SABOTAGE: They Cut Our Phone/Internet Lines But Not Our Dedication & Commitment

In case you missed my earlier communications, CHEJ was targeted by someone who wanted to do harm to our organization.  They broke into our office building around midnight and deliberately cut our phone and internet trunk cable during the last few days of the year, when our donors make their end of year contributions.  The police were called and the investigators agreed that someone had committed a crime.

This is not the first time CHEJ was a target.  You may have read the story about Greenpeace’s lawsuit filed this past October against two major chemical companies, their PR firms and several individuals for activities that amount to corporate espionage. Chemical companies Dow Chemical and Sasol (formerly CONDEA Vista), through the PR firms Dezenhall Resources (Nichols Dezenhall at the time) and Ketchum, hired private investigators from the firm Beckett Brown International (BBI) to spy on Greenpeace.

Within the documents Greenpeace found were photographs of my house and notes about my activities. It is very unnerving to know that someone is spying on you at home.  The Greenpeace suit charges the defendants stole thousands of documents, intercepted phone call detail records (CDRs), trespassed and conducted unlawful surveillance and theft of confidential information related to their public interest work.  The complaint charges that the chemical companies, PR firms and individuals “conspired to and did surveil, infiltrate and steal confidential information with the intention of preempting, blunting or thwarting” Greenpeace’s environmental campaigns.

CHEJ is not part of this lawsuit but clearly someone is trying to thwart our efforts.  The question is who?  Is it the toy/baby product manufacturers because we let consumers know about the poisons leaking from their toxic toys, baby bottles and other toxic baby merchandise?

Maybe it is the industries that are responsible for dioxin pollution as the scientific findings are scheduled to be posted later this month by EPA.  The industry has fought successfully for 25 years to keep adverse health findings from dioxin exposures of birth defects, immune suppression, infertility and diabetes from being finalized and public.  It could also be the companies who brought us PCB’s as CHEJ launches its campaign to get PCB’s out of school (built before 1979)  lighting fixtures.

What about the fracking industry they aren’t supporters of our work either.  Just a few days ago a well that took fracking wastes was closed in Ohio.  Activist believe if we close the injection wells in Ohio, then the fracking industry will have few places to go with their wastes significantly impacting their business.

CHEJ has many industries who would like to see us go away.  It’s not clear yet how many contributions we lost it might be as much as $20,000 however, some people said when they heard about the incidence they made a donation.  That’s a lot of money but it’s not enough to stop us from standing up and speaking out.  It’s not enough to deter us from helping others in the field to fight back against poisoning America’s families, homes, schools and communities.  CHEJ is back on line, back in the streets and holding polluters accountable.

Question for you is who do you think wants CHEJ gone?    Have  you had similar experiences?