Note: Names have been changed to retain the anonymity of the entities/individual.
The town of Astern Lane, Wisconsin, with a population of approximately 10,000 people, is a great place to live. This town has many interesting sights and features to offer its residents and visitors. Besides this, the town offers tempting opportunities and countless jobs due to the establishment of a steel foundry, Bywater Steel Corporation, in the year 1991. But behind its prosperity lies a dark reality.
Astern Lane is probably the only smallest town in America that has the highest ratio of rare diseases among its inhabitants. The town and its people have suffered from early deaths, infertility, major acute and chronic syndromes including various forms of cancer, tumors, hysterectomy, cardiovascular diseases and brain damages. It’s interesting to know that the cause of all these painful damages is in fact the establishment of the steel foundry that was previously perceived as the town’s savior.
It all began when the steel factory started dumping its waste products, containing large quantity of asbestos materials, into the nearby ponds. The water soon got contaminated and began to infect the nearby water reservoirs. Since those reservoirs were the only source of town’s water supply, the town people had no choice but to drink the water and they eventually fell sick. Meanwhile, the steel foundry was reaping huge profits and investments from other companies. The company and its officers were well aware of the consequences of these actions which were against human tolerance and decency. Slowly and gradually they were poisoning Astern Lane with harmful asbestos effluents because of which, people started developing diseases that the town had never experienced before.
When this matter was brought to notice of the town’s administration, they immediately confronted the steel company. To ease the tension that was brewing in the town, Bywater assured people of Astern Lane that a water purifying plant would be established. Bywater did eventually set up such a plant, to purify the water contaminated by the factory waste. Additionally, the company agreed to bear all the medical expenses of its workers and their family members. The town immediately approved Bywater’s plan and continued to bear the damages made by the company’s progression. “We neglected the harmful possibilities of asbestos exposure”, said Anderson Wilson, a resident of Astern Lane. “We were swayed by the alluring deal Bywater put in front of us, ignoring the great damages it carried” he continued.
A few months later, after the water purifying plant was established, a rare kind of cancer broke out affecting many people. 39 year old Neville*, a worker of Bywater Corporation, developed a rare form of cancer called mesothelioma.
At first, the town’s local hospital diagnosed Neville with tuberculosis and recommended him to a surgeon at Wisconsin General Hospital. Upon consultation with a WGH surgeon, Neville was diagnosed with Pleural mesothelioma and given only few months to live. Numerous other people of the town endured similar and other kinds of painful and life-impairing diseases.
This led to a comprehensive investigation by the town’s administration who hired geologists and doctors to help them sort out the root cause of all these problems. After a month, the administration received the investigation report which clearly stated that the steel foundry was the only cause of the problem and the water purifying plant was not doing any good to the people. Instead, the water purifying plant itself was contaminated with asbestos. Surprised and shocked by the deceit of Bywater, the town and its residents filed a civil suit against Bywater Steel Corporation for the damages to their neighborhood and its people.
The case went to trial on July 2000 in which the jury and the judge unanimously favored the town. As for Bywater Steel Corporation, the judge gave the verdict against the company and ordered it to give 1 million dollars to every citizen of Astern Lane. This was done in addition to retaining the steel foundry and making it asbestos free and environmental friendly. The case of Astern Lane against Bywater Steel Corporation has been one of the biggest law suits in the country.
Though the steel foundry has been re-established as an environmental friendly work place, the long-term damage had long lasting effect on the town’s people. The inhabitants of Astern Lane received the hefty amount of money for their sufferings, but their upcoming generations will be suffering from the damaging effects of asbestos exposure. |
