belcher manipulated the results by dictating the
timing and noted they paid for it. Of course, early on his group had insisted
any study be done at the expense of the foundry - but that did not seem to
matter anymore.
Asked if he trusted the study, Beals
replied "No."
When asked to explain that, he said of the
study "...simply put, it's full of technological incertitude."
Thank goodness he put that
simply.
Beals went on to state his believe that
"bureaucratic town and state officials will continue to allow them to disobey
laws." He then added he believed that area of town has been "...singled out by a
handful of influential politicians, appointed board members, and uncaring
residents from other neighborhoods...".
But most telling were
Beals comments when asked what was next for his group. He said they would
continue not to be "duped" by promises made by the foundry. Then he stated the
group would "...gradually seek greater control over the situation, via increased
and more effective use of the media, public support, political representation
etc."
Control - at last we reach the heart of the matter. This
group doesn't want less noise and pollution, or stricter rules. It wants
control, plain and simple.
Foundry Watch representatives have shown
little or no tolerance for any views or opinions that differ from their own. If
you dare criticize their information or goals, you are branded as being
anti-people, anti-Easton, and pro big business. You are either with them, or
against them.
When this column dared to write that the
workers at the foundry deserved consideration in the process, Foundry Watch
leaders called the paper's editor to demand "something be done" about the
author. That led to communications with leaders and an invitation to attend a
meeting later that month, which I could not make. But their defensiveness does
their cause little or no good.
Not everyone who questions the Foundry
Watch group is uncaring, bureaucratic or pro-foundry. The group needs to
understand that.
But it is clear to even the most casual
observer that Foundry Watch does not want studies or solutions that reduce the
problems. As stated, they want one thing - control. They want the control to
shut down and eliminate this business, and they clearly will not be satisfied
with anything less than that.
They - or at least their leaders - need to
get over themselves and their paranoia, and get to work on a cooperative
solution.
Bill Gouveia is a columnist for the
Easton Journal. He can be reached at
AnInsideLook@aol.com.
Copyright: Easton Journal on TownOnline.com
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