Item Information
Title
"Why I’m in Jail, Refusing to Cooperate with the Government, and Fasting", Spring 1983
Rights
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Type
still image
Identifier
https://exhibits.lib.unc.edu/items/show/7405
Text
Ken Ferruccio
Warren County Citizens Concerned About PCBs
Why I’m in Jail, Refusing to Cooperate with the Government, and Fasting
I’m in jail because the government is destroying Afton and the surrounding areas by pumping PCB-contaminated water from the landfill into the environment without taking necessary safety precautions, because the government is allowing PCBs to escape from vents at the site and thus destroying the air quality of Afton, and because Governor Hunt is not living up to his promise to render the PCB-contaminated soil harmless. I’m in jail also because I tried to stop the pumping of PCB-contaminated water into the environment. I’m in jail because the government in destroying instead of protecting the persons and properties of Warren County. I have therefor withdrawn my allegiance to the government.
What have I to say to an Environmental Protection Agency that waived crucial safety regulations to the Warren County site? What have I to say to the state legislature which approved Hunt’s Waste Management Act, an act which preempts all civil, human, and environmental rights to get Warren and other sites? What have I to say to a government that is trying to transform my community into a sacrifice area and that used martial law as a means to this end? And what have I to say to the courts which have arrogantly and irresponsibly dismissed three law suits formulated for the self-preservation of Warren County? What have I to say to the courts which approved the Warren County site, not because it was safe but because it was legal? What Hitler did to the Jews was legal, and what is happening to Afton is Hitlerism at home. The EPA, the legislature and the courts should have led Hunt and checked his decision. But they didn’t. Consequently, the landfill now poses a clear and present danger.
Some have argued that since I cooperated with the government during the protest movement of last fall, I should cooperate with the government now. The reason I cooperate with the government last fall is that even though the trucks were getting through and PCBs were being buried at the site, I believe that there would be time after the burial to find a satisfactory solution before the PCBs escaped from the landfill into the environment. But now the state is deliberately pumping PCBs into the environment. Because this is a much more critical time than when the trucks were rolling, it is necessary for me to go as far as I can within the limits of non-violence, non-cooperation and fasting.
There are two reasons why I am fasting period first, my fast is a protest against the pumping of PCB-contaminated water into the environment and to protest against the landfill system that is clearly informed by the logic of genocide. Second, I am fasting because what is happening is very close to my home and is destructive to everything that we are trying to preserve and build on in Afton, including our lives. I am filled with sorrow. But fasting will make me stronger so I can continue the battle, emotionally and spiritually stronger. The victory of Warren County, however, depends on a united leadership with full citizen support. We have many great leaders here in Warren County and people all over America who want to support us in some way. In unity there is strength and in strength, survival.
What I have learned in this long struggle is that an organization without a movement is powerless, but a movement without an organization is meaningless. I believe that we have brought movement and organization together; we have reached the necessary point of synthesis. I believe that we will win.
[signed] Ken Ferruccio
Warren County Citizens Concerned About PCBs
Why I’m in Jail, Refusing to Cooperate with the Government, and Fasting
I’m in jail because the government is destroying Afton and the surrounding areas by pumping PCB-contaminated water from the landfill into the environment without taking necessary safety precautions, because the government is allowing PCBs to escape from vents at the site and thus destroying the air quality of Afton, and because Governor Hunt is not living up to his promise to render the PCB-contaminated soil harmless. I’m in jail also because I tried to stop the pumping of PCB-contaminated water into the environment. I’m in jail because the government in destroying instead of protecting the persons and properties of Warren County. I have therefor withdrawn my allegiance to the government.
What have I to say to an Environmental Protection Agency that waived crucial safety regulations to the Warren County site? What have I to say to the state legislature which approved Hunt’s Waste Management Act, an act which preempts all civil, human, and environmental rights to get Warren and other sites? What have I to say to a government that is trying to transform my community into a sacrifice area and that used martial law as a means to this end? And what have I to say to the courts which have arrogantly and irresponsibly dismissed three law suits formulated for the self-preservation of Warren County? What have I to say to the courts which approved the Warren County site, not because it was safe but because it was legal? What Hitler did to the Jews was legal, and what is happening to Afton is Hitlerism at home. The EPA, the legislature and the courts should have led Hunt and checked his decision. But they didn’t. Consequently, the landfill now poses a clear and present danger.
Some have argued that since I cooperated with the government during the protest movement of last fall, I should cooperate with the government now. The reason I cooperate with the government last fall is that even though the trucks were getting through and PCBs were being buried at the site, I believe that there would be time after the burial to find a satisfactory solution before the PCBs escaped from the landfill into the environment. But now the state is deliberately pumping PCBs into the environment. Because this is a much more critical time than when the trucks were rolling, it is necessary for me to go as far as I can within the limits of non-violence, non-cooperation and fasting.
There are two reasons why I am fasting period first, my fast is a protest against the pumping of PCB-contaminated water into the environment and to protest against the landfill system that is clearly informed by the logic of genocide. Second, I am fasting because what is happening is very close to my home and is destructive to everything that we are trying to preserve and build on in Afton, including our lives. I am filled with sorrow. But fasting will make me stronger so I can continue the battle, emotionally and spiritually stronger. The victory of Warren County, however, depends on a united leadership with full citizen support. We have many great leaders here in Warren County and people all over America who want to support us in some way. In unity there is strength and in strength, survival.
What I have learned in this long struggle is that an organization without a movement is powerless, but a movement without an organization is meaningless. I believe that we have brought movement and organization together; we have reached the necessary point of synthesis. I believe that we will win.
[signed] Ken Ferruccio