Fact finding collaborative advocated by Walley on Summertown-area health

As a self-described agriculture advocate, a state senator says Tennessee leaders need facts on whether there’s a disproportionate number of sick people in the Summertown-Ethridge area and, if so, why.

While preparing for a 2 p.m. Jan. 4 public meeting with his constituents in Lawrenceburg, Sen. Page Walley said that, among other things, information from the Summertown-based Citizens for Clean Air, Water and Food provides a reason to ask the state’s Legislative Services Office to draft legislation, or a resolution, requiring several state departments to study the situation and report facts.

Collaboration, Walley said, must be required between at least three departments — health; agriculture; as well as environment and conservation — during their fact-finding mission and report.

“We have a group of my constituents who are getting sick and we should see if this is abnormal and if so why,” the Savannah, Tenn. Republican said. When interviewed before Christmas, he was uncertain as to whether there would be discussion on public health at Summertown next Wednesday at 1 Public Square, Lawrenceburg.

Rocky and Betsy Stone, founders of the non-profit citizens group, say Paraquat and other chemicals used to protect no-till farm crops from weeds are making people sick and killing farm animals. Meanwhile, attorneys in Knoxville represent a number of area residents in U.S. District Court alleging their Parkinson’s disease is a result of their exposure to Paraquat as manufactured by Syngenta, the defendant in that litigation.

“I’m not going to presume it’s agricultural chemicals” that have caused Parkinson’s disease in Lawrence and Lewis counties, Walley said. “We need data because if it’s not data, it’s just opinion. I believe strongly in agriculture and the agricultural community … and I want to get to the bottom of what, if anything, is causing this.”

Walley wants information obtained and tested by at least three state departments using scientific methods to ensure an objective conclusion, he said. Walley is a state-licensed clinical psychologist, trained in scientific methodology, so he advocates careful examination of information from the proposed collaborative effort by state officials with expertise in health, agriculture and the environment.

Just because there’s a correlation between two sets of data does not necessarily mean there’s a cause-and-effect relationship, he said.

Nearly 60 people met with Knoxville-based attorney Billy Ringger and his science-based associates at David Crockett State Park a few years ago when a federal map was displayed to show where Paraquat is used in the United States, including application to crops in Lawrence County and nearby counties. It was presented as a reason Ringger’s now-clients suffer Parkinson’s disease.

Barry Sulkin, a long-time private environmental consultant who’s a former enforcement officer for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), was hired by Ringger’s law firm to study the Lawrence County area where Paraquat was used to protect crops from weeds. He and Ringger declined to discuss results of the consultant’s findings. They’re likely to be presented as evidence in court. Suggesting the consultant’s reliability and his use of scientific methods here is a chain of events at Arnold Engineering Development Center near Tullahoma. As a state official, Sulkin and his TDEC colleagues provided evidence in the 1980s for a persuasive lawsuit by TDEC against the U.S. Air Force complaining that the military dumped into Woods Reservoir a carcinogenic coolant for electric power transformers. Metal barrels containing the liquid rusted and leaked, according to reports at that time and published in The Herald-Chronicle of Winchester. Woods Reservoir was posted by TDEC with a warning that catfish consumed from that polluted lake presented a threat to human health. Spraying crops with Paraquat is different from bottom-feeding fish containing poly-chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) that are heavier than water. However, both examinations must follow scientific methods to be reliable in court. Use of PCBs was banned in 1979.

Walley said he wants officials in TDEC and the departments of health and agriculture “to figure out why people are disproportionately getting sick and what we can do to remedy it.”

To further that cause, this month Walley’s started with his request to Legislative Services for an initiative to begin during upcoming meetings of the state Legislature.

“All of this is at the genesis stage,” he said. The results of that proposed action by state lawmakers could compel the departments to collaboratively investigate the anomalies in and around Etheridge and Summertown, Walley said.

Walley became Lawrence County’s state senator as a result of redistricting. He succeeded Dr. Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) as the senator for Lawrence County. Walley says he will have to find a lawmaker to sponsor such legislation in the state House of Representatives. The closest such lawmaker for that area is Rep. Kip Capley (R-Summertown). State Rep. Jody Barrett (R-Dickson) represents Lewis County.

Having heard from Walley about his proposal, the Stones were hopeful for a state study that addresses their concerns. They’ve conducted quarterly meetings for more than a few years, telling area residents why they should oppose the use of Paraquat. They allege it’s caused neurological illnesses.

“That’s their theory,” Walley said. “I want that hypothesis tested.”

While Paraquat has been their main focus in recent years, the Stones say they also want the state investigation to focus on chemicals that are categorized as herbicides, fungicides and pesticides as well as “seeds impregnated with chemicals.” The Stones contend that the state agriculture department has bundled categories of chemicals, thereby inappropriately blurring the issue.

As litigation for Lawrence County residents with Parkinson’s disease grinds slowly toward federal court hearings on their and other Americans’ complainants, the Stones have delivered frozen carcasses of goats to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture saying the animals died because of what’s been sprayed at nearby crops. The Stones say they’ve not received an adequate response from the department regarding those animals’ demise.

“It may be what they say. I don’t want to limit it to one theory,” Walley said. “Let’s see if we can help the community.”