*
5 micrograms per cubic meter is the amount of TCE, for example, that is
presently acceptable to breathe in a space about the size of an average
refrigerator, 24 / 7. This guideline is being re-evaluated by scientists
to determine whether it is too high, and whether it could expose people
to health risks. Each building was tested for multiple chemicals.
See chemical list below:
We'd
like to hear from EI and Huron
Campus Employees. Please submit your comments about your concerns
with the chemical contamination within the buildings of the Endicott site.
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Comments
We've Received
From
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Has
the alliance considered a paypal link? An easier way for some people to
pay you. Just a thought. I am happy to contribute and that would be an
easy way for many people. -StillanIBMer-
Alliance Reply: Use this link also: http://www.endicottalliance.org/amemberform2.htm
The
donate through PayPal is at the top. You
need to have a paypal account to use this feature. Please let us know of
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2/3/2009
Alliance@IBM is
now on 
Send us a tweet and send one to your co-workers.
Let's keep the focus on the rumor of job cuts in the USA and the World;
and other subjects, pertinent to IBM workers.
Comment
04/15/09:
As the furious debate increases over The Employee Free Choice
Act, it is important to remember: If the bill passes and is put into law,
workers will have the right to CHOOSE between the Secret Ballot and Majority
card sign. The Secret ballot WILL NOT BE "Done away with" as reported
by Matt Lauer of NBC's Today show (clip point 5:17ms) in a discussion with
Wal-Mart's CEO,
Mike Duke: http://tinyurl.com/dj4gv2
Also, take the time to review some videos from http://www.nobusters.org/,
a look from the inside of the methods that union busters use and what outrageous
amounts of money that companies will pay union busters in just a few short
weeks or months; As told by a former union buster. These videos are a prime
example of how low a company will stoop, to keep you from your rights as
a worker; to form and join a union.
The Employee Free Choice Act's passing is more important to working Americans
than ALL the bailouts to Corporate Execs, combined.
-Rick White
Treasurer, Organizer, Web Maintenance
and Health & Safety Rep
CWA Local 1701
Alliance@IBM
www.allianceibm.org-
Comment
1/12/09:
Visit
this link
for the story of the Village of Endicott's Plume, published in the Post-Standard
1/11/2009 -Alliance-
Comment
1/11/09:
Repeat
after me. The laws are not going to help me. The elected officials are not
going to help me. Even the union is not going to help me. Untill me and
51 percent or more of my co workers help themselves by joining the union
and voting to be represented. When enough of us have signed up for a vote
to be forced to happen, then someone will help us force IBM to be fair,
save our jobs, protect our benefits and everything else we wish would happen.
WE WILL HELP OURSELVES. United we stand, Divided we fall. One by one at
IBM's will. At the time and place of IBM's choosing. One by one we get shown
the door. Not even allowed to say goodbye to people we worked with 10,20,30
years or more. Put out like the trash and yet people still do not organize.
People still believe they are better off standing alone.
Better off pretending to negotiate benefits or payraises alone. You are
not and never will be better off alone. "But I'm smarter then TOM
and I'm faster then JOE and every chance I get I tell Management so"
Now I have my work and Toms work and Joes work to do and I did not get
a raise cuz it was too much to do. Tom and Joe got new jobs and seem happy
to boot. Who was smarter then who ? Now ain't that a hoot. Life sure was
good with Tom, Joe and Me every day. Wish we had unionized to keep it
that way. -Exodus2007-
Comment
04/05/08:
Hmmm.....this one is not a shocker. Who would have thought that IBM did
something to infiltrate the EPA and get information they shouldn't have
gotten?... uh.. how about anyone with a brain!? IBM is not an upstanding
American corporation...and they haven't been for a long, long time. This
is a company that will do anything to get their way and get ahead. They
will recklessly disregard the environment of the communities they reside
in all over the USA; they will fire people because their health problems
racked up too much sick time; they will take zero responsibility for their
employees illnesses caused by chemical exposure; and they will literally
evacuate entire communities and fire thousands of good, loyal and long
term employees in exchange for labor at pennies on the dollar. They are
not the least bit patriotic.. not a all. You wanna talk about America
haters? See IBM. They're the perfect example. They constantly jockey for
phony awards and government accolades; all while doing their best to win
contracts that end up disappointing their customers. IBM hates America
and any other country that they do business in. When they can't get what
they want, they leave for another country. Ever hear of Vietnam? That's
the new China. India was the new Canada. Canada was the new USA. IBM only
loves themselves, i.e. corporate management. I would think that people
around here would be sordidly, sick of it all.
-Whitedog-
Alliance Reply: They need to be more
than sick of it, if they're current IBM'ers. They need to organize and
fight back. When
that starts to happen, you'll see the behavior of the real IBM; you never
knew existed... and you won't like it.
Comment
04/05/08: It
has nothing to do with IBM Chemicals anywhere. It has to do with an 84Million
dollar contract to do work for the epa that IBM lost to a canadian company.
When IBM filed a protest about losing the bid something in the wording told
the EPA that IBM had information they were not supposed to have and were
therefore guilty of some kind of bidding infration. As a resault of this
IBM has been barred from bidding on ANY new government contracts untill
the investigation is complete. Who knows where this leads? Time will tell.
-Exodus2007-
Alliance Reply: Apparently IBM has
been given a quick reprieve.
See this article: EPA
lifts suspension of contracts for IBM in today's news (4/5/08)
Comment
03/31/08: so
IBM is on the governments "Excluded Party " list now according
to this site http://www.epls.gov/epls/search.do?status=current&start=current&text=IBM
Now I am no expert here but I do see the letters "EPA" in this
document,,so has IBM been banned from doing business with the EPA? Why?
Is it a result of the TCE exposure in Endicott? http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080304/NEWS01/803040330/1006
Maybe this is all old news to some of you, however if the lawsuits that
I would imagine that may occur out of this happens, I just wonder how
many more people will get laid off and/or pay cuts as a result...Oh well,
get ready for the next round of cuts I guess. What can you do!
-cm-
Any lawsuits
arising from the damage, done by IBM chemical spills, to Endicott resident's
property have no bearing on IBM or retired IBM employees; unless those
residents are also IBM employees or former IBM employees. Once the results
of the NIOSH health study of 28,000 IBM Endicott employees (from 1964-1990)
is complete, there may be cause for action at that time. We have to wait
about 2 to 3 years and see.
Comment
12/05/07: to
Glen Guhman: When
you having dinner with Palmisano? You're an a$$hole! -Anonymous-
Comment
11/17/07: Way
to go lil' Bush, resident of the White House! Where are your priorities,
man? How
many bullets for Iraq can you buy for the $3.2M; you don't want to fund
for USA citizens affected by health problems in and around Endicott? I never
voted for this moron. But if you did, who is the sorry one now? -Anonymous-
Comment
06/27/07: Well..
Dr.Clapp's presentation was great! I saw one NYS DOH guy frowning through
the whole thing. He never even asked any questions. I thought he would
try to dispute what Clapp said. I heard someone mention a book or article
called inconclusive.. something. Do you know where I can get a copy of
that? It sounds like some of the same crap that NYS DOH has pulled in
the past. When's the next meeting? -clap 4 clapp-
Alliance Reply: Glad you like the meeting. Yes, Dr. Clapp held us
all captive for a good amount of information about toxic chemcials and
cancer in IBM employees. There was a good Q&A and we hope you stayed
for that. The article you are referring to is called "Inconclusive
By Design". Someone sent us a hardcopy of it. You didn't leave your
email address or contact information, so we can't send you anything in
the mail. Please tell all your neighbors and friends what you heard ,
saw, and learned. It's important that we continue to pursue the clean-up
and remedy of the IBM buildings and the removal of the chemicals underneath
them. Our opinion is that Endicott will have a difficult time recovering
new business, until it's been completed. Stay tuned to this web site for
more information.
DEP
Sues IBM Over Dayton Well -Anonymous-
Comment
11/14/05: A toxic chemical reaction at a Longmont printing
manufacturer early Thursday
sent seven employees to the hospital, forced nearly 100 people to strip
down for decontamination, prompted an emergency alert to neighbors and
inconvenienced countless morning commuters. But by 1 p.m., city and county
officials had sounded an "all clear" for northeast Boulder.
The hazardous materials incident at Lexmark International Inc. resulted
from the mixing of two epoxy floor coating chemicals at around 8 a.m.
After fumes and a large plume of chemical irritants emerged from the 6555
Monarch Road plant, police issued multiple 911 call-back alerts to those
within a two-mile perimeter and evacuated about 150 people from the area.Officers
blocked roads surrounding the plant for hours, including the Diagonal
Highway from Colo. 52 to 63rd Street until about 10:30 p.m. Police spokeswoman
Julie Brooks said the Lexmark plant was the only business evacuated, although
many employees at the nearby IBM Global Services and Boulder wastewater
treatment plants couldn't make it to work. Inhaling the toxic chemical
could create a burning sensation similar to a pepper spray reaction, Brooks
said. "It could cause a burning sensation in your ears or nostrils,"
she said.Many of those evacuated had to remove their clothes in decontamination
tents near the plant and scrub down with soap and detergent. They then
donned blue plastic coverings. Four RTD buses were available to help transport
evacuees to a nearby King Soopers, said Bill Berkhimer, RTD street supervisor.
Michelle Kol, 33, works at Lexmark and was one of about a dozen people
who left the plant on foot around noon. She said employees who "didn't
feel they were contaminated could leave." They had to walk because
they couldn't access their cars, said Rich Karpiel, a development engineer
at Lexmark. "They said that transportation for us was up to us,"
he said. Karpiel, who has been at Lexmark for 27 years, said that although
there was concern for people affected by the chemicals, "The mood
there was pretty good." "Everyone filed out safely," he
said. Lexmark, a former division of IBM, is now an independent developer,
manufacturer and supplier of printing and imaging products in more than
150 countries.City officials said the chemical that reacted in the local
plant Thursday was isophorone, a clear liquid that can be dissolved in
water. It's used as a solvent in some printing inks, paints, lacquers
and adhesives. Karen Kemmesat, Lexmark spokeswoman, said the chemical
reaction resulted from a project unrelated to plant operations. She said
the large plume of smoke dissipated after several hours. Hospitalized
employees were treated after reporting feeling sick, Kemmesat said. They
were allowed to return home Thursday. Boulder County's hazardous materials
team spent the day cleaning up the facility. Lexmark employees should
call the company's information line to determine when the facility will
reopen. Thursday night the message said the plant will be closed for first
and second shift today but critical employees could be called to help
prepare the plant to open Monday. It
wasn't until halfway through his 14-mile bike commute to work that Tim
Johns learned he would have to find another route. The 42-year-old opens
his Longmont bicycle shop at 10 a.m., but he said he had doubts he would
make it on time Thursday. "I'll wait here a while longer, then I
will probably go back to Boulder and get my car," he said. Coleen
Craghill, who works at Miss Catherine's Creative Learning Center, said
parents had been picking up their kids. Children still at the school had
to stay inside all day, meaning they would miss their outdoor recess.
Kevin Hunt, a chemist who works nearby, had a 1- and 3-year-old at Miss
Catherine's. When he heard about the accident, he checked on his kids,
but said he wasn't too concerned. "If the wind were blowing in this
direction then that would be a different story," he said. "But
my kids are safe, and I'm safe." At the Boulder Reservoir, assistant
office manager Kyle Gulla said staff were asked to temporarily leave,
but the park never officially closed. "There were people still fishing
out there," said Gulla. Park visitors were not told about the precaution
to evacuate. "We didn't think to do it because the police never came
or asked us to officially close," he said. Camera intern Julianne
Bentley contributed to this report.
- Vanessa Miller, Daily Camera Staff Writer -
